Fueled by war hysteria and racism, in 1942 the U.S. government ordered the internment of Japanese Americans. Over 110,000 people of Japanese descent were relocated to military camps. Most were American citizens.
Continuing on a theme of civil rights, on Monday, February 10 at 7 p.m. Central Ohioans for Peace will screen the PBS documentary Time of Fear, which tells the story of the 16,000 men, women, and children who were sent to two relocation camps in the delta region of Arkansas, one of the poorest and most racially segregated area in the United States. The film will be screened at Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Avenue.
The federal government apologized to the internees in 1988, when President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, granting financial reparations to the surviving detainees. But as Time of Fear attests, the victims of the internment are still haunted by their memories of the experience.
The mission of Central Ohioans for Peace is to bring together people who believe in using nonviolent methods to build and sustain a peaceful world.