"Living conditions were simple and Spartan."~ Kanji Sahara, JACL Pacific Southwest District's Civil Rights Chair and Board member, Personal Interview, January 18th, 2014.
As seen by the living conditions of the Japanese Americans, there was an apparent violation of rights. Camp life was organized; they worked together within the camp to live 'peacefully' for the duration of the war. The flip side of the coin was that camp life was unsanitary and physical demanding. At the end of the day, after all the fear, there would still be some joy in the camp.
"Some of the internees had jobs in the camps, however they were paid very low wages. They formed sports teams, held dances, published a camp newspaper. Schools were established where many of the internees served as teachers." ~ Bill Yoshino, JACL Midwest Regional Director, Personal Interview, January 10th, 2014 "After school hours, any academic distinctions were forgotten, and my classmates and I ran in packs through the desert."~ Erica Harth, Professor of Humanities and Women's studies at Brandeis University |
Organization |
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Horrible Living Conditions |
"The young people played games of all kinds... One game we played almost every day was called “sticks”. Each player had a stick about a foot long and 2 inches in diameter. One end was pointed. The first player would throw his stick into the ground – pointed end down so that it would stand up. The second player would throw his stick into the ground trying to knock down the first player’s stick while his stick would be standing up. Then the next player would throw his stick into the ground and so forth. I never saw this game played anywhere else. I wondered if it was invented in my block in camp." ~ Kanji Sahara, JACL Pacific Southwest District's civil rights chair and board member, Personal Interview, January 18th, 2014. |
Recreation |