When former president Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in 1942, it resulted in the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans in prison camps across the United States.
Once justified by the U.S. government as a necessary action to defend national security in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the forced relocations and imprisonments are now recognized as a deep constitutional violation with devastating repercussions, spurred on by racial prejudice. Bringing history into the present to retell this difficult story, the documentary And Then They Came for Us airs Monday, August 8 at 9 p.m. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.
Featuring actor George Takei and other survivors of the prisons, And Then They Came for Us weaves together historical records of the incarceration with the efforts of modern-day activists speaking out against the Muslim registry and travel ban. By drawing parallels between the government justification of Japanese civilian imprisonment under Roosevelt in the 1940s and the similar arguments offered by former president Donald Trump for government policies restricting Muslim rights and freedoms, the documentary emphasizes the need to learn from past history in hopes of preventing future tragedy.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Rhode Island PBS is now available to subscribers of YouTubeTV. The full schedule is available to live stream for free within the broadcast viewing area at watch.ripbs.org/livestream. An expansive catalog of PBS series, documentaries, and specials is available to Rhode Island PBS members through Rhode Island PBS Passport.
