We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

Abe, Frank and Tamiko Nimura. We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration. 2021. 160p. ISBN 9781634059763. 

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States government mandated the internment of all Japanese living on the U.S. West Coast, regardless of their citizenship status. For the first time in its history, the United States was imprisoning people without due process. 

Three Japanese families find themselves sent on trains away from their homes, businesses, and farms, and to concentration camps in the interior. Faced with injustice and oppression, Japanese-Americans fought back. Some, having been denied their rights, refused to be drafted and serve in the military. Others refused to sign a loyalty oath. Some contested their illegal imprisonment all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite court rulings that found the internment a legal measure in war, Japanese-Americans never stop seeking redress.

Released near the end of the war, they returned to lives ruined. Businesses had been sold, homes grabbed by jealous neighbors, and jobs filled by others. An entire community was despoiled. Still they fought, and in 1988 the U.S. government recognized its actions had been wrong, and provided compensation to survivors. 

Beautifully illustrated from historical records, this book showcases a viewpoint that is oftentimes ignored. Fans of history will appreciate the author's attention to detail and his accurate portrayal of life in the camps. This book can be paired with Displacement for another view on the internment of Japanese-Americans.