"A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution"

by Mark S. Lewis
submitted 10/26/95

Introduction
Located on the third floor of the National Museum of American History, "A More Perfect Union" documents the forced relocation of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. The exhibit focuses on the violation of constitutional rights that occurred during this process. The purposes of this review are as follows:

  1. describe the scope, purpose, and message of the exhibit,
  2. analyze how that message is organized and communicated,
  3. evaluate the effectiveness of the exhibit, and
  4. interpret the exhibit as a cultural artifact.

Description
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Japanese immigrated to the United States and started new lives on the West Coast or Hawaii. The majority of these people, as well as their children, held U.S. citizenship; however, due to the racial prejudice and distrust of World War II these Japanese Americans were denied their rights guaranteed in the Constitution. This statement is the overall message of "A More Perfect Union."

"A More Perfect Union" begins with the image of the Constitution portrayed on a large wall. Nearby, the Bill of Rights is shown and explained. The privileges guaranteed by these documents are fully developed through prose and quotations. The freedoms associated with U.S. citizenship are all clear in the minds of the museum goers as they proceed to the next section.
The second section of the exhibit contains information on the immigration and assimilation of the Japanese into the culture of the West Coast and Hawaii. This area shows how the first generation of immigrants, or issei, traveled over the Pacific to an entirely new nation and society. Many soon became citizens and a true part of the American community.

Shortly after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, suspicions of Japanese Americans grew, as did racial prejudice against the newcomers. Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt on February 19. 1942 was a result of this new racial hatred. This law forced 120,000 Japanese Americans to sell their property, leave their homes, and enter detention camps located around the United States. Many rights granted to citizens by the Constitution were blatantly overlooked during this entire procedure.

Finally, while many Americans of Japanese descent were being gathered into detention centers, others were fighting overseas. Over 30,000 Japanese Americans fought in World War II and these soldiers earned many medals and awards, even the Congressional Medal of Honor, while in service for the United States.

The main purpose of this exhibit is to inform the audience as to the injustices committed against Japanese Americans during World War II. The exhibit shows how the U.S. Constitution was ignored for a brief time of national crisis. Another purpose of "A More Perfect Union" is to celebrate the achievements of Japanese Americans. Despite the way they were treated and the conditions they lived in at the time, those living in the relocation centers lived nearly normal lives. They wrote books, painted pictures, attended school, played sports, and so on. Their achievements during wartime are also extensively depicted.


As you enter the exhibit, the topic first encountered is the U.S. Constitution. After some discussion about the document and the rights it guarantees, the audience moves to a section dealing with the immigration of the Japanese to America, specifically Hawaii and the West Coast. After this area is another section with the topic of Japanese assimilation into American culture. This area demonstrates how the Japanese successfully adapted to the American lifestyle while still maintaining many aspects of their original culture. Immediately following this section is the one containing the start of World War II and the associated racism towards Japanese people. This is followed by the actual process of relocation beginning with Executive Order 9066. The last two sections have the topics of life in the camps and Japanese Americans in active duty. "A More Perfect Union" is a highly compartmentalized exhibit, but this proves successful through the superb use of transitions from one topic to another.

The artifacts used in "A More Perfect Union" are predominantly documents and pictures. As you travel through the exhibition, newspaper headlines, government documents, fliers, and signs can be seen virtually everywhere. There are also numerous pictures of all sizes. These pictures depict life before the internment, the internment process, and life in the camps.
Other pictures show Japanese Americans while on active duty in World War II. Also included in this area are several dioramas, one life-size, of Japanese American soldiers. Another recreation is of the inside of a cabin at a relocation camp. The last sets of artifacts present are items from the lives of the citizens. These include books and articles of clothing; however, the main items present consist of text.

The last type of items present at the exhibit are interactive displays and audio-visual displays. One AV display is in the recreation of the cabin. The doorway is a large display screen. Two Japanese Americans, a father and his daughter, walk up to the doorway and peer into the cabin. The father then gives his impressions of life in the camps. Another display allows you to interactively "interview" four Japanese Americans who experienced the internment as children. The audience selects from a list of questions and the display plays the video of the corresponding response. Another similar display gives the experiences of several Japanese Americans in World War II combat.

Evaluation
"A More Perfect Union" is an effective exhibit by successfully conveying its intended message. Its deep development of nearly every aspect of the Japanese relocation allows the audience to fully understand and practically experience the actual events that occurred. The artifacts displayed are all suitable to the purpose of the exhibit and its organization assists in the process of telling the story.

The strengths of the exhibit are its artifacts, physical and audio-visual displays, and interactive components. The artifacts selected are all appropriate to the purposes of the exhibit. The pictures and fliers from the time period directly prior to the internment truly show the racial hatred Americans developed for a group of people. The scene below shows how desperately Americans needed to be reminded who their own kind was.

The physical displays, such as the recreated street corner and store front, further emphasize this anti-Japanese sentiment.

The audio-visual components of "A More Perfect Union" truly add to its message. The combination of the exact replica of the interior of a camp barrack and the taped "visitors" providing commentary give the audience a personal look into life in the relocation center. In no book could you expect to learn that the camp inhabitants had to live with sand blowing everywhere, even into their homes and food. This audio-visual display provides such in-depth information as that.

