Above: Detail of a collage by Mizu Sugimura conveying the result of the bombing at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, stopped the clock for her father's Japanese-American family.
(This blog was orginally posted on Friday, December 7, 2007 at at reader-generated site at The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA.)
Memorial celebrations and big parades are wonderful vehicles to build community. On more serious occasions such as the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it's appropriate to take a moment of silence to honor and show respect for the suffering and sacrifice of both those people who went through this horrific event as well as those whose lives would subsequently be forever touched by the terrible war which followed.
Above: The bombing at Pearl Harbor was mirrored by the subsequent explosion of Japanese-American community life up and down the West Coast of the U.S. In many areas, their subsequent removal resulted in the permenent eliminationa of a once vibrant retail and social community such as Nihon Machi (Japan Town) in our own city of Tacoma, which could never be recovered.
As a child of individuals interned in the US governments wartime internment camps during World War II, it was a painful observance as well. It was was not marked with the same kind of fervor in the household where I grew up as in the outside world. This had nothing to do with the patriotic allegiance of my folks or my family of whom a number actually fought in World War II for our country and were among the veterans whose sacrifice we annually noted. From my position on the universal floor it is possible for one to see the anniversary in a different light from a very minority view.
Above: Detail of this collage illustrates the dilemna of native born Japanese-American soldiers during World War II who volunteered to serve and fight for our country even as they and their immigrant parents were imprisoned behind barbed wire. The young man in the image is my father, who was drafted in WW II but completed term of military service in the US Army after the Japanese surrendered. Copyright 2007 by Mizu Sugimura.
So today, I'm taking the liberty to share more images from several pieces I created to try to communicate the ambiguity of this unusual position, which may be something along the lines of what people from other ethnic cultures say, for example from certain Middle Eastern countries are feeling when they read headlines in the media today in regards to events of other battlefields. My appeal is for those fellow citizens who value the occasional opportunity to be mindful of both what is being said in our society out-loud as well as what may not be spoken just as loudly.
Above: In some ways, the long silence by the victims and perpetrators of the WW II internment of Japanese-Americans had the effect of creating a space which said silently this is where we put disposable people.
Unlike those fellow citizens of the nation who object to persons protesting the war in Iraq, for example, as a clear example of giving aid and comfort to enemies of the United States, taking an equal moment from time to time to consider the ramifications to wider groups of people on days of momentous significance such as this, does not remove in any way, shape or form the memory and respect for those whose lives were cut short and families devastated, because we are all valuable in the greater scheme of things no matter how we may temporarily appear to each other.
Above: The cover of this issue of the Economist ostensibly looking at the topic of Japan's increasing participation in the world's financial community in 1999 years after Pearl Harbor illustrates how a certain mindset is quietly or inadvertently perpetuated within society and the shorthand cultural lexicon. Copyright 2007 by Mizu Sugimura
And while it may well be necessary to reduce one's opponents to the level of sub-human in order to go to war and kill them in the short term, if we persist in associating those people and cultures with those memories, it has had the historical effect of making the divisions between us last far longer into our cultural heritage than may be justified at least, in my humble opinion.
When is the time, if there ever is one, when a closer examination of issue is pertinent? Does anyone doubt that self-delusion can be a cop-out for the needed reformation of stereotypes, frozen reasoning and stagnant thinking that can ultimately be our own society's ultimate undoing? Is it possible, or even desireable to attempt to get-off this intellectual roller coaster? Or are we too jaded and too addicted to other benefits of the crazy ride?
Better minds may be able to make some sense of it all. I cannot claim the skills for myself. I believe the idea is worthy of consideration because the present state of affairs holds too little and too few occasions for lasting hope and inspiration. But I will proceed nevertheless with this exhibition today because I think it is worthwhile, mildly entertaining and what readers stumble upon it can ultimately discern for themselves.
Above: The legacy of the internment experience resulted to a certain extent in a climate where an entire community bore the extra burden of feeling themselves under suspicion. When I grew up in Seattle, WA in the 60's & 70's my parents told us should we misbehave, all Japanese-Americans would be blamed. During my parents youth, this sweeping generalization had proved all too true. Copyright 2007 by Mizu Sugmiura.
This is then a photo editorial. I do not claim it is the majority opinion or that it is one the majority would be comfortable to give it's blessing to as practical, sensible or clearly the result of applying common sense. Depite all of these disclaimers, it may well be still worthwhile, and have some iota of value in a larger picture. For those who come along, I offer you my eternal thanks and gratitude.
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