Former Japanese American WWII camps fuel resistance to Trump’s historical censorship

Advocates and community members rallied at Manzanar and other locations nationwide in the past weeks, opposing Trump administration policies they say threaten to obscure difficult chapters of American history.

“Day of Action”: Demonstrators showed up at national parks and other spaces for the “Day of Action” backed by the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) and spread across several dates — mostly on Aug. 23 — last month. The protests targeted Trump’s March executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which directs parks to remove content that “inappropriately disparages Americans.” A Sept. 17 deadline has been set for compliance reviews.

About a hundred people gathered at Manzanar, which now offers QR codes directing visitors to report displays deemed negative toward Americans or those that “fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur and abundance of landscapes.” Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Bruce Embrey, whose mother was imprisoned at the camp, addressed protesters: “The struggle today is the struggle over who gets to shape the collective memory of our country. We will not allow our history to be erased. No more Manzanars. ‘Never again’ is now.”

Driving the protests: Japanese American families see Trump’s policies as attacks on decades of advocacy for recognition of wartime injustices. Since January, permanent National Park Service (NPS) employment has dropped 24%, while the administration seeks to slash $1.2 billion from the agency’s budget, or more than one-third of current funding.

The timing reflects mounting urgency as the compliance deadline nears. In a Seattle rally, Minidoka camp survivor Larry Matsuda warned that “the causes of the forced incarceration are still alive and well today.” At Manzanar, Pat Sakamoto, who was born at the camp, told KCRW, “I feel they’re going to make it so I don’t have a voice for my mother — that I won’t be able to tell her story.”

Broader implications: The resistance extends beyond symbolism to workplace organizing. Last week, Yosemite and Sequoia Kings Canyon workers voted 97% in favor of unionization amid widespread job cuts. Parks nationwide face operational crises as reduced staffing forces cuts to visitor services, educational programming and basic maintenance.

The protests highlight intergenerational activism connecting past and present injustices. Washington State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-37), whose grandparents were incarcerated, declared, “We hereby refuse to permit my family’s history to be erased.” Former NPS Director Jon Jarvis, who attended the protest at Rosie the Riveter in Richmond, characterized the administration’s actions as “essentially dismantling an institution that has served the American people for well over 100 years.”