Carving Out a Life 

    No. 3 of 4

     On a train to wherever, black porters treated the Japanese Americans "with warmth and understanding and seemed to have sensitivity their unjust treatment." While looking out train windows, some were shocked by the "hovels" that black Americans lived in.

     In Arkansas, many of the camp bathrooms were non-functioning. Chamber pots were late arriving. A construction worker said he had been told to build facilities for "little brown people." 

     Some had pleurisy, tuberculosis, appendicitis or painful arthritis. Despite all this, they found a way to carve out a life. They sent children to schools, organized sports leagues, and partook in the YMCA, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, sewing groups, USO and Red Cross.  

     Many wanted to help the war effort. They rolled bandages and wove camouflage nets. They began to feel great responsibility, and did acts of thoughtfulness, kindness and caring. 

     In California's Death Valley, 1943, photographer Ansel Adams wanted to generate opposition to the government by showing the people's plight. Instead, families insisted on dressing up, cleaning the barracks and smiling for photographs. In a 2015 book, Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese Internment...Adam's photos reinforced the government's portrayal of an extended vacation. 

     Why didn't the government lock up Germans and Italians? In fact, some 14,500 were locked up, while 125,284 others were Japanese. The Germans and Italians were the largest foreign-born populations at the time. Internment would have been a nightmare. Many were voters. Farmers accepted help from captured German soldiers, paid them, and in some cases allowed them to live in their homes.  

Thursday: Various conclusions