A Birthright Denied: Monica Sone October 17, 2008

            During World War II, Executive Order 9066 changed the lives for Japanese-Americans in ways they never would have thought possible.  As Americans became increasingly xenophobic toward the Japanese, this Executive Order led to all those in the United States with Japanese ancestry to be sent to internment camps for the duration of the war.  According to the historian, Ronald Takaki, after the Executive Order was given; “the army promptly began evacuation and internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them citizens by birth” (188).

            Takaki includes in his book, A Larger Memory, a portion of Monica Sone’s autobiography which provides valuable information about what life was life for the Japanese-Americans during this time in our nation’s history.  Perhaps one aspect that makes her story so interesting is that the Japanese interment is often time left out or only briefly covered during many classroom history lessons on World War II.  Monica Sone’s autobiography allows her readers to understand the reality of the internment from someone who actually experienced it firsthand.  Although I previously knew some details of Japanese internment, it was surprising to learn that people were given so little to evacuate their homes, and they could take with them only what they could carry.  I was also saddened by the fact that the family pets had to be abandoned.  Luckily for Monica Sone’s family, some friends were willing to adopt their family dog.  Many times pets are like family members; I can imagine this must have been very difficult for her as child.  Even worse than all the Japanese had to leave behind, were the despicable conditions at the camps.  Their shelters “resemble[ed] chicken shacks” and inside “the flooring consisted of two by fours laid directly on the earth, and dandelions were already pushing their way up through the cracks” (197).

            Monica Sone’s story is just one out of many, but it still is invaluable in understanding our country’s troubled past.  Her story is a good reminder of what racism can lead to, and mistakes that should never be repeated.

             

Dear Editor: Letters from Jewish America—Problems and Advice

            In Takaki’s book, A Larger Memory, he includes a collection of letters written by Jews seeking advice from an editor at the Jewish Daily Forward.  I particularly enjoyed reading these letters and their corresponding answers, as they give the reader a good idea of what was going on in history at the time without actually having to read a dry textbook.  In fact, in addition to being able to gain insight about major events that were happening at the time, the reader is also able to learn about Jewish culture, family identity, and issues between the genders. 

            During the late-19^th Century many Jewish immigrant women were working in New York sweatshops.  In the book, A Different Mirror, Takaki writes that “what probably mattered more than the values they might have carried to America was the fact that many Jewish immigrants brought something even more useful – their skills, especially in the sewing trades” (288).  Unfortunately, these skills did not always put the immigrants in the safest working conditions.  From the collection of letters sent to the Jewish Daily Forward, Takaki includes one called “A Death at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.”  In the letter, a young Jewish woman tells the editor her story of coming to America as a newlywed with her “faithful and devoted” husband (178).  Everything her husband ever did, he did for her.  They loved being together and even worked besides each other at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.  This particular factory is now well-known for the fire that broke out there, and as being the place of one of New York’s worst building disasters.  After reading the girl’s letter, we learn that her husband died in the fire while trying to save others.  She has had a very difficult time recovering from the loss, and has become faced with the dilemma of marrying someone else.  Not only did this letter give a first-hand account of the factory fire, but I think it also says something about gender issues.  The editor responds to the girl that she should basically move on and get married no matter what.  I found this odd that the editor found it so important for her to marry when she was obviously still grieving.

            Overall, the letters are very interesting accounts of Jewish culture during the late-19^th Century.  They show that beyond struggling to make money in the United States, many Jewish immigrants also struggled with assimilating and often time there were complex differences between the generations.  

Fleeing English Tyranny: The Irish Cross the Atlantic October 6, 2008

One group that faced many hardships in America was that of the Irish.  Not only did they face prejudices as immigrants, they also had a long history of being oppressed by the English while they were still in their native land.  In fact, in his book, A Different Mirror, Takaki writes that “in the mid-sixteenth century, shortly before the beginning of the English migrations to America, the government had decided to bring all of Ireland under its rule and encouraged private colonization projects” (26).  They “were viewed as ‘savages,’ a people living outside of ‘civilization’” (26).  Given these early attitudes and this English feeling of superiority, it is no surprise that centuries later they would still be treated with the same disdain as immigrants in a new land. 

            According to Takaki, many Irish did not want to come to America, but they saw immigrating as their only chance for survival.  They had already endured many hardships in Ireland.  Besides English tyranny, they also were in the grips of extreme poverty and hunger caused by the Potato Famine in the 1840’s.  Once the Irish arrived in America, they were given almost exclusively jobs in labor.  They occupied some of the most dangerous and back-breaking jobs including digging the canals, working in the coal mines, and setting down tracks for the railroads. 

            While Irish men were working mostly outdoors, Irish women made up a large majority of the household laborers in America.  In the book, A Larger Memory, Takaki explains that “Irish immigrant women became ubiquitous as maids.  In the 1850’s, they represented 80 percent of all female household laborers in New York City” (114).  Other Irish women did work in more hazardous conditions such as factories.  Although they worked long hours, these jobs provided meals and shelter on location and many of the women saw the factories as great opportunities.  Often times these jobs were a good way for independent women to provide for themselves in America.  

            The jobs the Irish occupied in America were often very dangerous, and many Irish were treated with little more respect than they had received by the English.  Still, for many, the risks taken by immigrating far outweighed the bleak prospects many foresaw in Ireland.

A Horror Remembered: Olaudah Equiano’s Passage to America

 

            During a great part of the 17^th century in the colonies, blacks were sold in to de facto slavery.  Slavery had still not been officially implemented, as many colonists were skeptical of populating their newly settled lands with people who they viewed so negatively.   Ronald Takaki writes in his book, A Different Mirror, the first Africans who were brought to Virginia “had probably been captured in wars or raids by enemy tribes before they were sold to the Dutch slaver.  Their ordeal must have been similar to the experience of Olaudah Equiano” (Takaki 53).   

In another one of his books, A Larger Memory, Takaki includes Equiano’s narrative.  The narrative was written by Olaudah Equiano himself, after he was able to buy his own freedom from slavery.  His story tells of being taken by force from his home in Africa during the mid-18^th century and the grueling voyage by sea to his eventual home in America where he was sold, de jure, in to slavery.  His account paints a vivid picture of the abuse he and his fellow captives endured during their voyage and the pestilent environment to which they were subjected.  On describing his captors, Equiano wrote that “the white people looked and acted, as [he] thought, in so savage a manor; for [he] had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty…” (40).  For Equiano, the trip was strange and horrifying, not to mention his captors seemed to be endowed with magical powers.  He described the conditions on the ship as being so hopeless that some chose to jump overboard to their deaths rather than endure the trip which was leading them to their frighteningly unknown fates.  At first Equiano feared that the white men were going to eat him; then he learned that they were instead being taken to a far away land where they would work for the white men.  Upon hearing this, Euqiano was slightly relieved. 

As we become further and further removed from the times of slavery, it becomes too easy to forget the atrocities that so many endured while in slavery’s grips.  Reading Equiano’s account of being forced from his home to bondage is a real eye-opener and is an important reminder of our not-so-distant past.