My friend said, "Miyo, how can you salute that flag?" and I looked at her and I said, "I can't answer that, but I know how you feel." From the time you're in the first grade that's what you learn, and you're so proud when you do salute that flag, and then I remember going to ball games, the "Star-Spangled Banner," and there was a time when I couldn't even sing that, because I didn't feel it was right.
. . . I want to be proud of it, when it's flowing in the sky, to be proud to salute it, because you know that it's telling you something. But you have to live what you're taught to know the meaning of it.¹
Questions for Photo 6
1. Why would it be hard for Miyo Senzaki to salute the American flag or to sing the Star Spangled Banner?
2. What do you think her last sentence means?
3. Based on everything you have learned in this lesson, do you think you would have been able to salute the American flag if you were an evacuee in one of the relocation centers?
4. Some Americans opposed the Japanese internment during World War II--individuals, government officials, the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), and the American Civil Liberties Union. Do you think these people would have been proud when they saw the American flag?
¹ Miyo Senzaki, evacuee interned at Rohwer Relocation Center; cited in Kenneth Story and William D. Baker, "Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery" (Desha County, Arkansas) National Historic Landmark documentation, Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of the Interior, 199, 8/10.
* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 6, but be aware that the file will take as much as 30 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.