A History of Photography in USC Libraries Collections

“Jap Evacuation—Two-year-old Keith Miyamoto,” April 6, 1942

In this image we see a two-year-old Japanese-American boy surrounded by bags and luggage waiting to board a bus that is going to take him to a Japanese internment camp in San Francisco. This image portrays the incarceration of Japanese citizens in America during World War II. Furthermore, this image focuses on the way that immigrants or even American-born people with immigrant roots have been treated. What makes this image significant is the joy and innocence of this little boy and how he represented the innocence of all the people of Japanese heritage who were sent to internment camps. No matter who an individual was, as long as they were of Japanese descent, one faced the possibility of being forcibly removed and transported to an internment camp. The large amounts of baggage in the photo represents the magnitude of possessions and the weight of the livelihoods that had to be moved for relocation to these camps. Japanese people were viewed as threats and aliens to the country because of the anti-imperialist state of World War II. Threatened by the prospect of Japan as a growing global force, such actions were taken to limit their power. Tragic events such as riots, poor sanitary conditions, and beatings took place in these camps. These events were able to become commonplace because Japanese-Americans were judged based on their foreign nationality. Immigrants in the United States have encountered patterns of discrimination thoroughly based in racism because acts such as Japanese internment are closely connected with the history of our country. This image is a representation of how immigrants or minorities have been treated in our country, regardless of birthplace.

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