2024 Day of Remembrance
Understanding of the Yonsei’s Burden and Healing Passed by Wartime Incarceration
Executive Order 9066 signed on February 19, 1942 (left), and a street scene in front of the Chicago History Museum on February 18, 2024
A Day of Remembrance (DOR) was held at the Chicago History Museum on February 18 to remember President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which made possible the incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans.
The event is held annually to remember the fragility of civil rights in times of crisis and the importance of "vigil" to prevent the repetition of human rights violations by the U.S. Government.
After WWII, incarcerated Japanese Americans protested against the unjust actions of the U.S. Government, and in 1988 President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which resulted in a formal apology and redress payment by the U.S. Government.
However, the physical and emotional pain of the Japanese American (JA) families and individuals, who were subjected to incarceration and overt racism and prejudice, runs deep and casts a shadow over their descendants, even 80 years after the war. At this year's DOR, Psychology Professor Dana Nagata of the University of Michigan spoke about the impacts of incarceration on the Nisei (second generation), Sansei (third generation), and yonsei (fourth generation), whom she has studied for decades.
The 2024 DOR opened with the posting of colors by the Chicago Nisei Post No. 1183, and Brian Ozaki read Mayor Brandon Johnson's "Mayor's Proclamation" on behalf of the Mayor of Chicago.
Sofia Ozaki from Niles West High School and Alex Nakane from Evanston Township High School then read "The Civilian Exclusion Order" in 1942 ordering the eviction of Japanese Americans.
Chicago Mayoral Proclamation
Since Mayor Brandon and his staff could not attend the DOR, Brian Ozaki of the DOR Committee Member read the "Mayor's Proclamation" recognizing the DOR on his behalf.
The contents are as follows:
Whereas on February 19th, 1942, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sighed and issued Executive Order 9066, resulting in the forced removal and incarceration over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast, and whereas, during WWII, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Naval Intelligence reported that the Japanese community did not pose an internal danger to the United States while no charge of wrongdoing was filed against any Japanese-American.
And whereas during WWII, Japanese Americans who served demonstrated exemplary heroism and courage by volunteering to serve in the 100th Infantry Battalion, and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
And whereas in 1983, the Federal Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians found that all connotations of Executive Order 9066 were not justified by Military and necessity, and the decisions which resulted from it were not driven by analysis of military conditions.
And whereas on August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, finding that Executive Order 9066 was not justified by National Security and that incarceration constituted grave injustice to the Japanese Americans.
And whereas today, we hold the annual day of remembrance commemorated by families and individuals of all backgrounds across the United States to recognize this moment in our history as interconnected with all forms of injustice, and whereas the 2024 day of remembrance marks the 82nd anniversary of the issuance of Executive Order 9066, an event that forever changed the course of American culture and history.
And whereas the city of Chicago has long been the proud home of a vibrant Japanese-American community and our local day of remembrance is by the Chicago Japanese-American Council, the Chicago Japanese-American Historical Society, the Japanese-American Citizens League Chicago Chapter, the Japanese-American Service Committee and the Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago and will be marked by a series of programs aimed at education and reflection.
Now therefore, I Brandon Johnson, Mayor of the City of Chicago hereby proclaim the Day of Remembrance in Chicago and urge all of Chicago to stand together and acknowledge both the hardships and the courage and resolve of the Japanese-American community during this turbulent time in our nation’s history.
Dated this 18th day of February 24th, Brandon Johnson, Mayor
Legacies of Incarceration by Dr. Nagata
Dana Nagata, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dana Nagata, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, spoke about the impact of four generations of JA incarceration that she has researched. Nagata is sansei, and her parents were incarcerated in the Topaz Internment Camp.
Nagata explored the perspectives and actions of the Nisei as reflected in their experiences of unjust wartime imprisonment and their reactions to redress after the war, as well as the traumatic impact of incarceration on the postwar-born Sansei.
Nagata's recent research also extends to the impact still being passed on to the Yonsei after 82 years.
Nagata has published multiple articles and chapters on the psychological consequences of incarceration and the books “Legacy of Injustice: Exploring the Cross-Generational Impact of the Japanese American Internment” and “Qualitative Strategies for Ethnocultural Research.”
When she was six years old, sansei Nagata visited her grandmother in Los Angeles. When she found a jar filled with colored seashells, she asked her grandmother, "Who made these?” She replied, "Ask your mother.”
When she asked her mother, she replied, "I made it at camp." She asked her mother again, "Where did you find them?" her mother said, “No, not really.” And the way she said was clear that Nagata shouldn’t ask any more questions.
Nagata later discovered that she was not alone in encountering a cryptic family interaction about the camp; other Sansei had similar experiences.
In 1991, Nagata began a survey to explore the impact of incarceration on the sansei, postwar JA children of former incarcerees. She sent a direct mail survey to sansei across the U.S. and asked them to respond. At the time, the average age of the sansei was 32.
Ripples of incarceration into the 4th generation
Thirty years later, Nagata conducted an online survey of Yonsei. Because the survey included open-ended questions about how the incarceration had impacted their lives, more than 440 Yonsei freely wrote what came into their mind.
