I am an American, acrylic on canvas, 1994, Vicky K. Murakami-Tsuda

This painting will always hold great significance for me. It was completed as an assignment for a painting class. We were to collage black and white images and paint it choosing our own colors. I chose two photos taken during the forced removal of Japanese Americans during World War II. The colors were chosen to represent the red and white of the Japanese flag (colors of the girls), but also the colors of the American flag—red, white, and blue.

Most of the 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry incarcerated during WWII were children and young adults not yet of voting age. Most were citizens by birth.

While working on it in the class, an older Caucasian woman remarked to me that it was really a shame what happened during the war, but that it had been for their own protection...this was 50 years later in Southern California. This painting inspires and compels me to continue educating people about the JA experience during the war.