The History of Executive Orders: Cry Over Manzanar

Cry Over Manzanar: The History of Executive Orders

The American promise shall never fail anyone

despite the passage of times and hardened hearts

a harvest of shame was ultimately stopped.

In 1942, Fresno County, the most fertile and

richest agricultural area in the nation, saw her own

children ripped out of her heart. The rippling

effects of the Pearl Harbor attack touched

specific residents from the coast to the interior.

the country was at war. Fueled by inflamed

racism, drastic measures were taken.

the morale of these acts was later questioned

when all heads became calm and rational again in 1946

correction through restitution payments

and a language of remorse came to light thereafter

what a cleansing move for the collective soul!

sooner or later, the nation can redress her wrongs

first evacuees along Highway 99, Kingsburg, Selma

and Fowler, the Japanese American citizens were

sent to the barrens with whatever they could carry

they became internees in the rangeland and wastelands

O Manzanar, cry! O Fresno County, cry for your displaced children!

may they find redemption and acceptance like the prodigal son

cry over all those who are excommunicated in the Pacific Coasts!

the Civilian exclusion Order No. 34 impact was real

so was The Internment Order 9066. Shed your tears like watershed

that blesses and produces the bounty and beauty of the whole Valley

citizenship is not only a scrap of paper. Hurry up, Proclamation 2714

Manzanar dirt was as real as the Great Plains Dust Bowl.

like the Colored, Blacks or African Americans, the European Jews,

the Native Americans who were relocated to Oklahoma wastelands,

the Japanese Americans became the new children of pain

The legacy and memories of the Armenian and Rwandan genocides,

Argentinian disappearances are as vivid as those of the holocaust,

Slavery, the dark billows of smoke, sheets of dust and flames

Emanating from the fallen towers. Their marks will survive in history

They cried over the losses of their homes, businesses and cropland

they cried over their new pariah status in the heat and fetid fine dirt

at Manzanar. They became enemy taint, denizen and undesirables

while war may be necessary at times, men should prefer peace

then, they cried over the loss of mercy, compassion, plain decency

rationality, common sense, humanity and brotherhood

for the first time, African Americans were free to flee the vestiges

of slavery and Jim Crow in the Southern states.

their labor became most wanted in the West. Through word of mouth,

they got the good news. San Francisco soon had a new Harlem

for the war efforts, Blacks and Whites were working side by side

workplace integration, but not without any animosities!

With lots of work, hope tends to lie in the future

Mr. Charles is the author of the bestselling ‘The Long Lost Garden of Eden’ and ‘California Blooms, Blossoms, and Harvest Delights’ available on Amazon.com

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