The above image is the album The Rising Tied from the hip-hop ensemble Fort Minor. It contains the song Kenji. The song is the telling of the experiences of Japanese-Americans during WWII and being placed in internment camps.
A Youtube video features the song along with lyrics at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9UI-m-Qd8s
A Youtube video features the song along with lyrics at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9UI-m-Qd8s
The song is about the experiences of Japanese-Americans during WWII and life in internment camps. The song depicts the harsh relaity of the internment camps as no one was told where they were going or really why it was necessary for them to leave their homes. The Japanese faced further discrimination after leaving internment camps as their homes were trashed and anti-Japanese sentiments ran high. The song also features excerpts from people who actually experienced life in the internment camps.
The song is in stark contrast to the video A Challenge To Democracy. The video made the internement camps as just a necessary nuisance for the Japanese-Americans and that life for them would be all right. It showed Japanese-Americans living happy lives after internment camps and being accepted for their contributions. However, the song indicates that racism ran high as a family returned home and found their home broken into and trashed and anti-Japanese sayings were put on the walls. This shows that the video was complete propaganda as first-hand experiences reveal something quite different. The video also said that the only way out the camps was by joining the army or by working in the beet farms. The song does mention that joining the army wsa a way to get out, and the man represented in the song as Kenji has joined the army in order to get out. So that part of the video was true, but the depiction of Japanese-Americans as happy and content is against the experiences described in the song.
I liked the song because it reveals the reality of the internment camps. The video A Challenge To Democracy didn't give me a picture of how life was like in the internment camps, it was clear propaganda. The song reveals how people in the interment camps felt and describes the experiences they lived through. I have a better picture of how the camps impacted the Japanese-American community and the experiences they msut have gone through during WWII.
song citation:
The song is in stark contrast to the video A Challenge To Democracy. The video made the internement camps as just a necessary nuisance for the Japanese-Americans and that life for them would be all right. It showed Japanese-Americans living happy lives after internment camps and being accepted for their contributions. However, the song indicates that racism ran high as a family returned home and found their home broken into and trashed and anti-Japanese sayings were put on the walls. This shows that the video was complete propaganda as first-hand experiences reveal something quite different. The video also said that the only way out the camps was by joining the army or by working in the beet farms. The song does mention that joining the army wsa a way to get out, and the man represented in the song as Kenji has joined the army in order to get out. So that part of the video was true, but the depiction of Japanese-Americans as happy and content is against the experiences described in the song.
I liked the song because it reveals the reality of the internment camps. The video A Challenge To Democracy didn't give me a picture of how life was like in the internment camps, it was clear propaganda. The song reveals how people in the interment camps felt and describes the experiences they lived through. I have a better picture of how the camps impacted the Japanese-American community and the experiences they msut have gone through during WWII.
song citation:
Fort Minor. Kenji. The Rising Tied. Warner Bros. Records, 2005.
video citation:
Fort Minor - Kenji. Online. Available: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9UI-m-Qd8s (July 28, 2007).
video citation:
Fort Minor - Kenji. Online. Available: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9UI-m-Qd8s (July 28, 2007).
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