Browse > Theme > Rights - individual or societal

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Right from Wrong: Learning the Lessons of Honouliuli (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Facing darkness, Rights - individual or societal
Limited availability

Wayside exhibition produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH) that debuted in 2011. The sixteen panel exhibition focuses on the Honouliuli detention camp and JCCH's efforts to preserve the site and tell the story of Hawai'i's World War II Japanese American internees. Funding for the exhibition came from a grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program and from the Island Insurance Foundation. JCCH contracted Mo'ili'ili Blind Fish Tank (MBFT) Media to produce the exhibition. Arnold Hiura wrote the exhibition script and Stephen Doi designed and built it.

Mendez v. Westminster: For All the Children (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's, Historical Fiction
Change versus tradition, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Limited availability

Children's picture book that tells in simplified form the story of the landmark Mendez case that ultimately ended segregated schools in California. The story is told through the perspective of Sylvia Mendez who is eight years old in 1943. Having rented the farm of Munemitsu family, who had been forcibly removed to concentration camps, they were new to Westminster, California. When she and her brothers are prohibited from attending the same school as her cousins (who can pass as "white") and must attend the inferior school for those of Mexican, African or Asian ancestry, her family decides to sue. With the help of lawyer David C. Marcus—and support from various organizations including the Japanese American Citizens League —the suit proves successful, ending segregation in the state. A brief epilogue notes the long-term impact of the case and the fate of Sylvia and others involved in it.

They Call Me Moses Masaoka: An American Saga (book)

Books
Grades 9-12, Adult
Memoir
Patriotism – positive side or complications, Quest for power, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Nisei known primarily for his role as executive secretary of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) during World War II reflects on his life experiences, and declares with confidence that he would make the same choices if he could do it over again.

Conscience and the Constitution (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Convention and rebellion, Illusion of power, Injustice, Power of the past, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Influential documentary film that tells the story of the draft resistance movement at Heart Mountain . Journalist Frank Abe produced, directed, and wrote the hour-long film, which was released in 2000.

To Be Takei (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Empowerment, Everlasting love, Injustice, Optimism – power or folly, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Documentary film that profiles actor George Takei and his husband and manager Brad Takei, capturing both their pasts and their daily lives today.

The Experience of Japanese Americans in the United States: A Teacher Resource Manual (curricula)

Curricula
Pre-K, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Displacement, Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Injustice, Knowledge versus ignorance, Overcoming - fear, weakness, vice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

The Advisory Council to the Ethnic Heritage Project of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) developed, printed and distributed this manual in 1975. It was one of the first efforts to provide K–12 instructional materials about the history and achievements of Japanese Americans in the United States. The aim of the manual was to counter existing teaching materials which contained information that "portray(ed) persons of Japanese ancestry in a distorted or stereotypic fashion" (page 6). In addition, the authors sought to see Japanese Americans represented in the educational system's instructional framework of cultural pluralism.

Take Me Home: Curricular Resource Materials (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Injustice, Growing up - pain or pleasure, Power of the past, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

This guide supports the instructional use of the 15-minute video, Take Me Home: A Child's Experience of Internment . The authors of the 19-page resource target grades 6 – 8, however; the materials can be adapted to upper elementary as well. Although the film and curriculum materials were produced in Washington, their use has broad application as they are not specific (other than the mention of the academic standards) to Washington State.

Sylvia and Aki (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5
Historical Fiction, Children's
=Coming of age, Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Chapter book for children by Winifred Conkling centering on the the Mendezes and the Munemitsus, the two families behind the landmark Mendez v. Westminster school desegregation case.

Teacher's Guide: The Bill of Rights and the Japanese American World War II Experience (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal
Limited availability

The forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II suspended their constitutional rights and civil liberties. This guide, for teachers of grades 4–12, focuses on this historical event to examine individual rights and the shared responsibility that students have to protect the rights of all individuals, even during times of national crisis.

The Untold Story of Ralph Carr and the Japanese: The Fate of 3 Japanese-Americans and the Internment (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary, History
Heroism – real and perceived, Individual versus society, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Japanese-produced documentary film on Colorado Governor Ralph Carr and his embrace of Japanese Americans during World War II, along with the experiences of three Japanese Americans affected in different ways by his stance.

When Military Necessity Overrides Constitutional Guarantees: The Treatment of Japanese Americans During World War II (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Evils of racism, Immigrant experience, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

This curriculum guide examines the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans through the lens of its constitutional merit. It should be noted that it was published in 1982, and it contains terminology that in 2017 is considered inappropriate and/or offensive in the use of "Oriental" versus Asian or Asian American. In addition, many of the suggested classroom materials are outmoded (filmstrips) or out of print and may be difficult to access. The guide refers to a "media kit" which may have been available when the guide was first published.

When National Security Trumps Individual Rights (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Individual versus society, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Power of the past, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain tragedy
Widely available

This lesson prompts students to think about the balance of civil liberties and national security during times of national crisis by considering the Supreme Court case of Korematsu v. United States (1944). Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu fought against the mass removal of Japanese Americans during World War II by refusing to report to the Tanforan Assembly Center in 1942. He challenged his felony conviction on constitutional grounds, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court where he lost in a 6-3 decision. In 1983, this conviction was vacated after information surfaced proving that the government had originally withheld critical evidence.

