As a command of the executive Order No. 9066 I am being forced to put a halt on my life. As a 23-year-old American with Japanese decent I am still trying to grasp and understand how being forced to live in internment camps is supposed to be a step forward to creating peace. I feel angry, hopeless, and isolated. We have traded our freedom and lives to live in a deserted dry land in the middle of nowhere.
As a command of the executive Order No. 9066 I am being forced to put a halt on my life. As a 23-year-old American with Japanese decent I am still trying to grasp and understand how being forced to live in internment camps is supposed to be a step forward to creating peace. I feel angry, hopeless, and isolated. We have traded our freedom and lives to live in a deserted dry land in the middle of nowhere.
As a command of the executive Order No. 9066 I am being forced to put a halt on my life. As a 23-year-old American with Japanese decent I am still trying to grasp and understand how being forced to live in internment camps is supposed to be a step forward to creating peace. I feel angry, hopeless, and isolated. We have traded our freedom and lives to live in a deserted dry land in the middle of nowhere.
I am being forced to put a halt on my life and move away to a designated location until the war with Japan is over. I am only allowed to bring the essentials and will probably never come back to live in the house I grew up in again. I will no longer be able to go to school and finish my studies to become a nurse. I will no longer be able to go for walks with my dog Rue. I will no longer get to see my friends in my neighborhood and talk about the good times we have had together. As a 23-year-old American with Japanese decent I am still trying to grasp and understand how being forced to live in internment camps is supposed to be a step forward to creating peace. I feel angry, hopeless, and isolated. We as Japanese Americans have traded our freedom and lives to live in a deserted dry land in the middle of nowhere behind a tall fence. Not a single sight of green exists and the shacks we live in are poorly made and dirty. I ask how will this bring peace and justice? I am blessed though, that my family was able to come to the same location; my 2 siblings, parents, and grandfather. The things I look forward to now are Sundays for church meetings, stories from grandpa, and when it rains. Freedom to me relates to feeling safe in my surroundings. I feel safe in the city and
neighborhood I live in and I dont have to look
behind my shoulder when it is dark at night. The idea of being privileged in that sense relates to my ideas of freedom because I know that other neighborhoods, cities, and even countries dont have the privilege of a safe community or environmental conditions. The definition of freedom itself (pg. 122) in the text is extremely ambiguous and will have different meanings to different people but if we relate freedom to a sense of feeling safe and looking out for the safety of others we can regulate that idea better. If we can justify someone who is inflicting intention harm on the well-being of others, then they should pay the consequences for that. In the case of the bombing of pearl harbor and the executive order towards Japanese Americans, it was hard to distinguish who the real terrorists were at that time and President Roosevelt decided to take extreme measures by punishing all Japanese Americans and taking away their freedom for the freedom of others. I think that that regulation might have had good intentions but ultimately 62% of Americans lost their personal freedoms because of it (pg. 124). I think that some freedom restrictions are obvious when it comes to the freedom of speech in particular, noting that we have the right to our own thoughts and opinions but according to social
norms in society, we should have restrictions on
intentionally demeaning other races, cultures, etc. Mindfulness should be taken into account for freedom of speech. I think individuals should have the responsibility to stand up for their personal ideas of freedom on order to have access to it. Getting involved and encouraging the safety and well-being of others is also a key aspect to help everyone feel free.