By LEXIE MORITA

Children are the voice of our future. The youth of the Japanese American community are the ones who will carry our rich culture forward.

However, even as we look at the future and what lies ahead of us, we must also glance back — towards our roots and our history. To those who came before us and everything they went through to get us to where we are today.

Japanese Americans have a full, yet tragic, history. Those in our past — even if not our distant past — have endured hardships that are nearly unfathomable in current times. Our goal must be to teach the children, even the teenagers, of our community about this history and the culture that comes with it.

I am a 14-year-old Japanese American girl and, growing up, I never really had much knowledge of, nor interest in, my Japanese heritage. I knew I was American, and I was proud of it. However, after getting involved in a leadership program for young Asian Americans, I slowly began to see the beauty of my Japanese side as well.

This program, run by a small, but influential, organization called Kizuna, shed a lot of light on the culture of the Japanese Americans. It truly opened my eyes to the world of Little Tokyo. This is what I want to help — and encourage others to help — illuminate for my generation and the generations to come.

Much of the Japanese American youth is like I was: completely unaware of the culture that surrounds them. I want the truth to be uncovered for them like it was for me. I can only hope that I can play some part in that journey to discovery.

Many epiphanies occurred during that previously mentioned leadership program with Kizuna. They helped me realize what being Japanese American meant to me. It was there that I found the platforms on which to raise awareness for the community I had grown to love so much.

The program lasted for ten weeks, and, in that time, I was expected to help run a group project to advocate for the Japanese American struggles. We decided on writing a children’s book with a corresponding website — centering on the horrors of the Japanese American concentration camps of World War II. We wanted to draw attention to something that is too often ignored.

These camps are another point I would like to highlight when teaching and empowering the youth of the community. So many people today are still so oblivious to the previous plight of the Japanese Americans during the time of the war.

On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which issued the ejection of all individuals with Japanese ancestry on the West coast of the United States. This law was grossly unfair and showed the paranoia of the government and the people during that time. Many people may have realized this, but the Japanese Americans were uprooted, nonetheless.

This was all because the government believed that those with Japanese heritage were somehow conspiring with the Empire of Japan, even if these people had been born in America. Many, if not most, of them had never set foot on Japanese soil. Even so, they had been born with the face of the enemy and were alienated because of this.

The government claimed that these people were simply being relocated. However, this was not the truth. They were being thrown behind barbed wire — detained against their will. Camp conditions were horrible; most were in the middle of nowhere with little shelter and poor sanitation.

Something that is often hard to grasp is the detail that many of these people were loyal American citizens, and none had ever shown any kind of allegiance to Japan. None of them were found guilty of crimes worthy of such harsh treatment.

Even harder to grasp, maybe, is the knowledge that this happened so recently. People who lived through that time are still alive today. Those who were forced into imprisonment are still able to tell this story, even if many are somewhat unwilling.

My own grandfather was born in the Topaz concentration camp, located in central Utah. This is my personal connection to the horrors of the camps, and this is what motivated me to write the book I mentioned previously. His experiences are deeply intertwined with the story, and I drew much inspiration from the history of my family.

He spent the first year of his life there, locked up in a place where he and his family had no rights. Born into a time when Japanese Americans were not treated like the rightful citizens they were. Many were not even treated like human beings. His mother, my great-grandmother, nearly perished in the concentration camp, due to the terrible conditions.

I find this story both horrifying and nearly impossible to believe. How did something like these camps happen in America, the country that calls itself the land of the free and the home of the brave? It happened once. It should not have happened. Still, it did, and we unfortunately cannot go back and change that.

However, what we can do is never forget. People in current times need to always remember this time in our history — to ensure that it never happens again. By speaking out against discrimination such as this, we can help make sure that these horrible atrocities are never reenacted. We cannot let history repeat itself.

Another detail I found somewhat shocking is that, despite the blatant violations of human rights the government committed against these people, few held any form of bitterness towards the country. My grandfather told me, “My parents, like many other Japanese Americans, never harbored or expressed any negativity towards the USA.”

This shows the forgiveness in the Japanese American culture, the strength of these people. This displays — at least for me — the true beauty of our culture, of the community our ancestors have created. I think that a lot of this centers on Little Tokyo — the Japanese American cultural hub in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo has been around for decades, going back to the time of the concentration camps. It has always been a place for those with Japanese heritage to congregate, but its future has become increasingly uncertain.

With the rise of gentrification, an issue that forces smaller businesses out of an area due to increased rent prices, more Japanese American store owners are struggling to stay in the place that has been their home for decades. Little Tokyo sits in a highly desirable area, and large companies have been continuously trying to take over. This is disregarding generations of Japanese American culture, prioritizing the economy over cultural security. I believe that it is wrong.

Empowering the youth in our community could help stop this from occurring. As I mentioned previously, there is so much we can do. Teaching children and teenagers to care about the culture of the Japanese Americans could help. We should not let the pride of this community die with those who endured the terrors of the camps.

We will be the ones to carry this culture into the future, and we need to ensure that this future is bright. Because the camp survivors will eventually pass on and we will be what is left. We will be their legacy. To ensure that their suffering was not in vain, we must continue to foster the Japanese American culture. We will continue their fight.

However, if we neglect the teaching of the younger generations, then we will fail in this endeavor. If children are not taught, they will not care. If they do not care, then they will allow the large business corporations to invade Little Tokyo, simply because they will not know what it was or what it could have been.

It will not be their fault. They just will not know. So, this is why we must empower them, teach them about the rich culture that surrounds them. Teach them to care so they will be better equipped to carry on the legacy of the Japanese American community.

Children, fellow teenagers — we are the voice of our future. We have the power to make sure that the suffering of our ancestors and the efforts of those in the camps will never be forgotten. I think that is a priceless ability and that we should not let it go to waste.

Along with being the voice of our future, we have the voices that will power our future. So, we should go out into the world and use them.

The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those ofThe Rafu Shimpo.