1. Sketching the complexity of language and power

Closely examine Paul Murata’s interview in the Framed Photo hyperobject. Did you notice that he refers to his family’s “evacuation” from their farm in California? The U.S. government avoided harsh sounding terms and instead intentionally used language that softened and sanitized the incarceration experience. “Evacuation” and “internment” were the terms the U.S. government used to describe what we now refer to as the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans.

A young Japanese American man and woman kneel in a strawberry field. The man is wearing a light-colored button-down shirt and trousers, and the woman wears a dark dress with a light-colored necklace. The woman holds a tray of strawberries in her hands.

Sketch #1

What do you think of when you hear or read the word “evacuation”? Perhaps a recent fire drill in school comes to mind, where you and your classmates had to exit the building. Whatever it is that “evacuation” makes you think of, draw a picture of that evacuation scene.

Sketch #2

Now, draw a picture of a scene of people being forcibly removed from their homes.

Compare:

  1. What similarities and differences do you notice between your drawings?
  2. Thinking about those differences, why do you think word choices matter?

Consider:

Using JusticexDesign’s “Messages, Choices, Impacts” learning tool, consider:

  1. What messages do you want your drawings to convey?
  2. What choices are you making in the design?
  3. What do you want viewers to take away from the images?