Nagata tried to identify key things that emerged in their comments and analyzed three impacted areas, Family Dynamics, Identity, and Social Justice. In this talk, she highlighted the voices of the yonsei to convey their experiences.
Each of the themes had more than 110 yonsei responded yes, “This was a way in which camp had impacted them,” Nagata said.
Family Dynamics
Silence and Avoidance
Regarding the family built by their incarcerated grandparents, the yonsei cited several behaviors. One key behavior was silence or avoidance of the topic of incarceration. Whenever the topic came up in the home, there was always a hush, a heavy silence filled with a sense of loss and shame. The yonsei did not know much about their families and were too sensitive to broach the subject even if they tried.
Family Dynamics
Emotional Distance
The yonsei noticed incarceration as a contributing factor to an emotional distance in their family interactions. Their parents, the sansei, were often emotionally unavailable due to being raised by incarcerated parents.
A yonsei, who says he or she has no emotional intimacy with his/her family, wrote it was something passed down from their incarcerated ancestors. The generational torment has shifted to their generation.
Nagata recalled that she was not able to express herself as much as she would have liked. She said, “We got everything we needed to survive, but lacked a lot in emotional well-being.”
Identity, Loss of Culture, & “Being American”
Incarceration made the nisei aware that being Japanese could be a huge liability. For this reason, the nisei raised their children to protect them from such things by de-emphasizing the Japanese culture and language. However, this did not stop them from passing on the impact of the incarceration to the yonsei generation.
The sansei’s identity, the loss of Japanese culture, and the pressure to be more American than American are the second key areas of intergenerational impact, according to Nagata.
One Yonsei said that their grandparents left their Japanese background behind and did not pass it on to the sansei, leading to neither their parents nor yonsei themselves knowing Japanese culture, the Japanese language, history, or even their own family history. The yonsei wrote that he/she believed his ethnic identity was the result of incarceration, xenophobia, and white supremacy when considered to sense of shame and lack of knowledge.
Another Yonsei said that he suspected the influence of incarceration on his grandparents' parenting practices, which they took to assimilate his father into white Americans. He commented that he believed his grandparents could not tolerate being considered Japanese under the environment of the time.
Don’t Rock the Boat
The nisei had to stop behaving Japanese. If they could move towards whiteness, they would be moving toward more safety.
The message to ensure safety was to keep out of trouble, always be careful not to offend other people, and not to show off; otherwise, the nail that sticks out gets hammered.
Nagata said not all JAs shared that proverb, but it was something she struggled with.
Mental Health
Nataga said that the yonsei share that they carry the emotional burden of incarceration carried by their grandparents.
One of the Yonsei wrote that his family members in their 70s to 90s are still struggling with the burden of the great loss, shame, and grief they had suffered from past events, and the heaviness of that burden was always around him. “Will the yonsei still be that traumatized in 60 years?” he wrote.
Another yonsei commented that being branded, anxiety, and depression were haunting in his life, leaving him with a sense of unease and anger.
Concerns about Government
The yonsei expressed their concern about the government regarding the incarceration that had occurred in his family with a touch of sarcasm. A yonsei expressed that the incarceration made him aware of the government's abuse of power over its citizens, that anyone with one-sixteenth colored blood could be incarcerated, and that incarceration has been happening again and can happen to them because this is white America.
Healing: Social Justice
Importantly, while yonsei wrote about multiple impacts of incarceration, they also wrote about the impact of healing.
One comment was the attention to social justice of the yonsei, that they had a responsibility to speak out to condemn the injustices that Japanese Americans had faced, and to stand in solidarity with the weak side. There was also one that stated that incarceration was a definitive moral compass and a willingness to embark on public education about the JA experience. He said that such actions were intended to prevent future generations from having to go through the same experiences he did.
Healing: Pride & Resilience
The yonsei generation has an important sense of pride and resilience connected to their family's past.
One of the Yonsei commented learning about the difficulties his family had faced and overcome to give his generation a better life that gave the yonsei the courage to stand up and a sense of pride. He also said that his family's history has had a positive impact on him.
Healing: Gratitude
Healing can be seen in the yonsei’s gratitude for their ancestors.
One Yonsei wrote that he was grateful for the hard work of his great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents, and he was thankful to be a Japanese American. He concluded that it was because of the love of his family, the strength to get back up, to never give up, to keep going, to always stand up for justice, and to always overcome.
Professor Danna Nagata said, “From my research, it seems clear that the rippling effects of incarceration can hold pain and loss from members of the yonsei generation, but it also is important to recognize it serves as a source of inspiration for their futures and those who follow them.”
In the 2024 DOR, another keynote presentation was given by Jami Nakamura Lin, author of “The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir”. She talked about her book.
From left: Lisa Doi, Jami Nakamura Lin, and Danna Nagata
A discussion and audience Q&A was held by moderator Lisa Doi, President of the Japanese American Citizens League, Chicago with the two keynote speakers.
Day of Remembrance was annually held by Chicago Japanese American Council, Chicago Japanese American Historical Society (www.CJAHS.org), Japanese American Citizens League (www.jaclchicago.org), Japanese American Service Committee (www.jasc-chicago.org), and Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago (www.jmaschicago.org), in collaboration with Chicago History Museum.