After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-American residents on Bainbridge Island, WA were given orders to gather belongings and prepare for relocation to internment camps hundreds of miles away. Having lived on the island for generations, peacefully engaged in strawberry farming and sharing a strong sense of community, culture, and loyalty to America, these men, women, and children would spend the rest of the war in the Manzanar internment camp, located in the hot, dusty California desert. Now six decades later, Dr. Frank Kitamoto, who as a child was confined in Manzanar, shares his experiences with a select group of high schoolers from the Bainbridge Island area as they develop archival photos in the darkroom depicting the evacuation and internment, and ponder the question of how this could happen in America. The students, thoughtful and articulate, also revisit key sites, discuss their own experiences dealing with prejudice, and speculate on how quickly fear and racism can lead to irrational behavior. Dr. Kitamoto exudes the essence of a great teacher; he's a gentle presence who spurns hatred and vengeance, yet insists on the importance of memory (at program's end, students and teacher gather to unveil a monument honoring the innocent victims of wartime hysteria). Never preachy or pompous, this video is particularly timely, given the fact that the Manzanar Prison camp has just been named as a national historic site, not to mention the continuing dubious incarceration of various “suspects” in our current war efforts. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)
After Silence: Civil Rights and the Japanese-American Experience
(2003) 30 min. VHS: $195. Foxglove Films (dist. by Bullfrog Films). PPR. ISBN: 1-59458-020-0. Volume 19, Issue 4
After Silence: Civil Rights and the Japanese-American Experience
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