manzanar

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I THINK IT WAS IN 2019 WHEN I WAS RETURNING FROM ONE OF MY DEATH VALLEY WORKSHOPS TRAVELING HOME TO SONORA VIA THE BEAUTIFUL HIGHWAY 395 RUNNING UP THE EASTERN SIERRA'S. I [PASSED THROUGH BIG PINE.  BIG PINE IS THE LOCATION OF THE RESTORED MANZANAR INTERNMENT CAMP OF WW2,  IT WAS ABOUT 9;00 AM AND I NOTICED THE LIGHT COMING OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS IN THE EAST  HAD A PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL LUMINOUS QUALITY AS IT RAKED ACROSS THE STRUCTURES OF THE CAMP.. I WAS OUT OF MEMORY CARDS, BUT I HAD MY I-PHONE SO I HAD TO SEE WHAT I COULD DO WITH THIS LIGHT.

MANZANAR  WAS ONE OF 10 INTERNMENT CAMPS AUTHORIZED BY FDR IN 1942,  AFTER THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR ,TO BE SET UP TO DETAIN DURING WW2,  BOTH JAPANESE CITIZENS AND JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS WITHOUT CITIZENSHIP AGAINST THEIR WILL. THE GOVERNMENT ROUNDED UP OVER 100,000 PEOPLE TOTAL, IN SOME 10 DIFFERENT CAMPS THROUGHOUT THE US..THE JAPANESE WERE TAKEN TO THESE CAMPS, THEIR HOMES LEFT BEHIND, THEIR LIVES UPROOTED WITHIN DAYS OF NOTICE..IT WAS A CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION, AND ONE THAT REPEATED ITSELF BY OUR GOVERNMENT DURING THE RECENT COVID OUTBREAK. 

I PHOTOGRAPHED FRANTICALLY FOR A PERIOD OF 2 HOURS. THERE ARE FEW STRUCTURES REMAINING BUT THE PRESENCE OF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVED THERE CAN BE FELT.. THEN THE LIGHT WAS OVERHEADAT NOON, LOSING ITS LUMINOSITY. DURING THE 2 HOURS I WAS IN A TRANCE..I COULD FEEL THE PRESENCE OF THESE 10,000 PEOPLE IN THE ROCKS, THE SHELTERS THAT WERE BUILT, THE REMAINS OF LATRINES, WASHROOMS, AND DESERT GARDENS..THE PHOTOGRAPHS CAME EASILY, WITHOUT EFFORT. AS I STOOD MAKING EACH PHOTOGRAPH,  I REFLECTED  ON WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR THEM TO BE LOCKED UP, AMERICAN CITIZENS LOSING THEIR BASIC RIGHTS TO FREEDOM. MY PARENTS NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS, THE SAITO'S IN SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA HAD BEEN INTERNED THERE. 

I TITLED THIS GROUP OF PHOTOGRAPHS MANZANAR, SHADES OF GRAY.. THERE WAS OF COURSE LEGITIMATE CONCERN BY OUR GOVERNMENT ABOUT POSSIBLE ATTACKS ON THE US FROM WITHIN BY THE JAPANESE. THUS THE EXECUTIVE ORDERS WERE ISSUED TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.  BUT AS WE SAW DURING COVID THE GOVERNMENT EASILY WENT TO FAR, STRIPPING PEOPLE OF THEIR RIGHTS TO WORK, TO GATHER, TO MAKE A LIVING FOR THEMSELVES, AGAIN A CLEAR VIOLATION OF OUR RIGHTS AS US CITIZENS. "SHADES OF GRAY " CAN BY USED TO VOID OUR RIGHTS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.  IT HAPPENED BEFORE AS MANZANAR SHOWS, AND IT HAPPENED RECENTLY . 

IN 1988 THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT GRANTED REPARATIONS AND AN APOLOGY  TO THE  JAPANESE AMERICANS FOR WRONG THAT WAS DONE. THE ACT WAS ALSO WRITTEN TO DISCOURAGED SIMILAR VIOLATIONS OF CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE FUTURE. THAT WAS APPARENTLY LOST DURING COVID ON THE MANY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL WHO FAILED TO HEED THEIR OWN LAW. WILL IT HAPPEN AGAIN? MANZANAR SERVES AS A REMINDER TO US ALL THAT OUR FREEDOMS MUST BE PROTECTED WITH VIGILANCE.