Internment(90)

In war propaganda, Japanese Americans were depicted as enemies of America, animalistic, murderous, unable to assimilate to American culture.

And now here we are again. Refugees forced into internment camps. Muslim bans. Border walls. Police brutality. The rights of gun owners being valued more than the lives of our children. Racism. Islamophobia. Ableism. Homophobia. Anti-Semitism. Scapegoating immigrants. The politics of exclusion. The rise of nationalism and white supremacy, unmasked and waving our flag.

I feel a lot of anger.

But I believe in hope. I believe that the things that are wrong with America can be fixed by Americans. I believe that being good is what can make us great. I believe in you.

And when I see young people, tens of thousands strong, marching in the street for their lives; when I see my fellow Americans taking to the streets to protest family separation at the border; when I see football players kneeling on sidelines; when I see that beautiful, eloquent image of Iesha Evans quietly taking a stand in Baton Rouge; and when I see a poster of a Muslim woman wearing an American flag hijab held high at a rally, I feel my patriotism stirring. I am compelled to act. And I remember why I believe so much in this nation—of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Fascism isn’t going to simply appear in America one day. It’s here. But so are we.

There’s no room for moral equivalency—certainly not the kind that hears the cries of a toddler being ripped away from her parents and justifies it by quoting the Bible, and definitely not the kind that looks at neo-Nazis and declares that some are “very fine people.”

There are sides.

Make a choice.

It’s not a simple ask, I know. It takes courage to use your voice. To stand up.

But all around you there are others who will help lift you up, who will take your hand, and who will march—shoulder to shoulder—with you. Speaking your truth and voicing your resistance can happen in quiet ways, too. I hope you find the way that works for you.

America is a nation, yes, but it is also an idea, based on a creed. I hold these truths to be self-evident. That the concept of our nation is neither musty nor static. That it is malleable. That every day we can shape it and stretch it to form a more perfect, inclusive union. America is us. America is ours. It is worth fighting for.

The people united will never be defeated.

Resist.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS



Publishing Internment was an act of courage and resistance. My eternal gratitude to my brilliant editor, Kheryn Callender. Their unwavering belief in this story and their keen editorial eye gave this book wings so it could fly. My heartfelt thanks to Alvina Ling, Siena Koncsol, and the entire team at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for championing this story and for their confidence in my ability to tell it. I will remain forever spellbound by Dana Ledl’s beautiful cover that so perfectly captures the spirit of Layla’s journey.

Big love to my amazing agent, Eric Smith, whose encouragement, persistence, and always-open-to-my-random-ravings DMs made this book possible. Many thanks also to Curtis Russell and the P.S. Literary Agency for being in my corner.

I am grateful beyond words to all my friends and family—near and far—who read and critiqued early drafts of Internment, brainstormed with me about this story idea, engaged in endless discussion about transliteration, and cheered me on every step of the way. My deep appreciation to Hitomi Sasamoto, Lynn Sasamoto, Sangu Mandanna, Dhonielle Clayton, Kati Gardener, Raeshma Razvi, Daniel Ehrenhaft, Lizzie Cooke, Gloria Chao, Franny Billingsley, Ronni Davis Selzer, Rachel Strolle, Anna Waggener, Rena Baron, Kat Cho, Claribel Ortega, Amy Adams, Johnette Stubbs, Peter Vrooman, Joe Armstrong, Karim Mostafa, Jihad Shoshara.

To my parents, Hamid and Mazher, and my sisters, Asra and Sara, thank you for your constant support and enthusiasm for my work and for always fighting the good fight.

Lena and Noah, you shine brighter than all the stars: I love you, I believe in you, I am so glad to have this life with you. To Thomas, thank you for your love and unconditional support, and for being a light. You make this life possible. All my love to you.

Finally, my profound gratitude and respect to all the survivors of internment, past and present. In sharing your stories, you remind us of how precious our freedoms are and how much our democracy is worth fighting for. You inspire us to resist. Thank you for your courage.





RESOURCES



If you want to learn more about Japanese American internment, these are just a few of the many books and websites you can go to. Of the ten internment camps in the United States, Manzanar War Relocation Center is one of two that remain—a designated national historic site in California under the auspices of the National Park Service.

Books

Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1973). A memoir that follows seven-year-old Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family’s journey as they are forced into the Manzanar internment camp.

Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment, edited by Linda Gordon, Gary Y. Okihiro (New York: W.W. Norton, 2006). A collection of images taken by photographer Dorothea Lange, originally censored by the US Army.

Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps, by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald (Troutdale, OR: NewSage Press, 2005).

Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience, edited by Lawson Fusao Inada (Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000). An anthology of poetry, prose, documents, drawings, and photographs.