As part of my teaching, sophomores read When the Emperor Was Divine, a novelized memoir by Julie Otsuka. I suppose it might roughly fit into the category of historical fiction, and students read it over the summer in preparation for our three-level literature course.

This video is housed at Gale Virtual Library.

Typically, I begin with some instruction around Japanese internment, using the “Four Freedoms flag” that was used to demonstrate Allied unity and almost became the official flag of the United Nations. We also watch a documentary about the Supreme Court cases that emerged as a direct result of President Roosevelt’s executive order.

The following mockumentary, published by the New York Times, is not something I had encountered while teaching the novel, and I didn’t use it in the classroom. However, we did watch the propaganda film it sources here.

I often wonder how history will remember President Trump’s executive order to separate asylum seeking children from their families. Will history forgive him, as some have forgiven Roosevelt for the human-rights violation his needless war-time order caused? And how will history remember President Trump’s supporters, given the obvious human-rights violations caused directly by his attempt to close the southern American border?