Principles in moments of crisis
This unit examined how the US government’s response to World War II, especially the internment of Japanese-Americans, revealed deep contradictions in American democracy. Policies like Executive Order 9066 reflected a willingness to sacrifice constitutional values — such as due process and equal protection — in the name of national security. Propaganda further distorted public perception, using fear-based narratives to justify injustice. Meanwhile, Americans on the home front sacrificed through rationing and labor shifts, while Japanese-Americans were unjustly imprisoned. These experiences exposed how wartime pressures challenged the nation’s legal principles, creating a profound tension between democratic ideals and political realities.
During this crisis, baseball was a cultural symbol and form of resistance. It reinforced national values like perseverance and teamwork, but also became a way of reclaiming dignity. In the movie “American Pastime” baseball unites the Nomura family and their fellow internees, offering moments of identity and pride within the oppressive confines of the camp. Lyle’s service in the 442nd and Kaz’s formation of a baseball league show how Japanese-Americans proved their patriotism despite marginalization. Through the lens of baseball, the unit revealed how American identity was contested, reclaimed, and symbolically defended.
Ultimately, this unit combined legal, cultural, and emotional narratives that explored how America wrestled with its conscience during wartime. The relationship between constitutional crisis and popular culture showed how ordinary people navigated injustice, and how acts of resistance — even through sport — reflected enduring ideals. The internment experience, told through policy and film, underscores the importance of protecting civil liberties, especially in times of national fear. The lasting takeaway is clear: a true democracy must defend its principles not only in peace, but even more so in moments of crisis.
Your final thoughts
Write and post a comment with 100 words about what you learned from this unit, and how it may have changed your way of thinking.
Remember
Make sure there’s one space between words, no space before punctuation, and one space after punctuation. Also, keep typing and don’t start a new line. Be sure to check your comment before you post it.
27 COMMENTS >> COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED
The movie American Pastime recognized that even if the nation was founded based on the principles of freedom and equality, in wartime, those principles were broken. I strongly felt that war fundamentally changes people, and that it is very hard for the people who united strong anger against the warring nations. Also, I learned the possibility of cultures as a countermeasure to the severe treatment. In the movie, Kaz Nomura launched a baseball league within the camp. Baseball was portrayed not merely as entertainment, but as a symbol of freedom and equality. The baseball that began spontaneously in the camp is the essential activity to reclaim their rights and dignity.
I think this unit shows the way that all Americans including Japanese-Americans get dignity and freedom. I did not know that there was discrimination to Japanese-Americans in USA until I watched the movie “American Pastime”. Therefore, I surprised that Japanese-Americans were bullied as enemies by full-blooded Americans. In the movie, Kaz Nomura took the initiative to form a baseball league within the camp and connected internees of all ages. Finally, they won full-blooded Americans’ baseball team, and achieved victory and dignity. In this unit, baseball is designed as a fear game and takes role on to connect people together even if people hate the other side people each other.
I learned from this unit that democracy is a system which should be protected not only in times of peace but also in times of difficulty. I thought the United States was a country that valued freedom and equality, but I was surprised that Japanese Americans were detained and deprived of their rights during World War II. It was also impressive that baseball was not just a sport, but a way to resist the state and give hope and courage to people. At first, I thought democracy was strong and not easily collapsed, but I came to think of it as something important that everyone should try their best to protect.
Before this unit, I thought people focused more on people’s identity. However, I learned that people tend to judge others not by their sense of belonging, but by appearances such as race, especially in crisis. Furthermore, I learned this racism deprives people of their basic rights. In crisis, people would be liable to make enemies and make borderlines between fellows and enemies. In the movie, Japanese-Americans showed their sense of belonging with paradoxical way and it succeeded. However, I think it is not the best way for everyone to live equally. Everyone should stand opposite side against racism and pay attention to sense of belonging.
As a college American football player, this unit really connected with me. I know that sports build teamwork and mental strength, but learning about baseball in the movie taught me a completely different aspects of sports. In American Pastime, the Japanese Americans used baseball to keep their thought and identity in a terrible situation. Through my own experience on the football, I can understand how sports can become a good place and a way to show who you are. This unit taught me that sports are not just game but a tool for protecting our human dignity during hard times.
From this unit, I learned the importance of nationality and the danger of judging people by their appearance. In the movie, the Nomura family and other Japanese-Americans are gathered in various regions, such as Utah, though most of them were born in and raised in America. Executive Order 9066 harmed such people’s basic rights due to the prejudice that they were perceived as typical Japanese. In my daily life, I sometimes judge people by the language they speak and their skin color. Therefore, I found it quite a dangerous habit when communicating with others, and I need to change the way I judge.
