Japanese Internment Camps
Reality Vs. Fiction
The Truth Behind the Lies
The U.S govenment used propoganda and other forms of spreading news to falsely show American citizens that Japanese American Interment Camps were a good thing and that they were enjoyable for the Japanese Americans that were there. They would show pictures or messages that would convice people that what they were doing was right but instead it was crule and very wrong. The camps were like prisons and had horrible conditions for the Japanese Americas that were living there. Once they were sent to these camps their lives were altered for forever.
What they want us to see
The children here are smiling, laughing and look like they are enjoying themselves. The government would want us to see the smiles on these childrens faces to show that they are enjoying their time at the camp and aswell at school, but life was not actually like that for these children. It was the opposite.
Beautiful Gardens
The garden in this picture looks peaceful and calming. This is the kind of picture that the government used to show the camp. It looks very nice and thats exactly what they wanted people to think, but behind that was a lot of pain and wrong doing going on.
Outside the Camps
Outside the camps there was so much racism and discriminiation going on that Japanese Americans put up signs like the one above to basically prove they are American. They felt the need to put up a sign becuase what the government and other American citizens were doing to Japanese Americans made them feel like they were not part of our country and they had to prove that they were. They wanted to send a message that they are Americans too, despite their race.
What it was really like
Here there is a Japanese family, children espically, with an armed guard. This shows how things really were. There was so much suspision and racism that was going on that they needed armed guards to walk around with Japanese familys and children who were innocent people and were being punished for something they couldnt control. Americans distrusted the Japanese so much that they felt the need to put armed guards with children and it shows how wrongly people handled the situation that was going on.
Unhappy Faces
These children who seem to be going to the internment camp are very unhappy and you can tell this by the looks on their faces. They had to leave their lives at home and go to a place with "many oppertunties" which was truthfully almost a prision and this moment going to camp would change their lives forver. The government made it out that people were happy and fine with coming to these camps but as you can tell they were the least bit happy.
Horrible Conditions
This image of the showers shows that the camps were not as luxurious as the government put them out to be. The conditions of the camps were not nice and very dirty. They would also get very crowded. Imagine having to shower in those showers with other people for years while being stuck in these camps. It would not be enjoyable. Along with the showers, the dining hall where they would get food would be overly crowded with people and the laundry rooms would constantly have large groups of people in them. Living in these conditions would be tough and was very challenging to many families.