Activity for Home Was a Horse Stall

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1942: A young Japanese American woman ponders the meaning of freedom behind barbed wire...

• Just before leaving for the internment camp, Yumi Kataoka burned her family's Japanese books, letters, calendars and certificates from a Japanese bank. Why? If you had to destroy the possessions that identified your cultural heritage, what would you choose? How might you feel?
  
  
• At the farewell breakfast she prepared, Mrs. Perkins refused to allow Nee and Sox to help serve the meal. She told them that it was her turn to serve them. What did this symbolize? How did Mrs. Perkins continue to show acts of kindness to the Kataoka family even after their internment?
  
  
• What effect did the camps have on Japanese American family life? Describe the conditions of the camps, including living quarters, food and climate. How did Japanese Americans build a sense of community in these difficult conditions?
  
  
• During World War II, the United States was at war with Germany and Italy as well as Japan. Why do you think the government treated Japanese Americans differently than it treated German Americans or Italian Americans?
  
  
• Some Japanese American men refused to pledge loyalty and fight for the U.S. until the government released the internees. Were they justified in their protest? Why or why not?
  
  
• Write a journal entry in which you imagine you have 30 minutes to gather a small suitcase of important belongings before being sent to an unknown place for an unspecified period of time. You may not take any electrical or battery-operated items such as a Walkman or hair dryer. What items do you choose and why? Describe how you would feel about being forced to leave your home.
  
  
• Should the government attempt to provide financial compensation to the ethnic and racial groups it has discriminated against? If so, how can the government arrive at a dollar value for these injustices?
  
  
• Write a poem expressing your thoughts and feelings as you ride the train that will take you to the internment camp.
  
  
• Sox could not stop wondering what her people had done to deserve being penned up like animals. She could not believe this was happening in America. Write an essay on how you would feel if your rights and protections as a U.S. citizen were taken away simply because of your family heritage.
  
  
• Write an essay tracing the history of U.S. immigration policy from 1880 to 1945. To what extent have race, social class and professional status influenced policy-making?
  
  
• Choose an item that defines you culturally. Bring it to school with you. Explain to the class why this article is important to you and how you would feel if you had to part with this item for an indefinite period of time.
  
  
• Find out if there is a Japanese American in your community whose family was interned in the camps. Get your teacher's permission to invite her or him to visit your class for a discussion session. Prepare a list of questions you might ask.
  
  
• Research and display in a time line the events that have tied the U.S. to Japan from the opening of trade in 1854 to the present time. Divide the class into 4 groups. Each group should focus on events and issues that fall within a particular time period. Group I: 1854-1900; Group 2: 1900-1920; Group 3: 1921-1945; Group 4: 1946-present.