I learned during World War II, Japanese Americans were in the deep psycho logical conflict. Japanese Americans’ blood is Japanese, but they are a member of American country. The most surprising thing is government took them away of Japanese Americans’ human rights despite American government simultaneously demanded loyalty from them. In addition, Lyle’s choice to fight for America was a very painful choice. In order to create his identity, I guess he was willing to be recognized as American, even though a country that had done such a thing. These problems are not famous, but we should know ethnic issues like this and make opportunities to think.
I learned that people could maintain dignity and hope even in unfair and painful situations. What impressed me was that people try to protect their identity through their important things. I felt that sports were not just competition or entertainment, but also a means of expressing our identity and supporting others. I also felt that sportsmanship is an expression of a person’s personality and showing sportsmanship leads to showing respect for the other person. In addition, through this movie, I realized society is easy to treat innocent people unfairly in a chaotic world. From this unit, I learned the importance of respecting character and the way of life.
From this unit, I learned about the lives of Japanese people living in the United States during World War II. When I was in high school, I had heard that Japanese Americans were unjustly interned. From the word, internment, I imagined something like the terrible camps in Germany, but in the film, the environment did not seem to be like that terrible. I even felt a little envious by seeing them play baseball and enjoy music. However, because this film was made in the US, I also thought that it might be a kind of “propaganda”. This unit made me to be interested in the US during the war.
Through this topic, I learned that even stable democratic nations violate human rights. The description of internment camps is very shocking because inmates are treated as if they were criminals. This reminds me of Nazi extermination camps. I had a vague notion that democratic nations obey their constitution and guarantees fundamental human rights. I also realize that these phenomena are caused by racial issues. As the movie characters, when discrimination trap people’s minds, a whole country commits unreasonable acts. This is the same as Axis nations such as Nazi Germany. The abnormality of wars that are based on emotional hates easily distort principles of liberal democracy.
From this unit, I learned that World War II created an unexpected turning point for women’s social roles by hiring women in technical jobs such as welding and riveting. Before I learned this fact, I simply thought that women’s social advancement had proceeded slowly and steadily in history. However, having learned the gap between temporary return to domestic work and permanent change in their mindset, I realized that profound change in society often begins with single sudden crisis. This unit changed my perspective, and I came to regard historical events as triggers to change people’s minds, not as mere facts.
A situation like in a movie is not just Japanese Americans, but all people who identity with their respective countries based on their identity, rather than on racial characteristics. Therefore, as showed in the film, it is wrong to group everyone together simply because they are of Japanese descent. Furthermore, before watching the film, I thought Lyle’s actions were contradictory, but after seeing it, I came to understand that by dedicating his life to a country that discriminated against him, he was effectively proving that he was not Japanese, but a Japanese American, and that his heart belonged to America.
This unit made me think more deeply about how unfair the internment of Japanese-Americans was during World War II. I was especially surprised by Lyle’s story because he fought for the United States even though his own people were denied basic rights. It made me realize that being loyal to a country does not always mean being treated fairly by that country. I also thought baseball in American Pastime was important because it gave people pride and a sense of community in a difficult situation. This unit changed my thinking about how fragile freedom can be during a crisis.
What I learned from this unit is that how American treated Japanese-Americans during World War II and how they thought about these people. The actual treatments were better than it I thought before, because Japanese-Americans can do their hobbies almost freely in the movie. On the other hand, I took my mind about other Americans. In contrast to Japanese-Americans, they were in hard environments such as the situations like that American had obligations to go for fight, then some of them died. If I was an American soldier’s family, there was a little possibility that I recognize Japanese-Americans as enemies. This movie showed the real of their emotions, so I could consider about not only Japanese emotions and viewed objectively about events in that time.
In this unit, I learned how powerful the media can be. During World War II, the U.S. government used propaganda to justify the internment of Japanese people, and media contributed to spread bad image about Japan. When people face difficulties, they tend to believe idea without foundation. Before this unit, I thought discrimination mainly came from individual prejudice. However, through this unit, I realized that prejudice can be created by the media and spread throughout society. Now I think it is important to look at information critically and avoid judging people based on prejudice.
I was surprised by how baseball is working as Americans’ identity through watching the film. In this film, the deep rift between Japanese Americans and the townspeople existed and was not being resolved. However, the baseball game catalyzed the two to begin to show a willingness to compromise. The match may have been initiated by rivalry, but I think it served a good purpose in relieving each other’s frustrations and stress. It was evident that baseball consistently served as a source of emotional support for Americans. I think that depicting resistance to absurdity not through violence, but through fair competition in the realm of sports, symbolizes American culture.
I learned that discrimination against Japanese-Americans during World War II was caused by the fact that the U.S. government and the American public viewed Japanese government and Japanese-Americans as equally at fault. In fact, the film depicted Japanese-Americans who, despite being born and raised in the United States, were viewed with hostility by those around them simply because of their Japanese heritage. Therefore, I reached an idea that the state or government, and the people should be considered separately following what I have learned. However, at things stand, unfortunately even in Japan, discrimination and hate speech, which had resulted from the situation, where people are not trying to distinguish between the state and its citizens, are remaining.
