Dwight Okita In Response To Executive Order 906 Analysis

Racial Discrimination in Dwight Okita’s “In Response to Executive Order 9066”

The United States’ declaration of war on Japan preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor introduced a period of fear regarding national security. Okita integrates this historical period into the poem by following the friendship between fourteen-year old speaker Okawa, and her best friend Denise O’Connor amidst the issuing of Executive Order 9066. However, the subject of friendship is merely the surface as Author Dwight Okita delves into a deeper issue and writes “In Response to Executive Order 9066,” to showcase the ignorance and stereotype following the conflicts between Japan and the U.S. Through a first-person point of view, symbols of hope, and depiction of imagery,

Okita argues that despite acculturation, nationalism weighs more when deeming threats to national security. Perhaps the most recognizable clues in identifying the context of the poem are observed in the title itself, “Executive Order 9066” as well as in the dedication in which it is stated that, “All Americans of Japanese descent must report to relocation centers.” The historical context is crucial to understanding the poem, Executive Order 9066 was issued on February 14, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, three-months after the Japanese military attacked the U.S Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. This attack inflicted fear about national security and authorized the incarceration of Japanese Americans, “nearly 70,000 [being] American citizens” (National Archives). Regardless of their status, the United States deemed their race as a great enough reason to classify them as antagonists during these turbulent times. However, as prevalent as racial discrimination has been in the United States, Okita makes the scope of it more specific by setting the friendship between Ozawa and Denise during a period of political turmoil. Ozawa is a 14 year-old girl who is presumed to have been born in the states, her friendship with Denise – a white girl, is

Before being given any context, the speaker shares how she is packing tomato seeds or what her friend Denise refers to as “love apples” (4). Still unsure of her destination, she shares how her father says, “they won't grow” where they are going (5). By including the term “love apples” the author intends to show the reader that the seeds symbolize love, specifically the love the speaker has for Denise. Although the speaker does not specify where she is going, her father’s mention of how the seeds “won't grow”, tells us that the environmental conditions are so harsh, even tomatoes won't grow. The speaker’s action of packing the seeds is hopeful and nearly oblivious whereas her father is fully aware of their future conditions. After this first mention of Denise, Okita emphasizes the importance this friendship holds in Ozawa’s life in order to show the extent of discriminatory attitudes during this period. Ozawa tells the audience how Denise “sat in front of [her]” and knows the “back of [her] head very well” (lines 11-13). Okita chooses to include how Denise sits in front of Ozawa in order to show their close proximity as well as Ozawa’s inferiority to Denise. Although they are friends, Ozawa knows “the back of Denise’s head” but there is no