During
World War II, the United States government forcibly imprisoned over
110,000 people of Japanese descent in concentration camps for the
duration of the war. Although two-thirds of these people were US
citizens, and none of them had been accused of any crimes, these
families were moved away from their homes and forced to live in one of
ten concentration camps, or one of eight D.O.J. detention camps.
After the war, these people often returned to their
previous homes to find their property was either vandalized or taken away
from them.
In 1988, Ronald Reagan signed legislation which
apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The
legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice,
war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership". Although it
provided reparations for Japanese-Americans, it did not provide for the 2200
Japanese Latin-Americans who were held in U.S. prison camps during the war.
I see this group of people as having an exceptional
historical legacy. Everyone in this exclusive group is at least 64 years
old. Many people with exceptional stories to tell are no longer with us.
'Kioku' mean 'remembrance' in Japanese. In this project, I am photographing people of Japanese
descent who were included in this forcible internment. Although this project
focuses on people currently living in Santa Clara County, California, I
welcome the opportunity to photograph anyone who was included in this
historic
event. If you know of anyone who would like to participate in this project,
please contact me at andyfrazer [at] gorillasites [dot] com.
I would like to thank the Japanese-American Museum of
San Jose and, especially, Will Kaku, for their assistance with this project. |