
Concentration Camps on the Home Front
Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow
John Howard(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 15. October 2008
Book
Hardback
356 pages
978-0-226-35476-7 (ISBN)
Description
Without trial and without due process, the United States government locked up nearly all of those citizens and longtime residents who were of Japanese descent during World War II. Ten concentration camps were set up across the country to confine over 120,000 inmates. Almost 20,000 of them were shipped to the only two camps in the segregated South - Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas - locations that put them right in the heart of a much older, long-festering system of racist oppression. The first history of these Arkansas camps, "Concentration Camps on the Home Front" is an eye-opening account of the inmates' experiences and a searing examination of American imperialism and racist hysteria.While the basic facts of Japanese-American incarceration are well known, John Howard's extensive research gives voice to those whose stories have been forgotten or ignored. He highlights the roles of women, first-generation immigrants, and those who forcefully resisted their incarceration by speaking out against dangerous working conditions and white racism.
In addition to this overlooked history of dissent, Howard also exposes the government's aggressive campaign to Americanize the inmates and even convert them to Christianity. After the war ended, this movement culminated in the dispersal of the prisoners across the nation in a calculated effort to break up ethnic enclaves.Howard's re-creation of life in the camps is powerful, provocative, and disturbing. "Concentration Camps on the Home Front" rewrites a notorious chapter in American history - a shameful story that nonetheless speaks to the strength of human resilience in the face of even the most grievous injustices.
In addition to this overlooked history of dissent, Howard also exposes the government's aggressive campaign to Americanize the inmates and even convert them to Christianity. After the war ended, this movement culminated in the dispersal of the prisoners across the nation in a calculated effort to break up ethnic enclaves.Howard's re-creation of life in the camps is powerful, provocative, and disturbing. "Concentration Camps on the Home Front" rewrites a notorious chapter in American history - a shameful story that nonetheless speaks to the strength of human resilience in the face of even the most grievous injustices.
Reviews / Votes
"The great strength of John Howard's book is that he not only asks new questions about the familiar story of the camps, but also that he has done a great deal of original research in material that has been largely unexploited. This is not a standard kind of camp history but something else - more imaginative but deeply rooted in the sources created by administrators and inmates. This is an important book, often gripping, and sure to be controversial." - Roger Daniels, author of Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans and World War II"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Dimensions
Height: 24 mm
Width: 15 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight
624 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-35476-7 (9780226354767)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2009
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
€37.09
Available for download
Person
John Howard is professor in and head of the Department of American Studies at King's College London and the author of Men Like That: A Southern Queer History, also published by the University of Chicago Press.