Book Review
Book Review
George Omi ’ s American Yellow
By Peter Robinson
While memoirs are about living in the past , engaging ones can also help readers live in the moment . George Omi ’ s American Yellow does both in his story of Japanese internment during the Second World War .
Readers may well ask how far questions of race have changed in today ’ s multiethnic San Francisco . Turn the clock back to 1941 to the months following Pearl Harbor , and specifically April 1 , 1942 , when Executive Order 9066 was first enforced . From early February , official government notices had been posted across San Francisco and other West Coast cities requiring Japanese- Americans to register at police stations . Through Order 9066 , FDR authorized transporting Japanese-American citizens to assembly centers set up and governed by the military , and they were then sent by bus or train to ten centers across the country .
Omi ’ s informative story is told in an attractively matter-of-fact way capturing much about the spirit of acceptance , where there is very little lamentation on his daily life as a youngster in these camps . His father had been questioned by the FBI , and their lives were uprooted when the family was relocated to Arkansas . He and his little sister had to adjust to camp life in a completely different climate that included snakes , bullies and out-of-bounds candy shops . As you read the conversations between friends and family members in the camps , you feel you are there sharing the happenings , moments of joy and sadness . What emerges is how Omi ’ s curiosity for life allows him to make the best of his situation from playing football and basketball in the open space behind the laundry room to learning judo and even cray-fishing in a local stream . He becomes an avid wireless listener and a reader .
“ I brought books home from the library . I enjoyed reading Zane Grey , Jack London and Mark Twain . I shared their stories with a boy in my block . Soon he brought books home too and shared them with me .” Clearly the reading paid off — witness the writing of this book .
This moving memoir is about an 11-year-old ’ s spirit of survival and growing understanding of that rapidly changing world of war-torn America . When victory for the allies came in 1945 , he and his family were released from the camp , and they started a cross-country journey back to San Francisco . This section is equally interesting — part travelogue , and part social history of America in 1945 . They encounter small acts of friendship when their car breaks down , and other challenges on the road , and finally , they hear the familiar sound of the bells ringing on San Francisco ’ s cable cars . Home at last , they faced the final challenge — having to rebuild a life that was wrongly taken from them .
Robinson describes one particularly telling episode while watching a newsreel in a San Francisco movie theater shortly after his return to the city : “ The narrator used the word ‘ Jap .’ If the person next to me turned his head ever so slightly , I squirmed . No wonder Papa didn ’ t go the movies anymore .” His memoir is in every sense living history .
A Timely Footnote
A companion piece to this remarkable memoir is the new exhibition at the Presidio Officers ’ Club called : “ EXCLUSION : The Presidio ’ s Role in WWII Japanese-American Incarceration ,” where President Franklin D . Roosevelt ’ s infamous Executive Order 9066 is remembered by historians . Camp photos and letters of Japanese-Americans , and a copy of General DeWitt ’ s order are all part of the memorabilia on display . This is a grim reminder of a dark period in American history when some 120,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans were relocated to crude internment camps in the country ’ s desolate interior . It provokes thinking about executive orders , racial profiling , and most important , civil liberties in 2017 .
Peter Robinson is the editor of San Francisco Books & Travel and a regular contributing broadcaster to KALW 91.7 FM . For details of his summer travelwriting workshops on Angel Island call ( 415 ) 381-6671 .
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