"In recognition of Black History Month in February, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called on Americans to study the “racial soul of America” and to explore even the painful truths in our shared history. “We must find ways to force ourselves to confront that which we have become expert at avoiding.” For educators, the challenge is not only to expose students to America’s sometimes shameful history of race relations, but to help them understand how and why it happened, as a way to reconcile a difficult past with a hopeful future.
While many students have become relatively familiar with the history of African Americans, including the periods of slavery and civil rights, few are familiar with the history and experience of Asian-Americans. Teachers and students have an opportunity to explore this side of America’s racial soul in greater depth during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May.
Among the rarely taught events of the Asian immigrant experience is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, during which 110,000 Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps in the interior of the country out of fears of espionage and sabotage. Two-thirds of internees were U.S. citizens, and none were criminals. In spite of a formal 1988 apology — in which Congress stated that government actions were based on ""race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” — the internment remains a painful and neglected story in our nation’s racial history.
To help teachers introduce students to this event and to commemorate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, RaceBridges for Schools, a nonprofit initiative that offers free lesson plans on diversity and interracial understanding, has created a lesson that examines the history of Japanese Americans in the United States, focusing particularly on the internment during World War II.
Based on original research by professional storyteller Anne Shimojima, the lesson plan (available for download at www.racebridgesforschools.com) includes audio excerpts of the author reading from her own story. In this personal account, Shimojima describes how her family members survived internment and began new lives in Chicago after their release. Designed for students in middle school and high school, this lesson seeks to spark classroom discussions about the sometimes difficult aspects of the immigrant experience, how a national crisis can lead to xenophobia and racism, and what it feels like to be “unseen” as a minority in American culture.
“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot,” Holder concluded in his February address, “in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” By sharing stories of America’s racial history, even those parts that are difficult to confront, teachers can begin to gives students the courage to speak the truth and make a new path for the future.
For free lesson plans — or for more ideas about how to incorporate diversity lessons in your classroom — visit RaceBridgesforSchools.com.
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For free lesson plans based on these storytellers — or for more ideas about how to incorporate diversity lessons in your classroom — visit RaceBridgesforSchools.com. RaceBridges for Schools offers resources to help teachers and administrators create a school climate that fosters knowledge of and respect for diversity.


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