With sudden disregard to law and principle, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered military personnel to detain all Japanese-Americans west of the Mississippi. However, Miné Okubo objected to the President’s decision. Her graphic novel, “Citizen 13660,” underscored the human condition in these interment camps. Her work had spoken of the true fallacies that contaminated American culture. Thus, Miné Okubo had not only challenged American wartime policy, but the entire zeitgeist of the 1940s by identifying the humanity in the Japanese-American population.
Today is February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 forces all Japanese-Americans regardless of loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the west. In early 1942, the Roosevelt Administration was pressured to remove people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Roosevelt was pressured to do, this because he felt that some Japanese-Americans were plotting a sabotage against the US, following the bomb of Pearl Harbor.
Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Ronald Takaki addressed stereotypes of Asian Americans in the perspective of an American academic, historian, ethnographer, and an author. Nonetheless, his awareness of identity as a descendant of Japanese immigrants is clearly portrayed throughout “Double Victory.” Takaki initially studied at Wooster University, and work there led to his questioning of ethnic identity. His personal experiences, such as his wife’s family’s refusal to accept him because he is a ‘Jap’, inspired him to dedicate his life for equality for Asian Americans. He was involved in developing UC Berkeley's multicultural requirement for graduation as a professor: the American Cultures Requirement.
"Response to Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita and "Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros are two thought-provoking literary works that delve into the common theme of injustice and identity. Through the use of various literary devices and techniques, both authors effectively develop this theme, albeit in distinct ways. While Okita emphasizes the emotional impact of forced relocation and its consequences on Japanese Americans during World War II, Cisneros explores the theme of cultural assimilation and its effect on the protagonist's self-identity. This essay will compare and contrast the development of the theme in each work, highlighting the specific literary devices and techniques employed by the authors.
In the texts, "In Response to Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita and "Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros, a topic of American identity and perception of identity is shared. Both texts take a brief look at the lives, characteristics, and feelings of young girls living a bicultural life. In Cisnero's story, the girl seems caught between her two different cultures, and she struggles to connect with her Mexican heritage. In Okita's poem, the girl has a clear sense of her identity and place as an American. Culture is experienced and interpreted differently by each individual and each group of people.
When comparing Dwight Okita’s “In response to Executive Order: 9066” and William Yellowrobe’s “The Star Quilter”, it is easy to see the differences between the texts, but what is shocking is all of the similarities. Both Yellowrobe and Okita pick very controversial times in America as their scene and discuss the troubling events going on in that time. Although there are clear differences in their works, they share many feelings and messages. William Yellowrobe’s “The Star Quilter” features the interaction between two women, one Native American and the other Caucasian, in their 30s. The most crucial aspect of the two women’s conversations are the microaggressions that Luanne, the Caucasian women, is constantly berating Mona, the Native American
David Okita, the author of the poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066,” is a published playwright, poet and novelist. He describes himself as Japanese, American, gay, and Buddhist. Okita’s father was a World War II veteran and his mother was held in confinement for four years at a Japanese-American concentration camp. The World War II plays as a significant theme in the poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066”. At first glance, the poem appears to be about an American girl who has an unstable relationship with her friend Denise.
Although how they write have many similarities and differences, they will show how immigrant children dealt with American ideas during this time. Response to Order 9066 is written in a poem format. It follows the writer (a 14-year-old Japanese American girl named Dwight Okita) during the Japanese incarceration where many Japanese Americans were detained, suspected to be spies. Throughout the poem, Okita uses direct to get the
This paragraph from Kesaya Noda’s autobiographical essay “Growing Up Asian in America” represents the conflict that the author feels between her Japanese ethnicity, and her American nationality. The tension she describes in the opening pages of her essay is between what she looks like and is judged to be (a Japanese woman who faces racial stereotypes) versus what she feels like and understands (life as a United States citizen). This passage signals her connection to Japan; and highlights her American upbringing. At this point in the essay, Noda is unable to envision her identity as unified and she describes her identity as split by race.
Written works about American Identity are a very common theme amongst writers, including poet Dwight Okita and short-story writer Sandra Cisneros. Dwight Okita is famous for her poem “In Response to Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers,” in which the theme of American identity is portrayed through a 14-year-old girl. In a similar way, Sandra Cisneros’s short story is told by a young girl of Mexican heritage who prefers American culture—in sharp contrast to her deep-rooted Mexican grandmother. Although the overall theme of the two texts is “American Identity,” both Okita's poem and Cisneros's short story delve deeper and portray that cultural heritage and physical appearances do not determine what it
Richard Rodriguez’s claim about a person's identity is the using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid; culture should be what defines a identity. Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were being “welcomed within a new community for reasons of culture. “ (136-137). Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were welcomed when they were identified by their culture. Richard Rodriguez also says “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and I want to be Chinese.“
In Dwight Okita’s poem the theme is physical appearance does not determine what it means to be American. The title of the poem is “In Response to Executive order 9066…”, and is by Dwight Okita. The government issued executive order 9066. This Order detained Japanese Americans. An excerpt
Discrimination has plagued the world since the beginning of time and continues to happen today. People can be discriminated against simply for looking different or following different customs. It has been implemented by governments throughout history, but it has also been practiced individually. “In Response to Executive Order 9066” and “Legal alien” are two poems that discuss the topic of discrimination. “In Response to Executive Order 9066,” by Dwight Okita is a poem that describes the possible interment of a Japanese-American during World War 2.
The young girl is prevented from entering the church where her grandmother has prayers. As a person from the old world, the young girl is not allowed to play with boys from the new world. On the other hand, “in response to executive order” by Dwight Okita is about Americans of Japanese origins that were supposed to report to relocation
During July of 1941, millions of jobs were being created, primarily in densely-populated areas, as the United States prepared to enter World War II. These densely-populated areas had large numbers of migration, specifically from African Americans, who sought to work in defense industries, but were often met with rejection and discrimination within the workplace. A. Philip Randolph, a civil rights activist and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and other black leaders, met with Eleanor Roosevelt and members of the President’s cabinet. They demanded action from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be taken towards eliminating racial bias in the workplace; they threatened to commence a March on Washington if an executive order was not