Ancestry is Not a Crime: The Internment of People of Japanese Descent During World War II (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Limited availability

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Hawai'i state legislature funded the development of Ancestry is Not a Crime , focused on the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. The 192-page curriculum aims to engage elementary through high school students with this complex history, to wrestle with the meaning of democratic principles, and to think critically about civil liberties and the responsibilities of a democratic citizenry.

And Then They Came for Us (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Evils of racism, Expression through art, Power of the past, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Documentary film that provides an overview of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans while drawing explicit parallels to agitation against Arab Americans in the early months of the Trump Administration.

Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's, Historical Fiction
Everlasting love, Family – blessing or curse, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Children's book about the friendship between a German American girl and her forcibly removed Japanese American friend in the form of a scrapbook from the year 1942.

A Bitter Legacy (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Convention and rebellion, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Documentary film by Claudia Katayanagi that provides an overview of the Japanese American incarceration with a focus on resistance, in particular on the Moab and Leupp Isolation Centers and the events leading up to them. In addition to many interviews with scholars, former inmates, local residents (many of whom are Native American), and others, Katayanagi uses actors to reenact some key scenes in the story. She also uses Wendy Maruyama's Tag Project—an art installation consisting of thousands of tags similar to those attached to Japanese Americans and their possessions as they were being forcibly removed—as recurring motif between the eight chapters, from "Pre-War Days" to "Redress and Reparations."

Citizen Tanouye (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary
Heroism - real or perceived, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy, Rights - individual or societal
Available

A 2005 documentary film that tells the story of eight high school students from Torrance High School in California, and their discovery of a school alumnus named Ted Tanouye and his experiences during World War II. A Japanese American soldier of the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team who was killed in action and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient , Technical Sergeant Tanouye and his family were nonetheless incarcerated at the Jerome and Rohwer , Arkansas, concentration camps from 1942–45, without due process. By researching Tanouye's personal history through school yearbooks, newspapers, internet sites and by conducting interviews with Japanese American veterans, the relevance of history and importance of civil liberties becomes tangible for the students, who come to see the parallels between the Japanese American experience during World War II and their own lives and the impact war had on their city.

Security, Civil Liberties, and Terrorism (curricula)

Curricula
11th grade+
Chaos and order, Individual versus society, Rights - individual or societal, Facing darkness

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on The World Trade Center and Pentagon, terrorism has emerged as one of the most prominent security concerns for the United States. Multiple sectors of society—military, judicial, public health, diplomatic and so on—have been impacted in the effort to address the threats of terrorism. The Security, Civil Liberties, and Terrorism curriculum prompts students to examine the complex issues surrounding terrorism including how to define it, how to analyze it, and how a liberal democratic government can react to it while realizing the consequences and tradeoffs involved.

The Brothers Murata (short story)

Short Stories
Grades 9-12, Adult
Fiction
Family – blessing or curse, Nationalism – complications, Rights - individual or societal, Role of men
Available

Novella by Toshio Mori about two brothers in Topaz who clash over the issue of military service. Likely written in Topaz, it was first published in the 2000 Mori anthology Unfinished Message: Selected Works of Toshio Mori .

The War Relocation Centers of World War II: When Fear was Stronger than Justice (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Injustice, Rights - individual or societal, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Widely available

This lesson for upper elementary and secondary students produced by the National Park Service centers on files from the National Register of Historic Places: " Manzanar War Relocation Center" and " Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery". The lesson can be used in the study of World War II in U.S. History or human rights in a social studies unit. Links allow teachers to search for relevant curriculum standards by subject and grade level.

I Call to Remembrance: Toyo Suyemoto's Years of Internment (book)

Books
Grades 9-12, Adult
Grades 9-12, Adult
Memoir
Rights - individual or societal, Motherhood, Displacement
Widely available

The memoir of poet Toyo Suyemoto that spans her years of incarceration in Tanforan Assembly Center and later, at Topaz in Utah, from spring 1942 to late autumn 1945. The book, published in 2007 by Rutgers University Press, focuses on the quotidian life in an American concentration camp, while coping both physically and psychologically with the brutality of imprisonment behind barbed wire. The book is dedicated to Suyemoto's son Kay and details his short life from birth in Berkeley, California, to his first steps at Tanforan in a crowded horse stall, and finally to Utah where he developed a serious asthmatic condition and pneumonia in the harsh atmosphere of camp which eventually lead to his premature death. Suyemoto's memoir includes the impact of policies and wartime decisions on her family and the larger Japanese American community, bringing insight on complex and controversial questions of loyalty, citizenship and resistance. She also …

Japanese Relocation During World War II (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Displacement, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

This resource from the National Archives provides historical background, an annotated bibliography of other resources, links to primary source materials (documents, photos), standards correlations, and teaching activities.

Korematsu v. The United States: World War II Japanese-American Internment Camps (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Individual versus society, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Book for young adult readers on the Korematsu v. U.S. Supreme Court case by Karen Latchana Kenney. The 160 page volume is part of ABDO Publishing Company's "Landmark Supreme Court Cases" series of eight books.

Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American Internment (book)

Books
Grades 9-12
Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Individual versus society, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Overview of the Korematsu Supreme Court case —as well as the related Hirabayashi , Yasui , and Endo cases—as part of Marshall Cavendish Benchmark's "Supreme Court Milestones" series.

Korematsu v. United States: Japanese-American Internment Camps (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Convention and rebellion, Evils of racism, Individual versus society, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Available

Overview of the Korematsu Supreme Court case as part of Enslow Publishers' Landmark Supreme Court Cases series.

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