The internment of Japanese-Americans was the focus of the fourth annual Stamp Out Hate Teen conference last month at Sacred Heart Parish in Vailsburg, Newark.

Some 50 teachers, students and parents, including representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, the Muslim Womens Coalition, and the NJ Interfaith Partnership for Disaster Recovery, turned out to learn more about the topic and discuss race relations.

“The goal is to raise awareness,” explained Elaine Brown, Chairman of the Conference. “You have to first learn, in order to do. We want these teens to realize that they can truly make a difference, and we want them to reach out to every person they meet. Today, we hope to plant the seed,” Brown stated.

The conference began with a viewing of Within the Silence, an interactive video presentation created by Living Voices, an organization devoted to raising awareness about racial discrimination throughtout U.S. history.

Archival footage assembled to depict the stuggles of Japanese-Americans during WWII formed the backdrop for actress Kira Onodera, who, interacting with the images on the screen and pre-recorded dialogue, narrated the story of Emiko Yamada, a young girl whose family is imprisioned in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Though the character is fictitious, the story reflects the true experiences of Japanese- American families at that time.

On hand to introduce the video was Lillian Kimura of the Japanese American Citizens League, who was forced into an internment camp from 1942 to 1945 at Manzanar, California. “Japanese-Americans were imprisioned in violation of their constitutional rights. Our educational system does not provide individuals with an accurate picture of what happened. We need to keep repeating it, especially to all those who are new in this country, so that this can never happen again.”

After the presentation, adults and teens split up into different groups, to intermingle and discuss racial discrimination.

“What’s great about this event is that the teens are interacting with people their age that they may not normally have the chance to exchange ideas with,” noted Susan Shapiro, a committee member for Stamp Out Hate.

Anne Esther Saint Eloi, a 7th grader at Sacred Heart School noted, “I’m here because I wanted to know more about other cultures and to learn about discrimination. I’ve learned that people sometimes need to blame others - to find scapegoats. I think you need to get to know a person before you can draw any conclusions about who they are.”

Andrea Jackson, also in the 7th grade at Sacred Heart, observed, “You can’t judge people by the way they look; people are different and cultures are different. We have to be aware of that.”

Nicole George, a student at Sacred Heart since kindergarten, said, “I found out a lot about how America has treated other nations in the past. I didn’t know about what they had done to the Japanese, and I’m very angry about it. One thing is for sure, we shouldn’t hold anything against Iraqi-Americans, or the people of Iraq.”

The Stamp Out Hate Coalition was initiated in New Jersey in 1992 by the American Jewish Committee.

BACK TO CURRENT ISSUE HOME PAGE EMAIL:mielejos@rcan.org