THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? NO. But I know for a Fact That the Japanese Don’t go Down Without a Fight. How did They Prevent Themselves From Getting Thrown in Jail?
The Japanese did everything they possibly could to prevent themselves from wrongly getting thrown into jail. In most cases, they got rid of everything that could be traced back to their Japanese heritage. This meant getting rid of photos, clothing, family heirlooms, anything and everything that would lead someone to think that they are even of Japanese descent. For the most part, these things were burned and completely lost forever. But in a few very special cases, family heirlooms and such were imperceptibly hidden, either with other (non-Japanese) families or basements of building where the family didn’t reside. A confused Henry had caught glimpses of this going on in Nihonmachi (Japan town, when everyone was franticly burning almost all of their possessions.
“Why are you taking a picture of garbage fires?” Henry asked, not sure if the photographer even recognized him.
The man looked through Henry. Then his eyes blinked as he seemed to remember him. It must have been the button Henry wore. The photographer turned back to his camera, his hands shaking. “They’re not burning garbage.”
Henry stood at the T where the alley met the street, next to photographer on his milk crate with his camera an his flashbulbs. Look down the alley, he could see people coming and going from the apartment buildings, throwing things into burning barrels. A woman yelled out of a third-story window to a man below and threw down a plum-colored kimono that looped and swirled. settling like falling snow on the dirty, slug trailed pavement of the alley. The man below scooped it up, hesitated, then threw it on the fire.” (73)
While reading this, my heart hit the Earth’s core. I could not believe people would conform themselves so much just to not be persecuted. To complete erase their family history so they didn’t have to deal with the hourly worry of being arrested. And even after they did all this, there was no guarantee that they would be safe. It shows that people would give up everything for a promise of another day. It tells others that they just want to live their innocent lives in peace.
