| Following the 1941 attack of Pearl Harbor, a wave of | | | | propaganda films are slanted to mask the crude living |
| Anti-Japanese hysteria sweeps the west coast. Fears | | | | conditions and to justify the mandated actions. Few |
| of sabotage and further invasion are fanned by the | | | | spoke out. |
| rabid Hearst Press, politicians, business protectionist | | | | Throughout the summer, the army moves over |
| groups and the military. The American people quickly | | | | 100,000 Japanese-American citizens to ten hastily |
| begin to look for a scapegoat. | | | | prepared internment camps in the harsh interiors of the |
| At the urging of the War Department, President | | | | country stretching from Death Valley, CA to Southern |
| Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 authorizing the | | | | Arkansas. Life inside these camps is alien for people |
| removal of all Japanese-Americans from the Pacific | | | | who only recently enjoyed complete freedom. |
| coast. In one broad stroke the civil liberties of over | | | | Although they create a microcosm of the world they |
| 100,000 American citizens are destroyed. Four days | | | | left behind, few ever get accustomed to living behind |
| later, a Japanese submarine bombards, ineffectually, an | | | | barbed wire and being watched by armed guards. |
| oil field near Santa Barbara, California... a timely | | | | After V-J Day, Victory over Japan, the camps are |
| affirmation of existing fears. | | | | quietly emptied one by one. Each family is given a |
| All Japanese-Americans are told to wind up their | | | | meager stipend of $50 to return to their neighborhood. |
| business affairs in 7 to 10 days and to report to the | | | | Although, many have nothing to return home to. Now, |
| newly established War Relocation authority. The | | | | the ex-internees face another challenge - starting over. |
| evacuees have three choices: They can sell their | | | | The Japanese-Americans, begin to rebuild their lives |
| property, store it or abandon it - but because of future | | | | with typical grace and courage. |
| uncertainly, many dispose of their property and | | | | Some might argue that it is difficult to avoid all |
| businesses at a fraction of the value. They are | | | | inequalities in time of war, but the United States has |
| permitted to take only what they can carry. They are | | | | little excuse for its treatment of citizens of Japanese |
| taken on buses and trains to temporary quarters like | | | | ancestry. Forty years later, Congress formally |
| Santa Anita Raceway in California until permanent | | | | acknowledges that the internment of |
| quarters are completed. Army newsreels and | | | | Japanese-Americans was a mistake. |