K-State First Book: They Called Us Enemy

This guide provides resources and material related to George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, a memoir of his family's internment during WWII.

Library Research Guide

The Exclusion Zone and Camps

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066, issued two months after Pearl Harbor. The order allowed regional military commanders to designate "military areas" from which "any or all persons may be excluded.  Although the executive order did not mention Japanese Americans, this authority was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were required to leave Alaska, and the military exclusion zones from all of California and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, except for inmates who were being held in government camps.

Map of Japanese internment and Exclusion Zone

Source: Britannica Academic

Everyday Life

Freedom of the Press

Photographic Archives

Testimonials

Who Holds Power?

This poster from the Smithsonian Institute asks us to evaluate the decisions that can result from a culture of fear. Can you think of circumstances in your own life where you've witnessed similar situations?