SABRINA JENDLY
Staff Writer
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942. This order would eventually lead to the relocation, loss of property and internment of an estimated 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens.
Sixty-two years later, Pepperdine paid homage to the victims of America’s concentration camps during the “Day of Remembrance,” a cultural experience Saturday ending with a visit to a Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple.
The tour of Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles began at the Japanese American National Museum, where students had the opportunity to learn first hand about the Japanese internment experience from museum tour guides who had experienced the injustice themselves.
“Hearing our tour guide’s personal story made it clearer and more real as it was the first time I ever met someone who had experienced the internment camps,” said junior Paula Perrone.
The trip, organized by Pepperdine’s Intercultural Affairs Office, aimed to expose Japanese and Asian culture in general to students. It also reflected upon the similarities between the US response to both Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks, specifically in relation to racial and ethnic discrimination.
“Our reaction post 9/11 is the same as (after) Pearl Harbor,” said senior James Gutierrez.
Perrone agreed.
“The government might not be putting Muslim Americans or Arab Americans into concentration camps, but discrimination and judgment has passed in the same manner,” she said.
Not all were in agreement, however.
“I’m not sure 9/11 and Pearl Harbor reflect the same (reactions) against Japanese and Arab and Muslim people,” said Japanese sophomore Shiori Taguchi. “We all live in a different time.”
These obscure historical events are reminders of the importance of respecting cultural and ethnic differences.
“It’s really sad actually, how the system works,” freshman Monica Doster said. “If they see a threat from one person, it has to incorporate all this racial conflict.”
Although most participants were aware of the presence of internment camps in the 1940s, students said they hoped more cultural programs would benefit the Pepperdine community.
“I feel many people at Pepperdine do not consider learning about different cultures necessary for tolerance and acceptance,” Perrone said.
Students said the trip gave them a chance to look at and understand Japanese people and culture.
“I liked the trip overall,” Gutierrez said. “It presented the culture as hard working, preserving, selfless and resourceful.”
The Intercultural Affairs Office, provided it continues to get funding, plans to expand and create more workshops.
“We are working hard to promote more events and workshops for Pepperdine students,” said Juli Matsumoto, the office’s Asian-American, education intern responsible for organizing Saturday’s trip.
Perhaps through such opportunities, cultural and ethnic differences will be blurred, starting in the Pepperdine community, according to Matsumoto.
“As Christians, I believe we are responsible for racial reconciliation; Scripture calls us to ‘Love our neighbor as ourselves,’” Mastumoto said. “Now, how can we truly love our neighbor, if we don’t know them?”
02-24-2005