About This Lesson
Within a unit that uses narratives to highlight cultural perspectives and promote respect and tolerance, this lesson, “From Home to Manzanar,” requires students to analyze the injustice experienced by Japanese Americans under the edict of Executive Order 9066 and make connections to injustice of the aptly named Jewish holocaust in Europe during World War II.
The title of the unit is inspired by a TED Talk by Nigerian Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “The Danger of a Single Story.” (Link) It appears as an introductory resource in Guidebooks, a scripted curriculum used by some school districts in Louisiana. This lesson, “From Home to Manzanar,” incorporates texts and media from modules featured on UCLA’s Foundations and Futures website, excerpts from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and various online resources about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. The lesson may be implemented without the secondary sources that are part of a pre-existing unit.
