Friday A/V Club: Our Friendly Government Explains Why These Concentration Camps Are in Everyone’s Best Interests

Pioneers wanted!During World War II, the U.S. government interned
tens of thousands of Japanese Americans who had been convicted of
no crime. To put a happy face on the proceedings, the Office of War
Information made a film about it. “Neither the Army nor the War
Relocation Authority relished the idea of taking men, women, and
children from their homes, their shops, and their farms,” narrator
Milton Eisenhower claims. “So the military and civilian agencies
alike determined to do the job as a democracy should: with real
consideration for the people involved.”

We then see footage of the prisoners (sorry: “evacuees”) being
delivered to their internment camps (sorry: “pioneer communities”).
These new pioneers, we’re told, settled “on land that was raw,
untamed, but full of opportunity.” The inmates were eager to work,
and they “cooperated wholeheartedly. The many loyal among them felt
that this was a sacrifice they could make in behalf of America’s
war effort.” (And just look at those
happy smiles
!)

It gets even worse, but I can’t quote the whole thing; you’ll
have to watch it. Here’s the full film:

For past editions of the Friday A/V Club, go here.

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