The Mustang Editor Eric Lowe previewed a living history presentation that the WNMU History Program is hosting in partnership with the New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League. Below is an abbreviated version of his article, but you can read the full piece on The Mustang and learn more about the event here.
The New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League will perform “Nisei, The Greatest Generation: Soldiers, Protesters & Prisoners of WW II” at Light Hall Auditorium on Saturday, April 28, beginning at 1 p.m.
“Nisei, The Greatest Generation” presents authentic stories of the American-born sons and daughters of Japanese immigrants who grew up during the Great Depression and reached maturity during World War II, serving their country as soldiers, protesters of internment, and survivors of a mass incarceration by their government.
The 90-minute program, hosted by Western New Mexico University’s Social and Cultural Sciences, will cover three historic events, focusing on the rejection of Japanese-Americans volunteering for the military at the start of World War II, the 1942 detention of three young Japanese-American men whose test cases are now landmarks of constitutional law, and the incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent in ten War Relocation Authority camps.
“In New Mexico, the Department of Justice and U.S. Army-controlled ‘enemy alien’ camps imprisoned Japanese men who had lived in the U.S. for years, and had fathered American children, but were denied citizenship due to Asian exclusion laws,” according to the New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League.
The audience will have the opportunity to discuss the Nisei and ask questions after the presentation.
For more information, contact the New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League’s Dr. Nikki Nojima Louis at 206-877-3931 or Western New Mexico University’s Dr. Scott Fritz at Scott.Fritz@wnmu.edu.