The Niles West Library held a talk by Mari Yamagiwa, who told the story of her family’s experience with Japanese internment camps, last Friday during 5th and 6th periods.
Amid World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942. The order allowed for the military to forcibly remove any person or group that was deemed a threat to national security. This led to over 100,000 Japanese Americans being incarcerated and relocated to interment camps. Speakers like Yamagiwa have made it their mission to inform schools about the personal repercussions and lived experiences of Executive Order 9066.
The presentation included the Yamagiwa family’s experiences, her research into Nikkei (Japanese diasporic) history and healing, exploring the social and political context of the camps, daily life in the incarceration camps, resistance to the incarceration and the enduring impacts of the camps. Yamagiwa’s presentation introduced the idea that the very use of the term “internment camps” to describe Japanese displacement during World War II is incorrect and harmful. She argued that the term refers to foreign nationals, citizens imprisoned during a time of war. She believes that is inaccurate because two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans in the camps were natural-born American citizens, and internment is not accurate when describing a country incarcerating its own citizens. Yamagiwa argues that they should be instead described as a concentration camp since they were outside of the normal justice system, mostly filled with citizens and were based on ethnicity for political and military purposes. She believes that the use of internment camps is inaccurate and has been used by textbooks and Roosevelt’s administration to lessen the impact and harm they had on Americans.
Yamagiwa shares her story because she believes it has thoroughly impacted not only her family but also set a precedent that would be repeated throughout U.S. history.
“I feel that it is important to share my family’s experience of being incarcerated for two main reasons: the incarceration experience has personally shaped my family and still impacts me and my community today, and this story is not an isolated experience, but it connects to many other patterns and stories in U.S. history. All of the ways that Japanese Americans were targeted before, during, and after WWII are similar to the ways that other communities have been and continue to be targeted in America,” Yamagiwa said.
Junior Wanda Sanchez thought the presentation was a much needed reminder of how historical events are not just words written down in a textbook, but also real and lived experiences.
“It made me think about the immense loss they experienced, leaving behind everything they had worked so hard for. The immigrants had to give up their farms, their businesses and so much more. It’s heartbreaking to consider the sacrifices. I think this presentation from our guest speaker was necessary, because yes, we learn about it in school, we hear about it, but never with this amount of detail. Presentations like [Yamagiwa’s] amongst others bring the awareness many of us think we have but actually lack until we’re face to face with our history’s brutal past,” Sanchez said.
Having guest speakers is not new for Niles West. Librarian Vicki Pietrus sheds light as to why the library feels it’s important to have guest speakers.
“In the last few years, we have hosted author visits, artists, animals, and even the TikTok historian, Dilla Thomas. I think it’s important to provide a range of experts and thinkers…guest speakers are important because hearing different viewpoints and folks from different careers and life experiences is always beneficial for staff and students,” Pietrus said.
Yamagiwa believes that by sharing her family’s experience and the experience of so many Americans, those injustices can be prevented from occurring again.
“I dream of a future where no one is targeted in this way and everyone has all that they need to flourish. I believe that clearly and accurately understanding our histories helps us understand how we got to where we are today. When we see what led us to where we are now, we can choose to make different decisions to create better futures for all of us instead of replicating past harms,” Yamagiwa said.
