On March 24, 1942, the first load of civilian evacuees, carrying small amounts of personal belongings, were transported to camps. Two-thirds of the internees were Nisei [nee' say], American citizens born to Japanese immigrant parents, whose rights were spelled out in the U.S. Constitution as it is for citizens of all races. The press sugarcoated the primitive camps as having "all the comforts of home" and reminded the evacuees that they entered camps "not as prisoners but free to work." Analysts believe that white entrepreneurs, envious of the Japanese-American success in farming, fishing, and manufacturing, pressed for this militaristic incarceration of their competitors and profited by their absence. Whatever the thinking of authorities, the government's attitude was made obvious by one overriding fact — camp guns were aimed inward at internees rather than outward at potential attackers.
Internment wrenched apart Asian communities and herded people from farms, ranches, and homes into ten hastily constructed internment camps in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and California. Left behind were homes and cars, businesses and personal belongings, most of which were never recovered from last-minute storage, bank repossession, or abandonment. Ahead lay barbed wire compounds with guardhouses constructed at frequent intervals and cramped accommodations for eight to sixteen thousand detainees. Resembling army bases with barracks arranged in blocks, the ten camps began as an army project but were eventually placed under the War Relocation Authority.
The camps offered no play areas for children, who often scrounged seashells at Manzanar from a valley that was once an ocean. Although inmates lacked autonomy, life was made bearable at the dust-drenched Manzanar camp by a spirit of unity, which encouraged people to go on with learning, singing, gardening, exercise, visiting, and friendships. The Manzanar High School yearbooks record plays, chorus and orchestra performances, and musicals. Camp records list births as well as deaths.
