Manzanar National Historic Site

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When I visited Manzanar Internment Camp in March, I went out of curiosity. I thought it was a place I should visit and check off. But once I stepped in there, started reading about the circumstances, and what daily life was like, I got emotional in a way I didn’t expect myself to be. The photo above, for me, will forever remind me of those emotions, of the unjustness, the sadness, the anger that I felt at that place.


What I Learned:

  • 120k Japanese American people were forcefully relocated with little warning into various camps around the west.

  • There were about a dozen graves in the graveyard. There were more deaths during the internment, but most were relocated after the war. The ones that remain weren’t.

  • There were larger graves and smaller graves, that latter of which were probably for children.

  • The buildings that still stand, including the guard tower, were reconstructed and are not originals.

  • As I read the tragic details, I could hear myself imagine the conservatives argue in my head about how it was fair and it was understandable given “the times”. I don’t see much difference between this and how we treat illegal immigrant families at the borders.


 

Hike Review:

  • There’s a driving trail that is mostly paved with stops at various points of interest.

  • I probably walked half a mile at the various stops. All the walking is flat, with no elevation changes.

  • Due to COVID, the visitor center building was closed. Various building’s interiors were also closed to visitors.

  • I really want to come back here with the girls and explain to them why this happened and how we’re slowly moving towards a more equal society.


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