Through the unit, I’ve learned that people can quickly change their mind on enemy people right after the war begins. Also, I’ve realized that relationships are easily broken by war, especially the relationship between the different races or nationalities. It is similar situation that happened in the Yugoslav war, in which close friends whose nationalities are different turn into enemies. Also, it happens the opposite way, which some of the American soldiers started not to hate the Japanese-Americans in the camp after the Japanese-Americans soldiers from the camp helped the American soldiers. Therefore, I understand that relationships which are not broken after some difficulties like war are the real ones.
Through this Unit, I recognized that the problem of racial discrimination becomes more and more complicated in an age of globalization and there are needs of some strategies for protection of human rights. Recently, many people move to another country and have child there. Therefore, there are many people who are racially different from people around them. People tend to have feelings of hate for those who have different backgrounds with no certain reasons in a crisis, so immigrants and their family are vulnerable to racial discrimination. Governments should take some actions to protect human rights of ethnically different people in an emergency in advance to a crisis.
In this unit, I learned how important it is for people to have confidence in their own identity. Lyle and other Japanese Americans reclaimed their American identity, which had once been shaken, through baseball and military service. They spared no expense—money, blood, or time—to reclaim their identity. From this, I realized how fortunate I am to have lived my life without ever questioning my own identity. I learned that what I had taken for granted was not something to be taken for granted. I want to create a world where everyone can live without ever questioning their own identity.
Through this unit, I learned that ignorance is the root cause of discrimination, and that understanding others is crucial to resolving it. For example, the American girl’s comment to the protagonist, “Do Asians play jazz too?”, was an example of discrimination stemming from ignorance. And in the final baseball scene of the film, the camp leader accepted defeat because he knew and accepted the Japanese Americans and Japanese who had been interned. After watching this film, I believe that instead of directing our anger towards America over the forced internment, we should understand each other, just like they did.
This unit taught me that democratic countries can sometimes fail to protect freedom and equality during times of crisis. I was especially surprised by how the US government used propaganda and fear to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Before this unit, I mainly thought of baseball as just a sport, but I learned that it also became a symbol of resistance, identity, and hope for people living in internment camps. The stories in American Pastime showed how Japanese-Americans continued to prove their loyalty despite unfair treatment. This unit changed my way of thinking by making me realize how important it is to protect civil liberties even during national emergencies.
I learned in this chapter how Japanese Americans were discriminated against during the Pacific War. Unlike Germany and Italy, Japan directly attacked the United States, and I learned that discriminatory propaganda was used against Japanese Americans partly to strengthen domestic unity. Through this, I was able to understand the negative side of America, where the ideals of freedom contradicted the reality of discrimination. In the movie section, I saw people who, even under such discrimination, live with dignity without losing their humanity. Like them, I want to be a person who never abandons dignity or pride, no matter how humiliating the situation may be, and who continues striving to reclaim them.
I learned the importance of assuring human rights in case of national crisis from this unit. In the World War II, there were severe discrimination against Japanese American. It shouldn’t be forgotten as the case that human rights were violated in crisis. In addition, even now, though it decreased thanks to global moves to remove discrimination, there still be discrimination against Asian and African. I think it is important not to discriminate against people even if national crisis should arise. In such situation, the lessen of internment of Japanese American would be useful. It may connect to wipe discrimination out in the world.
I learned about how Japanese-Americans were treated during WWII. I discovered the history of how Japanese Americans, despite identifying as Americans, were persecuted and suffered the hands of the very country they called home. I also found it ironic that the United States, a country that prides itself on democracy, would violate the human rights of its own citizens, and it made me realize once again just how cruel war can be. And I learned that, even in the face of despair, the sense of community fostered by sports gives people hope, and that it is important to never lose that hope.
This summary powerfully captures the deep contradictions of America during World War II. It effectively contrasts the severe constitutional failures of the government, specifically the unjust imprisonment of Japanese Americans, with the strong resilience of the prisoners. Using baseball as a key point is brilliant, because it illustrates how a simple sport transformed into a powerful tool for reclaiming dignity and asserting American identity behind barbed wire. By connecting legal history and cultural resistance, this overview provides a timeless and crucial message. It serves as a severe reminder that true democracy must defend its civil liberties during moments of intense fear and crisis.
The eviction of the Nomura family meant far more than a mere relocation; it felt like a cruel declaration that all their hard work and achievements were completely worthless. Being persecuted based solely on race is devastating and something that should never be tolerated. However, rather than sinking into despair, each family member fought back by working tirelessly to prove that we are all equal, regardless of race. Their ability to rise above injustice and take immediate action is truly admirable. It serves as an inspiring reminder for me to always stay proactive, even in the face of unfair adversity.