To the Editor:

As a Japanese-American community activist I have heard many displeased responses to the Dec. 18 Sunday Review article by Amanda Sakuma, “The Patriotism of Time at ‘Camp.’ ” It gives the impression that members of our community channeled their camp experience into patriotism and a desire to assimilate so strong that they could embrace a presidential candidate expressing racist views.

The response to the camps was much more complex. While many Japanese Americans sent their sons to die for this country, others showed true patriotism by resisting their imprisonment. They were further punished and stigmatized for their courageous positions.

And while all of them were generous in their continued belief in American democracy, I would not characterize this as a “fierce resolve to forgive the country that had imprisoned them,” as Ms. Sakuma did.

After the war, many Japanese Americans remained deeply bitter and heartbroken, but held it privately. They worked to restore communities that had been destroyed in their absence. In the 1970s we witnessed the genesis of a movement to demand redress and reparations for the World War II incarceration. It was anything but quiet and passive, and came about as a result of a national organizing effort fueled by outrage and indignity.