Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball and Japanese-American Internment

Comprehensive Unit52 pagesGrade Level: Middle School – High SchoolIncludes curriculum unit + excerpt from "Through a Diamond" + DVD ("Diamonds in the Rough: The Legacy of Japanese-American Baseball") In his book, Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese-American Baseball, Kerry Yo Nakagawa, Director, Nisei Baseball Research Project (NBRP), notes that Japanese Americans have been playing baseball for 100 years and even during the internment period of 1942 to 1945, they continued to play baseball behind barbed wire. For many students, there is an emotional connection to baseball and the many icons associated with the American pastime. Since the acts of terrorism on September 11, 2001, "civil liberties during times of crisis" has become a topic of many news stories and debate. Parallels have been drawn between what Arab Americans are facing today and what Japanese Americans faced following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The purpose of this teacher's guide is not only t