A Long Way From Home
Storyboard Text
- TRAPPED
- In 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt singed the Executive Order which sent all Japanese-Americans regardless of if they were legal citizens to internment camps. Army-directed removals started happening on March 24th. The people were given a six day notice to gather all of their belongings or bring what they could carry. Anyone who was even 1/16th Japanese was to be relocated. These camps were implemented because the US feared their safety after the attack.
- Yoko and her family, Japanese Americans who before the bombing of Pearl Harbor lived a very normal life, were stripped from their home in late March. Yoko was bombarded with so many emotions as all of her white friends got to stay behind and continue to live their lives while Yoko, was forced to live in confinement and a very strict society.
- Why are you leaving Yoko
- But what about our house and my friends?
- You're all coming with me.
- Why do I have to be here but all my friends get to stay at home
- Yoko's life in camp was very different than any of those who were sent to camps during the Holocaust. The camps the Jews were in were apart of Nazi oppression and mass murder. The living conditions were absolutely brutal. Families like Yoko did not live in those exact conditions but were still being oppressed and locked away from a normal society. Yoko being a young girl, truly had no idea how to act is such an obscure place.
- Yoko is here
- Before we continue with Yoko's journey, we have to discuss on a deeper level why Japanese were being sent to camps. The 10 locations you see are the areas in which camps were located, due to the fact that many Japanese lived out West. Just hours after Pearl Harbor, the Navy arrested at least 1,300 Japanese. These camps were put in place for the US to feel secure. After being bombed by Japan their first instinct was to lock up all Japanese Americans because well, they did not know what harm they could do. Many of them tried proving their American citizenship but it did not matter, all of them were being sent away.
- Life at camp was considerably worse than what was showcased to the public. They tried to portray it almost as if it was sleep away camp, which we all know is fun. They covered up the fact that children like Yoko were cold, hungry and miserable. Although some aspects did compare to normal life, the Government over exaggerated the fun Japanese had.
- Yoko spent day after day doing the same routine and being controlled by the same people. She wished the people on the outside could feel her pain.
- VS
- Yoko spent her days attending school where she was not greeted with much kindness. Teachers simply taught and did nothing more. While at school, her parents were able to work, but they were not allowed to receive more than 5 dollars a day. Despite the somewhat normal living conditions, Yoko still suffered tremendously. She watched her parents start to burn out and lose hope of leaving which took the largest toll on her.
- We are finally leaving Yoko
- The Japanese American people spent three whole years trapped in the internmentcamps. Now, looking back on what the US did, we know it was not at all justified. It would have been much more sufficient if the US just chose to separate the dis-loyal Japanese from the loyal and very American Japanese. Instead they opted for a quick fix leaving families and children like Yoko to suffer the consequences. The families not only lost their communitiesbut they lost money and businesses. This made it difficult to enter back into society. Yoko and her family owned a bakery which was forced to close when they left for camp and not to their surprise when they came home, a new shop was in it's place.
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created