The two interactive displays are also very useful and beneficial pieces of the exhibit. Like the A-V components, the interactive displays give a personal look into the Japanese internment and World War II. The first display encountered by the audience gives information obtained from interviews of four Japanese Americans. All four were small children during the relocation process, yet they all vividly remembered being sent almost cross-country in a crowded train to live in a camp for four years. The second interactive display gives the war stories of three Japanese Americans from the 100th/442nd, the most decorated American combat unit of its size during World War II. The audience can select different topics by simply touching the screen. The topics focus on equipment used during the war. Each piece of equipment has an associated story describing it and the dangers it caused or prevented.

The audio-visual and interactive components of "A More Perfect Union" can be considered examples of Thomas J. Schlereth's historical reflections. The specific reflection represented by these items is "History Should Be Personal". Schlereth argues that history has been lacking tangible reminders of the people and that is exactly what these displays provide. The A-V displays, interactive components, and also several printed stories located around the exhibit give great detail into the personal lives of specific Japanese Americans. This personal information gives the audience a much more expanded, and arguably better, view of the history of this time period.

There is only one major weakness with "A More Perfect Union": the high level of focus on Japanese Americans fighting in World War II. While the thesis of the exhibit is that Japanese Americans were blatantly denied constitutional rights by the relocation process, one of the largest pieces of "A More Perfect Union" is the section dealing with actual involvement in the war by the same people. Although the section is very successful at glorifying the achievements of Japanese American combatants like the 100th/442nd, that is not the intended purpose of the entire exhibition and it tends to distract the audience from the real topic.

Another student who reviewed this exhibit, Kim Myers, agreed with my opinion that the military section of "A More Perfect Union" seemed out of place. In her review, she stated her confusion regarding the purpose of the military portion of the exhibit. She felt it did not add to the overall theme of "A More Perfect Union."

Overall, "A More Perfect Union" is an effective exhibit that makes excellent use of its artifacts and displays to convey its message. There seem to be neither biases nor historical fallacies present in the exhibit. The only problem with the exhibit is the overemphasis of Japanese Americans in combat roles.

Interpretation
My judgment of the exhibit is that it was entertaining, informative, and successful at telling its story. However, I feel "A More Perfect Union" was not without its imperfections. The exhibit had strong importance and meanings, but unfortunately not all positive ones.

"A More Perfect Union" was intended to have a positive meaning despite all the negative things that happened to the Japanese Americans. The exhibit ends on a happy note with the celebration of Japanese Americans in war immediately followed by the end of internment and legislation prohibiting its repetition. The museum is trying to show how we have learned from our mistakes and this horrible event will never happen again; it is trying to show that Americans are good people who would not allow another horrible event such as the Japanese internment to reoccur.

To me, this exhibit portrays Americans very negatively. It shows how we fought hard to gain self-rule and to create a perfect union. Being realists, we knew a perfect union was impossible, so we attempted to create a more perfect union. We wrote a document called the U.S. Constitution. This document granted certain rights to the citizens of this country. We also decided that those rights could not be taken away by any means whatsoever. Then a war developed and our suspicions grew. Within nine weeks of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed an executive order that formerly began the relocation of Japanese Americans to detention camps. The Constitution was forgotten. All the effort our ancestors put forth was also forgotten. Because of our temporary suspicions and prejudices, we took four years of life in society from an ethnic group. I don't care whether or not we learned from this (I only hope we did); the fact that this even was allowed to happen is atrocious. The only thing that I feel is celebrated in "A More Perfect Union" is the Japanese American subculture before and during internment.

Japanese American culture was praised in "A More Perfect Union". The ability of the people to immigrate here and so easily assimilate while still maintaining many aspects of their culture impressed me very much. Also, the large section on life in the camps was outstanding. Their artifacts and artwork made while living in the relocation centers reminded me very much of the African American folk art in John M. Vlach's The Afro-American Tradition in Decorative Arts. Like the art in the exhibition book, that of the Japanese Americans was also used to tell their story, to depict everyday life, and to continue traditions.

This exhibit raised sympathy within me for the Japanese Americans living in the United States during World War II. Most people coming into "A More Perfect Union" with little prior knowledge of these people probably has the same reaction. One person who did not however was Vivian Lee. She knew of atrocities the Japanese committed during their war with China and writes about them in "What an ugly thing!" The rest of her review details her other reactions to and analysis of "A More Perfect Union."

Finally, I felt that this exhibit was the museum's means of apologizing to the Japanese American people. To me, it seemed that there was an unusually large proportion of exhibits focusing on the accomplishments of a minority group that has been mistreated in the past. I feel that this action is inappropriate for the museum. Again, Kim Myers agreed with my opinion. She felt the message of the exhibit was "to apologize for the Americans who acted out of hysteria in imprisoning a multitude of fellow citizens who were completely innocent." A large portion of her review is devoted to expanding this apology concept. In my opinion, the purpose of the exhibit should be to educate, not to ask forgiveness.

Conclusion
I feel that "A More Perfect Union" did an excellent job of telling the true story of the Japanese internment. It also was successful in celebrating the achievements of the Japanese American people. The only flaws I found in the exhibit were the unnecessary emphasis on Japanese American soldiers and the praising of the American people and their use of the Constitution. All other aspects of the exhibit, especially the artifacts and audio-visual displays, were suitably used to tell the story of the Japanese relocation.

To experience, at least virtually, "A More Perfect Union," visit the Smithsonian's site.

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