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Racism by Definition: Challenging the Use of Racial Epithets in Online Dictionaries
“Jap.” It’s a violent racial slur that has long since fallen out of use. Or so we thought.
Call to Action: Four Ways You can Help Increase Awareness of Japanese American WWII Incarceration
Who would have thought that as 2015 came to a close, we’d be debating World War II incarceration again? First it was Mayor David Bowers’ ill-advised invocation of Japanese American…
Anti-Refugee Rhetoric and Justifications for WWII-Era Mass Incarceration: Is History Repeating Itself?
In the aftermath of last week’s tragic events in Paris, we have been saddened to watch as leaders across the world have turned to vitriolic xenophobia in their discussions of the Syrian…
A Response to Mayor David A. Bowers
Today, David A. Bowers, mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, issued a statement that favorably invoked World War II incarceration as justification for his city’s opposition to accepting Syrian refugees.
Allegiance: A Message from Densho Executive Director Tom Ikeda
Japanese American history gained a new national audience this past weekend: Allegiance, a dramatic reenactment of World War II incarceration set at the Heart Mountain concentration camp, opened on Broadway.
Honouliuli Internment Camp: The Path to Becoming a National Park Service Unit
Earlier this month, the National Park Service (NPS) released the Honouliuli Gulch and Associated Sites Special Resource Study, which recommends that the former internment camp site on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu be designated a…
Voices from Heart Mountain
This week, the annual Heart Mountain Pilgrimage will draw visitors to rural Wyoming, where they will pay tribute to the more than 14,000 Japanese Americans from California, Washington, and Oregon…
Segregated Swimming: Oral Histories of Japanese Americans and Public Pools
With the end of summer looming on the horizon, people everywhere are savoring the season’s final days of poolside leisure: seeking the refuge of cool water on a hot afternoon,…
Why Teach Japanese American WWII History?
Last month, we launched Teaching World War II Japanese American Incarceration with Primary Sources—a free, online course for educators.
On the Loss of Dignity: A Response to Justice Clarence Thomas
In his dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage case, Justice Clarence Thomas invoked both slavery and “internment” in his argument that the government cannot cause individuals to lose…
Apology Politics: From Redress to Comfort Women
Guest post by Brian Niiya, Densho Content Director The recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the U.S. and his invitation to address the U.S. Congress has brought…
Crafting Beauty: Dissent by Design in Japanese American Concentration Camps
Following the Rago Arts auction debacle that unfolded earlier this month, new questions emerged about how and why Japanese American incarcerates were producing artwork from within the confines of WWII…
Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Book at the Center of the Rago Arts Auction Controversy
This week, a major controversy developed over the Rago Arts and Auction Center’s plans to auction off 450 photos and artifacts from WWII era Japanese American concentration camps. The collection…
A Disappointing Comparison during the 70th Anniversary of EO9066
From Densho’s Executive Director, Tom Ikeda: In 2008 I voted for President Obama hoping for comparisons with Franklin D Roosevelt, a Democratic President who entered office amid a financial crisis…
Disaster in Japan
The tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 was a shocking event. The scope and scale of the devastation is difficult to believe. All of us at…
Repealing Birthright Citizenship Wasn’t a Good Idea Back in the Forties Either
On George Mason University’s History News Network (HNN), historian Greg Robinson, author of A Tragedy of Democracy, posted a recent article about lawsuits by nativists during World War II to…
Civil Liberties Notes: Art and Law
Over the weekend, a two-day symposium on civil liberties in Twin Falls, Idaho, was presented by the National Park Service, Friends of Minidoka, and College of Southern Idaho. The symposium…
International Internees: The Family Camp at Crystal City
“The bitterness of the incarceration was there, but they were able to circumvent it somehow and live a pretty decent community family life.” — Mako Nakagawa
Japanese TV Drama Filming in Seattle
“A major film is being made in Seattle, but you’ll probably never see it. It’s a 10-hour movie that will be shown only in Japan.” That’s how a KING 5…
Internment 101
A recent action of the Texas Board of Education gives me an opportunity to discuss a topic that confuses some people. On March 12, 2010, the Texas Board of Education…
Seattle’s Local Hero
The Densho staff sends congratulations to Seattle’s local hero Apolo Anton Ohno for a successful 2010 Winter Olympics. What an impressive athlete and gracious young man he is. We had…
The Story to the North
Densho is located a few hours from the Canadian border. Hapa speed skater Apolo Ohno is a local hero. So, with the winter Olympics about to descend on Vancouver, British…
KABC news story about Rescue of the Lost Battalion
KABC in Los Angeles did an excellent TV news story about the 65th anniversary reunion of the men who were at the rescue of the Lost Battalion. The 442nd Regimental…
Oral History Workshop – Not How, But Why
Last Saturday, Densho executive director Tom Ikeda, with communications director Patricia Kiyono, led an oral history workshop for 15 participants. Unlike how-to trainings, Tom designed this workshop to examine the…