…Continued from United States Merchant Marine Memorial.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza & Bill of Rights Memorial on September 7, 2008
The Japanese-American Historical Plaza & Bill of Rights Memorial tell the story of the Japanese-Americans who lived on the West Coast and in Portland in particular. Before World War II, there were two groups of Japanese-Americans. The Issei were the pioneers who left Japan to settle in America, coming to Oregon, Washington and California between 1880 and 1924. Their children, born between 1910 and 1930 and the first generation to grow up in America, were called Nisei. In Portland, Japanese-Americans lived in a neighborhood a few blocks from the current memorial called Nihonmachi, or "Japan Town."
Japanese-American Historical Plaza & Bill of Rights Memorial on September 7, 2008
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing the United States into World War II. In 1942, nearly all Japanese-Americans in Oregon, Washington and California, over 110,000 men, women and children, were ordered by the United States Government to abandon their homes and were confined to isolated camps for three years. Many of them lost everything they owned.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Meanwhile, the Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team received 18,143 individual decoration for bravery and sacrifice while fighting in Europe. Another 6,000 Japanese-Americans served the U.S. Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific Theatre.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
In the 1980s, Congress and the White House acknowledged the injustice suffered by the innocent Japanese-American civilians who were held in internment camps by the United States government. The Japanese-American Historical Plaza was dedicated on August 3, 1990 "to the celebration of the Japanese-American story, and to the Bill of Rights that protects the freedom of the American people."
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
The plaza won a number of awards, including the Tucker Award of Design Excellence from the Building Stone Institute, the Top Honor, "Excellence on the Waterfront" Waterfront Center Merit Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects, First Place, People's Choice Award and Honor Award from the Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a Special Award from the Portland Beautification Association and Special Recognition from the Portland Oregon Visitors Association.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
The large stones of the plaza are engraved with quotes from Japanese-Americans about their internment and eventual release.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Sure, I go to school.
Same as you.
I'm an American.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Just over there
Was our old community.
Echoes! Echoes! Echoes!
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Glancing up
At red-tinged mountains,
My heart is softened.
A day in deep autumn.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
War and change,
My native land
Once so hard to leave,
Is behind me now forever.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
With new hope,
We build new lives.
Why complain when it rains?
This is what it means to be free.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Black smoke rolls
Across the blue sky.
Winter chills our bones.
This is Minidoka.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Mighty Willamette!
Beautiful friend,
I am learning,
I am practicing
To say your name.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Rounded up
In the sweltering yard.
Unable to endure any longer
Standing in line
Some collapse.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Going home,
Feeling cheated.
Gripping my daughter's hand,
I tell her we're leaving
Without emotion.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Through the car window
A glimpse of pines.
Oregon mountains.
My heart beats faster.
Returning home.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
GILA
GRANADA
HEART MOUNTAIN
JEROME
MANZANAR
MINIDOKA
POSTON
ROHWER
TOPAZ
TULE LAKE
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
The following statement from President Ronald Reagan is on a plaque in the plaza.
Japanese-Americans have made invaluable contributions in all areas of our national life, including business, the arts, government, science, space exploration, and education. They have placed themselves in the ranks of America's extraordinary heroes by faithfully answering the call to defend freedom. In World War II, the brave Nisei of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team made American military history on the beach at Anzio and in difficult campaigns across the Italy and France; their courage made them one of the most decorated combat teams of the war, and the 18,143 individual decorations and seven Presidential Distinguished Unit Citations they received will always testify to their bravery and sacrifice. Their deeds, and those of Japanese-Americans who served our Armed Forces in so many other roles, gave life to the soldier's credo: Duty, Honor, Country.
Now is an especially appropriate time for us all to reflect on how America has benefitted from the contributions made by people who have come here from virtually every nation on Earth, and to rededicate ourselves to the Constitutional principles of justice and equality. The sad chapter in our history, when Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast were interned during World War II, teaches an invaluable lesson: that our constitution is based on a belief in the innate, God-given worth of every individual, and that this worth cannot be denied without diminishing and endangering us all.
Japanese-American Historical Plaza on September 7, 2008
Another plaque in the plaza has the following statement from Public Law 100-383, which was passed by the 100th Congress on August 10, 1988.
The Congress recognizes that as described by the Commission on Wartime Relocation Internment of Civilians, a grave injustice was done to both citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. As the Commission documents, these actions were carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage documented by the commission, and were motivated in part by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. The excluded individuals of Japanese ancestry suffered enormous damages, both material and intangible, and there were incalculable losses in education and job training, all of which resulted in significant human suffering for which appropriate compensation has not been made. For these fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry, the Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation.
Bill of Rights Memorial on September 7, 2008
Another plaque has the text of the Bill of Rights from December 15, 1791.
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