Ruth Awasa Research Paper

Ruth Awasa, a Japanese American internment camp survivor, once stated, “Sometimes good comes through adversity” (Awasa). After viewing and researching several articles and pictures on densho.org, I gathered some pieces of knowledge about the Japanese Americans that resided in the Minidoka Internment Camp in southern Idaho. The internment camp residents I believe faced treatment there that was not justified for their situations. Additionally, the Japanese Americans there, especially the younger people, I argue, had a positive attitude throughout, like Ruth Awasa. Minidoka was in a very desolate and barren place in the state, so it was easy to become depressed over the surroundings that the Japanese Americans faced. Ultimately, I realized that Americans wanted Japanese Americans to be in internment camps and obey their American rules. Additionally, Americans also yearned for the Japanese Americans to assimilate and follow the customs that Americans find are appropriate and normal. However, American citizens also favored to have them gone and out of sight because they were associated with Japan, and many had hard feelings and felt negativity after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Therefore, I believe that Americans wanted a double standard with the Japanese Americans and I believe that that was unfair to those individuals. Likewise, I believe that Japanese American children attempted to keep a positive attitude to survive moving away from their childhood homes and cherished companions. One article in particular that I thought was very memorable while researching on the website was Evacuee School Closes to Harvest Idaho Produce. Tony Koura reported on the incident (Koura). The reason why I felt that it was an important piece to my argument was on account of again, the double standard that Japanese Americans faced during that time period in internment camps across the country. I believe that this double standard was basically that the Japanese were supposed to be assimilating in Minidoka, but they also were required to help in Idaho and be an American citizen farming, like in this particular article (Koura). They were outcasts, but also were still needed to assist in farming jobs and duties in Idaho (Koura). The young people of Minidoka had no choice but to stop attending school and help with the harvesting crops there in Idaho (Koura). In the end of the article, it is stated that some students were to stay in the camp to help with farming in Minidoka (Koura). I feel like this was unfair treatment at Minidoka. These young Japanese Americans were forced to put their educational path on hold for about thirty days and help local farmers; they did not have a choice in the matter (Koura). I believe that they should have had a choice on whether they could stay in Minidoka and further their studies that month, or oblige and assist in the farming. Since December to Now was another article that was significant. The author, named Margaret Morita, describes the shift of her lifestyle after the Pearl Harbor bombing, relocating to a different city in Washington from …show more content…
I argue that the Japanese Americans were faced with a double standard of trying to act like an American citizen, while also feeling like they should be far away from the United States, as Americans did not favor them. It was very hard on the young people that had residence on the internment camps, but I admire the strength they had in attempting to have lifted spirits and not let anything get them down. Ultimately, I argue that even though the Japanese Americans were associated with Japan, they did not deserve the treatment they faced at interment camps, such as Minidoka in the western state of Idaho. Yes, maybe they should have been monitored on their activities to make sure that they would not attack any other place in the United States, but I do not believe that they should have had to endure all that negative treatment that they faced at the internment camps in that era. Like Ruth Awasa’s quote mentioned, individuals can ultimately make a negative situation positive, and I strongly believe that is how the Japanese Americans acted when dealing with the double standard and the rough conditions in the internment