When reading the graphic novel, They Called us Enemy, the main question I developed was why all Japanese people were being punished for the actions of their Japanese heritage. Not all Japanese people living in the United States were spies giving information to the Japanese. The United States developed a severe stereotype of Japanese people living in the United States. It didn’t matter if you were born in the United States or in Japan, they would still put you in incarceration camps. These unjust actions caused many families to be separated from each other which overall led them to their demise.

This video talks about how a young girl was thrown into incarceration camps after the bombing of pearl harbor. At first, her family was inflicted with these severe consequences that affected so many other Japanese people. This all changed on February 19, 1942, when President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This made it so all Japanese people were subject to the harsh consequences enforced by the United States of America.

The United States might have thought the incarceration camps would just have a temporary effect on the Japanese people, but they were wrong. Many Japanese people were scarred for life after being put in incarceration camps. Some were starved, separated from their families, and even tortured. Today, many people are scared to open up about these topics and the effects they had on their families. Others decide to raise awareness for the topic by speaking about the hardship their family had to go through. This teaches present and future generations about the struggles the Japanese community