A view on “A Degree of Justice” and Japanese Internment

Hello readers,

I am enrolled in a program at my University (UBC) called Global Citizens that is run through the Coordinated Arts Program (CAP). Last week the program held a joint lecture where we learned about how UBC interacted with its Japanese students during the Second World War. We watched a video A Degree of Justice by Alejandro Yoshizawa describing the students deeply emotional experiences with the environment around them during this shameful period of Canada’s history.

All of the students in the video considered Vancouver and UBC as their home, and although there was racism they still felt like they were part of a community within the city. During the war, however, this community would be torn apart with many students having to leave the school and some having to cope with the sudden loss of family members to their own government. These experiences would unfortunately be very similar to anyone of Japanese heritage in British Columbia after December 7, 1941, and I feel like the video did not completely represent the truly reprehensible crimes that were committed against the Japanese population during the war.

Pictured below: Japanese property vandalized in a racist attack

I grew up hearing stories very similar to the ones portrayed in the video when I went to school in Richmond. My school was located close to the town of Stevenson. For context, this was a town that lost two-thirds of its population due to the internment of the Japanese. While I was there I heard many stories the most memorable of which was of a family that ran a successful fishing company before the war. This family (parents and children) were forced from their home by the government and were sent to an internment camp in the interior of the British Columbia. This camp was freezing in the winter and the government provided little in the way of either winter clothes or food. The family described themselves as “prisoners inside their own country”. While they were interned in despicable conditions the government sold their home, business and boats for a fraction of their value and the family didn’t receive any part of that paltry amount. When the war ended and they returned to their home they found another family living inside and learned that they no longer had any possessions other than the clothes on their backs. This however was not an outlier case this kind of treatment was the social norm during the war.

Pictured Below: The Japanese owned fishing vessels of Steveston impounded by the government

This story and many of the others from this time period form a stark contrast to some of the stories told in the video. In my view, the UBC video showed a lighter version of history than the harsh reality that faced many families during this time period and that the choice to not delve deeper into the topic was unfortunate. In my opinion, the video did invoke strong emotions, however I feel that the creators chose to omit the darker parts of the story to cast UBC in a better light. I believe that does not satisfy the full memory of one of our most shameful time periods, and that if we want to prevent similar mistakes in the future we must face our past truthfully.

Pictured below: Is the Notice given to all Japanese living in certain areas of British Columbia including Steveston (under Lulu Island)

References for writing

• In Their Words : The Story of BC Packers | Japanese Workers During WWII Internment, http://www.intheirwords.ca/english/people_japanese_pre_war.html
• Cheung Christopher. ”As Stevestons Japnese Community Shrinks, Its History Grows.” The Tyee, The Tyee 20 June 2015, https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2015/06/20/As-Steveston-Japanese-Community-Shrinks-Its-History-Grows/
• Robinson, Greg. “Internment of Japanese Canadians.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/internment-of-japanese-canadians/
• Alejandro Yoshizawa. “A Degree of Justice: Japanese Canadian UBC Students of 1942” Youtube, Youtube 19 Mar. 2012, http://www.citationmachine.net/bibliographies/228052900?new=true

References for pictures:

• Challenges at Home. “Challenges at Home – Diefenbaker Canada Centre – University of Saskatchewan, https://www.usask.ca/diefenbaker/bill-of-rights/challenges-at-home.php
• “Japanese Canadians After the Internment” What’s On at the Library, http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/programming/2013/10/japanese-canadians-after-the-internment.html
• “City Council Apology Comes for Japanese Canadians.” Schema Magazine, http://schemamag.ca/2013/10/09/city-council-apology-finally-comes-for-japanese-canadians/#.WcnZlJOGO8U