Meet Kaia

Kaia is a yonsei (fourth-generation) Japanese American with Irish and Norwegian ancestry. She became interested in furthering secondary standards regarding the unlawful incarceration of Japanese Americans after a discussion with friends. Many had not learned about the event in school. Some hadn't heard of it at all. 

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In the case of California, Japanese American concentration camps are discussed in Grade 11 US History. But why not include the subject in Grade 10 World History, so students can learn about the American government's multi-layered response to Axis aggression during World War II? 

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Changing curriculum standards isn't easy, and when Kaia discovered that many states don't include the incarceration in their curriculum at all, she decided to begin by creating an informational website for visitors to learn on their own.

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Learn about the history and timeline of the incarceration of Japanese Americans by their government during WWII; share and read accounts from people who engage with the memory of incarceration today; find out how, or if, your home state integrates the subject into its educational standard; and browse rich, state-specific resources. 

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Check out this Buzzfeed video to see what happens when a group of young Japanese-American journalists, many biracial like Kaia, visit a U.S. concentration camp for the first time.

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More on Kaia's perspective here.