"Only What We Could Carry"

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the collection of writings in "Only What We Could Carry," that relate how the Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II. The paper discusses specific memoirs of individuals taken to the camps who convey the injustice they suffered at the hands of the American justice system. The paper talks about the baseless suspicions today after 9/11 and how distorted the American justice system can be when fear governs its operation.

From the Paper:

"The internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II was a major act of betrayal for these people as their own government treated them as if they had done something wrong, when in fact they had not. They were simply rounded up and moved into camps along the West Coast on the fear that they might be loyal to Japan in the war and might therefore commit acts of espionage or simply reconnaissance for Japan. It has been shown clearly in the decades since that these fears were unfounded and that the internment and the associated confiscation of much of these people's belongings and property was an act of injustice, one addressed to the degree possible with apologies and reparation payments long after the war."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Inada, Lawson Fusao. Only What We Cold Carry. Berkeley, California: Heyday Books, 2000.

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