Topic > Looking at the history of Japanese Americans as shown in the documentary When You Are Smiling

Although the United States had problems during the Great Depression, Japanese Americans had much worse problems. The bombing of Pearl Harbor forced Japanese Americans into internment camps. Resettlement Executive Order 9066 issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was especially harsh on these Japanese Americans, citizens of the United States, because they were forced to leave their homes and separate from their families. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay During the mass evacuation of the Japanese, freedom and education came at a price. They had close bonds with their families and friends. Many of these Japanese Americans did not make it out alive and were incarcerated. They have gone through years of discrimination and prejudice. In the years that followed, it was very difficult for Japanese Americans to find work and be accepted into society. In the documentary “When You're Smiling,” one of the Japanese Americans recalled that most places wouldn't help them, not even the Quakers; the only people who would help them were the African American Baptist church. Some of them left the camp and did odd jobs until the draft caught up with them. Many of them were drafted to serve in the United States during World War II. Janice D. Tanaka, who made this documentary, talked about how her parents and grandparents face a lot of racism and hardship. His father did not feel the need to prove his loyalty to the Americans because he was a citizen before the attack occurred. He left the internment camp and worked as an interpreter and trainer for the occupying forces in Hiroshima. After his discharge, his parents married during the war. They were lucky enough to find decent work. His father was good at woodworking and his mother worked for Bank of America as a clerk. Many of the Japanese Americans were no longer wanted after being released from the camps. Japanese Americans who were released and returned to their homes in the South found themselves in danger. There would be burning houses, threats of bodily harm, and abuse by the Ku-Klux-Klan. It was dangerous and they had no protection against threats and abuse. The documentary was about how Maryknoll provided a safe haven for Japanese Americans after the war. Maryknoll was a Catholic school where they taught the lower class of Japanese Americans. The school was very strict and their goal was to be wonderful and benevolent teachers of knowledge, but many Asian children were looked down upon. Japanese Americans claimed that resettlement was more difficult than internment because wherever they went they were expelled or quickly judged. Outings were very rare for them and they didn't really talk about the war. When talking about the war, there was usually a deliberate silence. Although they were citizens before the incident, they could not change their appearance because it was quite obvious that they were Japanese. Many of them had difficulty because some were kicked home from school for standing out as Asian. People would shame them and say hurtful things like Japanese Americans were the reason the war started, even though some of them were living in the United States as citizens before the bombings occurred. They lived their lives as lower-middle class, and many of them said they were depressed. These Japanese Americans felt rejected by where they lived and were forced to conform just to be like everyone else. If.