Mass Removal
A 1942 photograph of the Japanese American removal from Seattle, Washington shows how adults and children differ in their reactions to relocation (“Mass Removal”).To see this photo and others mentioned in this essay visit the Densho archive. In this photograph, several Japanese Americans are boarding a bus with luggage in hand. In the back of the photograph, there is a group of men, some of whom are smoking. These men are quite distant from the photographer and are distracted by something behind the bus. In the center of the photo, a group of women are beside a bus. A few of these women are smiling and looking to the right of the photographer, while a woman on the right is smiling directly at the photographer. Also mixed into this group of women is a man who is also smiling and looking to the right of the photographer. Based on the fact that several adults are smiling and looking toward or around the photographer, there may have been a group of press that hoped to capture the evacuation. Though the adults are actively smiling, there is a child in front of the central group who seems oblivious to the cameras. The boy is carrying two bags and a canteen, and he is looking down at his bags. Whether the boy is with his parents is ambiguous, as no adults appear to be concerned about him. Also, the boy’s demeanor is stoic in nature. He is stands alone and simply accepts what he has to do; in his mind, there is no apparent reason to be happy or to cater to the photographers.
This contrast between the reactions of adults and reaction of the boy suggests that the adults may be motivated to act positively and smile while the child lacks this motivation. In her Moving Images, Jasmine Alinder reflects on the mentality of Japanese Americans during internment, saying, “Intensely aware that the dominant media and the government were portraying them as criminals, many Japanese Americans apparently went out of their way to counter such images and salvage whatever shred of dignity they could by dressing in their finest clothes and putting “the best face” on a situation that was fundamentally humiliating and degrading” (Alinder 17). If, as Alinder says, the Japanese American adults in the photograph were aware of their being portrayed as criminals, then that would help to explain their seemingly forced interaction with the photographers and their decision to smile. Also, the evacuees are dressed nicely, which points to their desire to appear presentable. Alinder provides an explanation as to why the adults react as they do, but she does not distinguish adults from children in this instance. In the photo, the boy, possibly representing children more generally, does not appear to possess the same concern for his image. If the boy were aware that the photographers had motives to portray him as a criminal, then he would likely have been looking at the photographers with a smile on his face like the surrounding adults. He may also have been positioned clearly with his family to show the press that he is in a healthy family unit. The contrast between the child’s stolid disposition and the smiling adults suggests that the adults may have been consciously choosing to smile in order to preserve the Japanese American image (and demonstrate compliance, especially in the setting of evacuation).
This contrast between the reactions of adults and reaction of the boy suggests that the adults may be motivated to act positively and smile while the child lacks this motivation. In her Moving Images, Jasmine Alinder reflects on the mentality of Japanese Americans during internment, saying, “Intensely aware that the dominant media and the government were portraying them as criminals, many Japanese Americans apparently went out of their way to counter such images and salvage whatever shred of dignity they could by dressing in their finest clothes and putting “the best face” on a situation that was fundamentally humiliating and degrading” (Alinder 17). If, as Alinder says, the Japanese American adults in the photograph were aware of their being portrayed as criminals, then that would help to explain their seemingly forced interaction with the photographers and their decision to smile. Also, the evacuees are dressed nicely, which points to their desire to appear presentable. Alinder provides an explanation as to why the adults react as they do, but she does not distinguish adults from children in this instance. In the photo, the boy, possibly representing children more generally, does not appear to possess the same concern for his image. If the boy were aware that the photographers had motives to portray him as a criminal, then he would likely have been looking at the photographers with a smile on his face like the surrounding adults. He may also have been positioned clearly with his family to show the press that he is in a healthy family unit. The contrast between the child’s stolid disposition and the smiling adults suggests that the adults may have been consciously choosing to smile in order to preserve the Japanese American image (and demonstrate compliance, especially in the setting of evacuation).