"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime"-MARK TWAIN

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Manzanar

What can one say about Manzanar, Heart Mountain, or any other Japanese internment camp, that is good?  American citizens; torn from their homes, businesses, families; for some, forever.


Just a few miles North of Lone Pine was located the abandoned townsite of Manzanar, California.  It was here in the Spring of 1942, that the U S Army built a one square mile camp that would come to hold a total of 10,000 Japanese American Citizens and Japanese immigrants.  Each of those 10,000 had a story.  Manzanar tells a number of them.


















































The camp closed on November 21, 1945.  It wasn't until the 1980's that a congressional commission concluded that it was "a dark time fueled by war hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership".  Over 82,000 Presidential apology letters were issued to surviving internees, along with checks for $20,000, between 1990 and 1999.  That seems a small gesture for almost four years of confinement, along with the loss of homes, businesses, and in many cases, loved ones...jc
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5 comments:

  1. Richard SavageFebruary 27, 2019 at 9:21 PM

    When I was about 12 we moved to a small town in Northern California that was about 50% Japanese. The families had about a year before returned from the a "camp". We could not have asked for more friendly and supportive neighbors. My first girl friend was Betty Yamaskie. As I learned of their experience I could not believe that they not show bitterness I would have expected. Every once in a while I have met people who have tried to justify our actions. One very educated person from Southern California said "Oh they didn't have it so bad, they got real butter". Lets hope it never happens again. We have the remains of one such camp about 50 miles form my home in Delta, Utah. Thanks for sharing these pictures.

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  2. Janna and MikeFebruary 28, 2019 at 8:22 AM

    Let's hope it never happens again. A very dark time in this country's history!

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  3. UnknownFebruary 28, 2019 at 11:25 AM

    Where is this located.I would like to visit this historic site. You did a wonderful photography documentation that I want to see for myself. One thing about the Japanese people that lived through that part of our history they endured and never whined or said bad things about America .

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  4. DonnaMarch 5, 2019 at 4:47 PM

    What a sad post....Safe travels to you.

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  5. horstMarch 10, 2019 at 5:34 PM

    Thanks for the post and your enlightening history lesson and bringing their experience(s) to life with your well documented photographs!

    I just got home from my Big Bend trip....Have a great week...Horst sends

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Thanks for looking, and comments are welcome.

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