Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order Episode 3: One Drop
48 snips
Dec 8, 2025 Satsuki Ina, a psychotherapist and filmmaker, shares her poignant family history of being born in an internment camp during WWII. She discusses her mother’s difficult pregnancy amidst harsh conditions and the heartbreaking diary entries that reveal their fears. The conversation delves into the inhumane living situations, the arbitrary confiscation of children, and the lasting trauma from racial policies labeled as security measures. Ina reflects on her parents' desperate decisions and the acts of compassion that emerged in such dire times.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Childhood Disrupted By Forced Removal
- Norman Mineta remembered the train ride and having his Cub Scout bat confiscated as if it were an adventure turned trauma.
- His family sold almost everything and left San Jose with only what they could carry before being sent to camps.
Legal Shortcut Enabled Racial Incarceration
- Government lawyers outside the Justice Department produced an opinion enabling racial mass incarceration of U.S. citizens.
- That legal shortcut let the Army label Japanese people an "enemy race" and remove citizens without constitutional process.
Eviction Photo And A Baby Labeled Enemy
- Satsuki Ina's pregnant mother stood in Dorothea Lange's Eviction Order photograph and was assigned family number 14911 before incarceration.
- Satsuki was later recorded as an "enemy alien" at three months old despite being born in camp.
