En Route
The collection takes a swift, dramatic turn into internment with this picture. A cart full of children rolls by, uprooting them from their idyllic life and dragging them to poorly designed, cramped internment camps. They frown, eyes full of sadness, in the window of the train. Their parents cannot be seen and they appear utterly alone. People behind them throw up peace signs, unaware of what awaits them at their “resettlement.” These two children show almost identical faces of despair, not fooled by the notion that everything will be okay in the camps and not needing to keep up appearances. Most heartbreakingly, the boy in the photo clutches an American flag, hoisting it out ahead of him. Japanese Americans were allotted very few belongings to bring to the camps, and this child brought his mini American flag, waving it halfheartedly out the window. Perhaps he thinks there has been a mistake, that whoever is sending him to a camp does not understand that he is American, and once they see the flag they will realize and rescue him.
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