Internment Camp Statue
The Ruth Asawa statue "Japanese American Internment Memorial" is full of stories.
It details the injustices visited upon the Japanese-Americans in California during World War II.
The bronze statue starts hopefully with the Japanese leaving the ship they emigrated on and establishing their lives as farmers.
But the story, told left to right, one side then the other does not stay happy and pastoral.
The Japanese are forced to evacuate their homes, hold fire sales where they made pennies on the dollar as they sold their entire livelihoods and soon after were forced into trains headed for the titular internment camps.
One this side, the top of the picture is loosely decorated with barbed wire, like a snake angling to ensare its prey.
On the other side, the prey is caught and the barbed wire is tight straight across the skyline, the prey ensnared-- trapped into their new existence.
Here the train is unloaded.
The story continues, a tale of being herded into horse stables before ending up in the actual camps, dealing with bitter winters.
The Japanese-Americans made the best of their new lives, in hovels presided by guard towers manned by watchful soldiers.
A paper airplane flies by it, as if to keep the hope of freedom afloat.
The guard tower is also signals the last act of this story.
Japanese-American soldier fought and died for their country as their kin are imprisoned, but eventually they are freed.
But even after, they have to deal with the fact that their extrajudicial imprisonment was perfectly legal.
The statue is held by black marble pillars carved with important details to what is depicted on the bronze statue.
There is history and context as well as exact copies of Executive Order 9066 and the notices posted on the doors of the Japanese who would be interned.
Also on the stones are the mon or family crests of the unjustly interned families.
It details the injustices visited upon the Japanese-Americans in California during World War II.
The bronze statue starts hopefully with the Japanese leaving the ship they emigrated on and establishing their lives as farmers.
But the story, told left to right, one side then the other does not stay happy and pastoral.
The Japanese are forced to evacuate their homes, hold fire sales where they made pennies on the dollar as they sold their entire livelihoods and soon after were forced into trains headed for the titular internment camps.
One this side, the top of the picture is loosely decorated with barbed wire, like a snake angling to ensare its prey.
On the other side, the prey is caught and the barbed wire is tight straight across the skyline, the prey ensnared-- trapped into their new existence.
Here the train is unloaded.
The story continues, a tale of being herded into horse stables before ending up in the actual camps, dealing with bitter winters.
The Japanese-Americans made the best of their new lives, in hovels presided by guard towers manned by watchful soldiers.
A paper airplane flies by it, as if to keep the hope of freedom afloat.
The guard tower is also signals the last act of this story.
Japanese-American soldier fought and died for their country as their kin are imprisoned, but eventually they are freed.
But even after, they have to deal with the fact that their extrajudicial imprisonment was perfectly legal.
The statue is held by black marble pillars carved with important details to what is depicted on the bronze statue.
There is history and context as well as exact copies of Executive Order 9066 and the notices posted on the doors of the Japanese who would be interned.
Also on the stones are the mon or family crests of the unjustly interned families.
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