Supporting Question 3: Japanese American Resistance during WWII

Help students establish a working definition of the word resistance. A working definition is one that builds in meaning as students receive information and gain clarity on the topic being explored. You might choose to begin by discussing the definition of resistance: “The refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.” Have students work in small groups, and ask each group to create their own definition of resistance.

Reconvene as a class and ask volunteers to share their working definitions. Before transitioning to the next activity, have students think back to the Gallery Walk activity they did in a previous class period. Ask them to recall examples of incarcerated Japanese Americans attempting to restore a sense of community and decency to their lives in the camps (e.g., by decorating their lodgings or hosting talent shows). Then ask the class, Would those acts be considered acts of resistance by your current definition? Why or why not? 

Once volunteers have shared their thinking, explain to the class that they will be adding to their definitions as the lesson progresses.

Give students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the notion of resistance as it applied to Japanese Americans incarcerated in World War II by playing the clip 24:42–30:25 from the documentary And Then They Came for Us.

Share the following questions with students prior to watching the clip: 

• What kinds of art did people incarcerated in the camps make? What messages did this art convey? 
• What was the loyalty questionnaire? How did the way incarcerees answered the questionnaire impact what happened to them? 
• What was Tule Lake? What were the conditions like at Tule Lake? 

Ask students to take notes on their answers to the questions above as they watch the clip. Then ask volunteers to share out responses to the questions and clear up any confusion among students. 

Then take a moment to discuss how the film might shift their definition of resistance using the following questions: 

• Incarcerees used art to document their experiences in the camp. How did art function as a form of resistance for Japanese incarcerees? How might the idea of art as resistance change your understanding of the term resistance?
• How does the information in the film help you understand the costs associated with resisting incarceration? How does understanding these risks change what you might categorize as “resistance”? 

Explain to students that they will be reading more examples of Japanese American resistance during incarceration through a Jigsaw activity. 

Begin by dividing the class into “expert” groups of between three to five students, and pass out one of the following three readings to each group. (Note that depending on your class size, some groups may be assigned the same reading.)

• Legal Challenges to Japanese American Incarceration
• Japanese American Military Service and Protest During WWII
• Japanese American Incarceration Camp Protests

Explain to students that each “expert” group will read the group’s assigned reading together and then discuss the Connections Questions that accompany the reading. 

Leave the last five minutes of class open for students to complete an exit ticket with the following responses:

• 3 questions they have about the material they learned in class today
• 2 comments or connections they’re making with the material (for example, a text-to-text, text-to-self, or text-to-world connection) 
• 1 aspect of the class they enjoyed most 

Take the first five minutes of class to acknowledge students’ exit cards from the previous day of instruction. There are a number of ways to do this. You might want to answer students’ questions that are easily answered (such as close-ended questions about the material) or you might pose more open-ended questions to the class and ask volunteers to answer.

• Next, explain to students that they will be returning to the Jigsaw activity from the previous day. Divide the class into new “teaching” groups. The members of each “teaching” group should have read a different reading in their “expert” groups. 
• Instruct each student to summarize his or her “expert” group’s reading for the new “teaching” group. When each member of the “teaching” group has finished summarizing their reading, ask students to take out the working definition of resistance they created at the beginning of the class. 
• Then pose the following question to the “teaching” groups: After learning about Japanese American resistance to incarceration, what changes, if any, would you like to make to your definition of resistance?
• Give students enough time to revise their working definitions. Then reconvene as a class and ask volunteers to share their revised definitions.

Share the following information with students from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center:

The stereotype that formed of Japanese Americans from this experience was that of the “quiet” American who went “quietly” into the camps, never questioned the constitutionality of their incarceration, agreed to serve in the military while imprisoned in the camps to prove their loyalty and “quietly” returned to their pre-war lives after the war. ¹

Then lead a class discussion using the following questions:

• Why do you think the myth of the “quiet” Japanese American came about? Who did the myth serve? Why might some Japanese Americans/survivors of incarceration want to perpetuate that myth? 
• In what ways do the stories you read today contradict the myth of the “quiet” Japanese American? 
• How do these stories affect your understanding about what it means to be an American? 
• How do these stories connect, extend, or challenge your understanding of what it means to pursue freedom and democracy in the United States?

• 1“The Suyama Project,” UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Ask students to submit the revised version of their working definition of resistance, which they worked on in Activity 2 of this lesson. Give students time to add or change their definitions before submitting them.