|
 |
TITLE Drawing of birds in sky DESCRIPTION Drawing of birds in sky "Just as my husband said... I would see if it was a clear day... / IMy world is slowly coming into focus. / The "journey" to my heritage through the hearings has not ended, but only started... / Now... through the "Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians"... as I travel on the highway of life -- I feel myself in the sunlight of understanding, and proud of who I am...and American of Japanese Ancestry. Michiko Kawahara Fort Lee, New Jersey November 14, 1981 CONTEXT "In response to the advocacy for redress by a broad spectrum of the Japanese American community, Congress created the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) to review and analyze the official government contention, historically accepted, that the exclusion, forced removal, and detention of Americans of Japanese ancestry were justified by military necessity. The Commission was charged with issuing a report to Congress and with making appropriate recommendations based on its findings.... The CWRIC Commissioners held twenty days of public hearings from July to December of 1981, in ten locations, mainly on the East and West Coasts. They heard testimony from over 750 witnesses, most of whom were formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans and Aleuts or Pribilof Islanders, but who included as well former internees brought up from Peru, noted scholars, and a few apologists of the incarceration or internment experience [including Col. Karl Bendetsen and Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy]." Personal Justice Denied CREDIT Courtesy of Michiko Kuwahara DATE November 1981 |
