Introduction
In this chapter students learned about inequalities regarding race and ethnicity and patterns of racial and ethnic relation. They learned the difference between prejudice and discrimination, as well as what sociologists mean by the terms minority, race, and ethnicity. Stereotypes, or sets of distorted, exaggerated, or oversimplified images that are applied to a category of people, appear throughout any society. An example of stereotyping and discrimination in American history is the internment of Japanese Americans in relocation camps during World War II. In this activity students will take a closer look at the experiences of Japanese Americans during the war, as well as what life was like inside the internment camps.

Lesson Description
Students will visit the Camp Harmony Web site to learn more about the experience of Japanese Americans during World War II. Students will answer several questions about the material on the site and will then write a haiku that describes Japanese American internment during World War II.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to identify causes of the Japanese American internment.
2. Students will be able to describe conditions inside the internment camps.
3. Students will be able to apply this knowledge to write a haiku that describes the experiences of Japanese Americans during the internment.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. The Munson report described the Nisei as being "very American" and dismissed rumors that Japanese Americans were disloyal to the United States. However, the report had no effect on the rising tide of hostilities against Japanese Americans.
2. Japanese Americans were given six days to pack everything that they would carry to the center and sell, rent, or store everything else. These neighbors, businesspeople, and farmers left Bainbridge Island under armed guard. Newspapers reported that the Japanese Americans departed compliantly as their Caucasian friends and classmates wept and said good-bye.
3. Each building usually had six apartments, and each apartment was about 20 feet square. Each family occupied one apartment. The partition dividing the apartments did not rise to the top of the roof, and so the living quarters were noisy and lacked privacy. The floors were laid directly onto the ground, and in some apartments weeds grew up through the floorboards. Army cots were provided for each family member, but not everyone had a mattress. There was no running water within the apartments, and the commmunity bathrooms were inadequate and unsanitary. The food at the center was mostly American, which was very difficult for those used to a Japanese diet.
4. Armed guards and barbed wire restricted Japanese Americans' movements within the camps. Japanese Americans were also forced to obey camp schedules with curfews, set meal times, and lights out. They had no rights to assemble, unless by special permission, and the Shinto religion was forbidden. Japanese language materials were confiscated, and police could search any apartment at any time without warrant.
5. Students' poems will vary.

Go To Student Web Activity