Tule Lake History
– Rebuilding
Rebuilding
At the end of World War II, Japanese Americans faced rebuilding their lives. The Issei (first generation) had to start again after losing almost everything. Nisei (second generation) were raising families and starting careers in a still hostile post-war environment. In the 1960’s, Sansei (third generation) joined other people of color in the Civil Rights movement and the quest to learn our suppressed histories through ethnic studies. In this way, many Sansei learned their families had spent WWII in American concentration camps.
As awareness of the wrongfulness of the incarceration grew, a movement developed to gain an apology and redress from the U.S. government. Students, community activists, and former inmates organized the first Tule Lake Pilgrimage in 1974 to build support for redress through educating the larger community. Japanese American community activism succeeded in getting the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (CLA) passed, and survivors received an official apology, token $20,000 payments, and a promise to fund education about the incarceration to deter future violations.
The government’s apology and redress transformed the experience of Japanese Americans from one tinged with shame and guilt over wrongful imprisonment, to one of hope and renewal. The story does not end, however, with a Presidential apology and a redress payment. The most important legacy of redress is the continuing need to educate future generations to ensure that the principles embodied in the Constitution are more than empty words on a piece of paper.