Oh! Poston, Why Don't You Cry for Me?

The internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War was a landmark in American jurisprudence. One hundred twenty thousand Japanese, the majority of whom were American citizens, were forcibly removed from the west coast of the United States because of their race. I was one of the 120,000 internees, but was only seven years of age when interned and ten when I returned to California. I was too young to fully appreciate the historic scope of the incarceration of American citizens simply because of their national origin. This awakening came later. My parents were able to keep me from fully realizing my situation, and protected me from the feeling of helplessness that would have come with a better understanding of what had happened to us.