Lesson 4: LEGACIES OF DISPOSSESSION
Landscapes of Injustice tells a story of the loss of home. It is about fear, racism, and measures taken in the name of security that made no one safer. It is also about the resilience of Japanese Canadians confronting injustice.
Visit our TimelineLetters from Tashme Activity
The evacuation, internment, dispossession, and forced relocation were experienced by men and women, youthful and aged, affluent and impoverished, issei and nisei in very different ways. What was it like to be a teenager in the 1940s experiencing these processes? Some teenagers later recalled the interment in a positive light. What unique challenges did they face and struggle to resolve?
SUGGESTED TIME: 45 MINUTES
Teaching Instructions
-
Provide students with
Handout 4.2 Letters from Tashme
and copies of the selected letters from former students,
Sources 4.4 – 4.7 Student Letters.
- Here you may choose to issue multiple copies to groups or individual students. Each letter was written by a different author and highlights different kinds of experiences as experienced by these teenagers.
- Allow students 20–30 minutes to read through the letter(s) and record responses in Handout 4.2 Letters from Tashme.
- Students can be asked to share out responses or you may opt to collect the handouts and assess them to uncover themes. These could be displayed in class next day using a Wordle app or noted on the whiteboard.