Comments on: Manzanar: “Never Again” Released – Video by Ken Burns: Watch It Here!

By: James Yamani

James Yamani — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:18:02 +0000

this was a great doc. i really would like to see Ken Burns document the whole experience through all of the camps, and what it kind of led to as far as the Sansei being taught to be more passive, or people like Yuri Kochiyama who went in the total opposite direction because so many people are still clueless of this incident, i would’ve thought that it would’ve been included in the schools history books by now but it isn’t and it is a shame. i first heard of the internment camps when i was about 13 or 14 from my Grandmother. her family was sent to Heart Mountain, she didnt really say much about it because it bothered her so much, but through the years i’ve heard stories from other aunties and uncles who lived it, and i gotta say it still angers me. i have not trusted this government ever since the first time i heard of this

By: Mary Elsener Chibana

Mary Elsener Chibana — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:12:39 +0000

While the people in these camps certainly weren’t physically tortured in the manner of the Nazis, they were corralled and held in a manner that certainly left them vulnerable to any whim of the government, including torture. And they were held in the camps—adults and children alike—by machine gun towers. When first deprived of certain civil rights, then later stripped of all property but the clothes on their backs and rounded up and taken to unknown destinations in blacked-out transport, these US citizens, just like the Jews in Europe, still held on to the belief that their government would “maybe go this far, but certainly, no further”, as one outrage followed another. And like the European Jews, 98% complied with whatever their government told them they must do. As “good American citizens” they maintained trust in their government, in their neighbors, to a degree that made people in later years wonder “why did they go along with all this?”, as if they were somehow complicit in their own treatment.

But what citizen has the power to do anything else? What citizen believes that the government whose laws they follow and which they pay taxes to can legally sweep all their rights off the table? What citizen can believe that her/his neighbors will stand by and watch such outrages and not pitch in to help their neighbor resist, knowing that they could be next? Like Native American families through the centuries, and Arab American family members in 2001, these Japanese American families were “detained” without reason, for an indeterminate period of time and technically did not know what our government might do with or to them ultimately. Mike Masaoka certainly wasn’t the only person saying these American families should—not might, but should—be used as hostages to be exchanged for any white American soldiers captured by the Japanese government. And we know now what happened to people held in Japanese POW camps.

To a degree, governments count on citizen’s unwillingness to jump in and help neighbors whose rights are being abused by their government. Especially when the neighbors have a slightly different culture than our own, whether because they were born in another country, have been ostracized from mainstream society due to race, belong to a different religious group, have a different sexual orientation, or speak English with an accent. Fathers, mothers and children were murdered, and horribly, in Waco, Texas during the Clinton Administration through their neighbors’ unwillingness to stand up for their rights. Murdered on national television with daily coverage!!

Waco went on for days, and I didn’t so much as made a phone call to the White House in protest while this was happening before my astonished eyes. I must always remember that.

But I stood with my Arab American neighbors in Fremont CA, in 2001. I’ve decided want to be like Marjory Sperling, the woman in this film who said, “If it were to happen today, oh, my, I would raise SUCH HELL.”

By: john lee

john lee — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:58:53 +0000

What amazes me are the people I know that were at Manzanar and other camps throughout the country as they came back to reastablish their lives, showed no bitterness. In the fifties when I worked with a man that was interned (an ugly word) at Manzanar, He never spoke of his misfortune. The same for a neat person I went to school with and still see to this day. We do talk about the past and try to come to any understanding of how and why? All the money can’t wipe away this ugly past. Thank you for your work to not let us forget our special friends.

By: Ted Miller

Ted Miller — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:13:25 +0000

Great documentary. I think we are fortunate to live in a country where such can be made, and where such things are seen as a mistake. I want to mention that Italian-Americans and German-Americans were also cracked down on, though nowhere near as much as Japanese-Americans. Most of that happened in California, though German-Americans in central Texas are still angry about the loss of their schools (those few who are old enough to remember and still alive). German-American communities were vibrant before the war, you’ll find few traces of them today.

By: John

John — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Wow! its amazing how ALL of this is excluded from US History books!

By: nob shimokochi

nob shimokochi — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:45:51 +0000

When I was languishing on a cot with a straw matress, I was troubled and puzzled. I learned that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights guaranteed my civil rights. What am I doing here in a Concenration camp? Even after 65+ years, whenever I see the words Constitution or Bill of Rights I think of concentration camps. The two always go together in my memory.

Every morning in home room we had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance while saluting it with outstretched right arm. When we got to “…with liberty and justice for all.” I used to mumble “with liberty and justice for some.” I said “some” softly so no one would report me to the FBI. I was fearful of the FBI because they made thousands of people disappear and I didn’t want to disappear.

By: Jamie Mayeda

Jamie Mayeda — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:32:30 +0000

I’m on the same page as Sam Ishida.

By: Gann Matsuda

Gann Matsuda — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 19:23:02 +0000

What are your thoughts about the terminology used now that you’re older and wiser?

By: Jamie Mayeda

Jamie Mayeda — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:35:21 +0000

In 1986, when I was a sophomore in high school, my social studies teacher vehemently corrected my use of the word “concentration” when paired with “camp” in my paper describing my parents’ and grandparents’ experience in the Rohwer, Arkansas concentration camp. He said that I was wrong for using the word “concentration” and that the more accurate description should have been either internment or relocation camp. Although I don’t remember the score he gave my paper, I will not forget the anger in his voice as he spoke to me.

By: Toyoo Nitake

Toyoo Nitake — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:51:09 +0000

The story of Sue Kumitomi should be produced in a film documentary for young people to learn what one person can accomplish. I knew Sue and she was the engine of the Manzanar movement that opened doors to all other camps for historical information. I attended her early pilmgrimage that people came in charter buses from universities. Hope Sue will get the support and recognition that she deserves.
Sue’s narration was similar to my experience so I relived it as I read it. I did not tell my son’s about it as I thought it might be negative influence to their life.