Citizenship education, memory, and the World War II internment of Japanese Americans

Abstract

Drawing on citizenship education, collective memory, and oral history literature, I describe the intergenerational exploration of lived memory in the curricular endeavor: ―What is worth remembering about the past?‖ To demonstrate one form such consultation might take, an intergenerational group discussion was conducted with second-generation Japanese American immigrants, or Nisei, interned unconstitutionally by the United States government during World War II. Topics discussed included their lives before and during the internment, experiences talking about this event with non-Japanese Americans, and vision of education about the internment for future generations. The intended significance of this study is its: (1) rationalization of remembering the past as civic responsibility and thus curricular concern of citizenship education; (2) demonstration of applying intergenerational oral history methods in this exploration; (3) suggestion that empowering and encouraging students, educators, and their community to explore the past in this way may be a ―grass roots‖ avenue worth exploring in light of criticism against history education and its role in promoting nationalist agenda; and (4) contribution to our understanding of Japanese American history.