Browse > Theme > Patriotism – positive side or complications

47 articles

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Am I a Traitor? (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Memoir
Facing reality, Nationalism – complications, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Essay by Issei socialist journalist Shigeki Oka (1878–1959) focusing on his decision to aid the Allies and oppose the Japanese militarist regime during World War II. Oka begins by describing the situation prior to the war, where Japanese American leaders dismissed the possibility of war between the U.S. and Japan. While preparing a translation of Hitler's anti-Japanese writings to be distributed in Japan, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurs. Oka sends a telegram to President Roosevelt offering his services and expresses the desire that Japan lose the war as quickly as possible so that its militarist regime would be brought down; these actions lead to members of the Japanese American community branding him a traitor. He later volunteers to go to India despite his advanced age to write and distribute propaganda for the U.S. After the war, the Japanese community continues to shun him despite the fact that the events …

An American Hero: Shiro Kashino (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary, Animation
Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Short documentary film that uses animation and archival footage to tell the story of Shiro Kashino, a Nisei from Seattle who becomes a war hero as a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , but who loses his rank for his role in a fight in France.

Beyond Barbed Wire (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Role of men, Disillusionment and dreams
Available

A 1997 documentary film on the Japanese American soldiers of the 100th Infantry Battalion , the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service who fought for the United States during World War II while some of their families were held in concentration camps. The film is based on interviews with numerous veterans as well as with their wives and adult children. Among topics touched on in Beyond Barbed Wire are friction between men from Hawai'i and the continental U.S. during basic training; the unusual story of Korean American Colonel Young O. Kim; the rescue of the Lost Battalion , and the continuing legacy of the veterans for their families. One unique aspect of the film is its treatment of the controversy over the role of Major General John Dahlquist , whom some veterans feel used the Nisei as "cannon fodder." In telling the story of the mass incarceration, …

A Boy No More (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Coming of age, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

A 2004 young adult novel by Harry Mazer about Adam Pelko, who is torn between grieving his father, who died on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , and his feelings of loyalty towards his Japanese American best friend, Devi, whose own father has been arrested and taken to the War Relocation Authority camp in Manzanar, California. When Devi asks Adam to help him find his father, Adam is faced with a moral conflict: should he risk both his own safety and his friendship in order to do what is right? He is also still deeply affected by the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the urge to scapegoat the Japanese Americans, despite his urge to help and defend his friend.

Case History (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Evils of racism
Widely available

Short story about a young Nisei couple settling in "Centreville," a fictional small town in California, after World War II. John and Mary Mori arrive and open a flower market in town. But despite John's military service and the couple's good deeds, the face anti-Japanese harassment before a series of events begin to turn the tide. Author Bradford Smith tells the story using fictitious newspaper articles, letters, and personal testimony.

Caught in Between: What to Call Home in Times of War (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Fear of other, Hazards of passing judgment, Importance of community, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Documentary film by Lina Hoshino that looks at parallels between Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Arab and Muslim Americans after 9/11 and at joint activism between the two groups in the months after 9/11.

Daniel K. Inouye – An American Story (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Patriotism – positive side or complications, Empowerment
Available

Documentary film that covers the life and career of Daniel K. Inouye , Nisei war hero from Hawai'i and nine term U.S. Senator.

Eyes of the Emperor (book)

Books
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 6-8
Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Evils of racism, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Self-preservation, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

Historical novel aimed at middle school readers based on the true story of Nisei solders from Hawai'i who were made to serve as "bait" in a program that attempted to train dogs to recognize and attack the supposed distinctive smell of "Japanese" during World War II.

A Fence Away From Freedom: Japanese-Americans and World War II (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
Widely available

Book for young adults that tells the story of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans through the oral history voices of those who were children and young adults at the time.

Fighting for Honor: Japanese Americans and World War II (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young Adult
Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

Book aimed at middle and high school audiences on the experience of Japanese Americans during World War II, that focuses equally on the wartime incarceration and on military service.

Fred Korematsu: All American Hero (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Grades 7-8
Comics
Convention and rebellion, Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
Widely available

Comic book by two University of California at Davis law professors that tells the story of exclusion challenger Fred Korematsu through the eyes of a young Muslim American girl in post-9/11 America.

Ganbare Don't Give Up! (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Immigrant experience, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
No availability

Documentary film that provides an overview of what happened to Japanese Americans in Hawai'i during World War II, focusing on the limited internment of Issei community leaders and the exploits of Japanese American men in the armed forces. Ganbare Don't Give Up! was produced as a part of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i's core exhibition, Okage Sama De: I am what I am because of you , which remains the only place where it can be viewed.

Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young adult
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Lavishly illustrated large-format juvenile book for that provides an overview of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans, military service, and the redress movement.

In America's Shadow (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's
Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
Available

Children's picture book by Kimberley Komatsu and Kaleigh Komatsu told from the perspective of a young girl recounting her family's wartime incarceration story.

The Internment of Japanese Americans (Enslow Publishing) (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview work on the Japanese American wartime removal and incarceration for middle school audiences that is part of Enslow Publishers' "Our Shared History" series. It draws heavily from Kent's earlier The Tragic History of the Japanese-American Internment Camps (2008) and can be seen as a slightly updated version of the earlier book.

The Internment of Japanese Americans (ReferencePoint Press) (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young adult
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Overview volume on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans aimed at middle and high school audiences published in 2014 by ReferencePoint Press as part of the "Understanding American History" series.

The Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young adult
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Overview work on the Japanese American World War II incarceration aimed at middle and high school audiences.

The Internment of the Japanese (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview book by Diane Yancey on the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans for middle school audiences that is part of Lucent Books "World History Series."

Japanese Americans and Internment (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview textbook on the Japanese American removal and incarceration published by Globe Fearon in 1994 as part of their "Globe Mosaic of American History" series. No author is credited with sociologist (and former inmate) Harry H.L. Kitano listed on the title page as the "consultant."

Japanese-American Internment during World War II (book)

Books
Grades 9-12
Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

Overview book by Peggy Daniels Becker on the World War II removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that includes a one-hundred page narrative summary, eleven short biographies of key figures, and a selection of primary sources. It is part of the "Defining Moments" series published by Omnigraphics.

Japanese-American Internment in American History (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Non-fiction overview of the incarceration experience written for middle school readers. One of the relatively few such books written for this age group, it is part of Enslow Publishers' "In American History" series.

The Japanese American Internment: An Interactive History Adventure (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Displacement, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Children's book on the wartime incarceration by Rachael Hanel that allows the reader to choose one of three stories and to make a series of decisions in each story that determines its outcome.

The Japanese American Internment: Civil Liberties Denied (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview work on the Japanese American wartime removal and incarceration for middle school audiences.

The Japanese American Internment: Innocence, Guilt, and Wartime Justice (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans by Ann Heinrichs that is part of Marshall Cavendish Benchmark's "Perspectives on... " series.

The Japanese Internment Camps: A History Perspectives Book (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Children's book on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that focuses on Manzanar and tells its story through three first-person accounts.

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