Megan Hali Ray FLM-THEA-1070-006-F13-DAVIS FINAL RESEARCH ESSAY November 26, 2013

The film I chose is The Cats of Mirikitani, which was released in 2006 by director by Linda Hattendorf. In this film, there are many issues addressed by Linda Hattendorf who directed and participated in this beautiful film. One of the first issues you see the issue of homelessness with the subject of the documentary, Jimmy Mirikitani. He is an artist living on the streets of New York City, selling his paintings. The title of The Cats of Mirikitani is based on the beautiful paintings of cats that Jimmy paints. I will be discussing the issue of the treatment of American citizens of different ethnicity and how they are treated differently during times of war with the "enemy". In the film, you see the tragedy of September 11, 2001; Jimmy Mirikitani is living on the street at the time of the attack. After the attack of 911, Linda, who has now developed a friendship with Jimmy, sees how the pollution and smog is affecting Jimmy and decides to invite him to stay in her house to get him out of the pollution and smoke. There have been hints of the issue of mistreatment of American citizens, but this part of the film is where the issue became more obvious for me. The film shows examples of the growing friendship between Linda and Jimmy, which starts to open the secrets behind Jimmys life. What happened to make this talented artist live on the streets of New York. Jimmy Mirikitani was born in Sacramento and raised in Hiroshima; this gave Jimmy a dual citizenship. Jimmy returned to the United States after turning 18. The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 affected Jimmys life traumatically. The government issued an order that placed Jimmy along with 127,000 plus American citizens in concentration camps during World War II. The non-Japanese population of the United State had turned against their own fellow Citizens due to their ethnicity. The anti-Japanese paranoia increased widely because of the large Japanese presence on the West Coast. In the event of a Japanese invasion of the American mainland, Japanese Americans were feared as a

Ray 2 security risk. (Teitelma). The unrest that these events created in Jimmys life were brought to the attention of Linda and the audience, including myself. The treatment of Japanese-American Citizens was out of control. The average American opinions of the Japanese People were that all of them are out to get them. On September 11, 2001, the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City shocked and terrified Americans everywhere. The media coverage was more advanced than previously and more and more American citizens saw and felt the impact of that day. The attacks of 911, which was mentioned earlier were an important part of this documentary. The attacks turned a large portion of the American Population against their fellow Americans who resembled or were assumed to be of an Arabian/Muslim ethnicity. History is a great tool to predict the future and although there were not camps the hatred and hate crimes were very similar in these two tragic moments. After September 11, 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 1,700 percent increase in crimes against Muslim Americans between the years of 2000 to 2001. (Khan). Why would a country turn against their fellow Americans in times of panic? Is there a need to blame someone? This country seems to lack trust. Yes, there are horrible people in this world who wish to cause harm but not all members of ethnic groups are the same. You can see this in any ethnicity. I feel like I am treated as though I am racist because I am an Anglo-Saxon. I cannot image being hated because of my ethnicity or religion or placed in a concentration camp. On the Huffington Post, I found an article titled: History of Hate: Crimes Against Sikhs Since 9/11. On August 5, 2012 there was a mass shooting of a gurdwara (Sikh temple) in Wisconsin is one of the most recent acts of violence towards Sikhs. In the months following the September 11 attacks there were more than 300 incidences of hate crimes against Sikhs. (Josh). Shown by how recent this shooting was is an example of how the Sikhs are still misunderstood, they are not Muslims or Hindus but are still

Ray 3 subject to hate crimes. On September 15, 2001, in Mesa, Arizona, just four days after the attack of 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49-year-old Sikh, was shot and killed outside of the gas station that he owned. The attacker was Frank Silva Roque, who when the police were arresting him said, Im a patriot and an American. Im American. Im a damn American. (Josh). About one month later on November 18, 2001 in Palermo, NY, three teenagers burnt down Gobind Sadan, a gurdwara (Sikh temple), because they thought it was named for Osama bin Laden. On December 12, 2001 in Los Angeles, California a liquor storeowner who was wearing an American flag turban after 9/11 out of his fear of being attacked, was beaten in his store by two men who accused him of being Osama bin Laden. The attacks go on and continue to be hate crimes against honest hardworking American citizens. They were racial profiled to be Muslims. (Josh) After the treatment of his ethnicity, Jimmy kept his distance from the American government. I do not blame him for his lack of trust. I cannot imagine being in his situation. Linda was trying to help get Jimmy back on his feet. This did prove to be quite challenging due to the lack of trust that Jimmy had developed towards the U.S. government. He was reluctant to even try to apply for social security. He did not want to let the government back into his life. Linda keeps trying to help by applying for his social security and citizenship. Linda helps him get a new apartment and become more social with neighbors and residents of his apartment. Although there was a horrible mistreatment of his people after attending a memorial at his old campsite he forgives. You see him in assisted living with his own apartment where you see his wonderful works of art displayed on his walls. This makes me wonder if we as a nation could work a little more on forgiveness, would this racial hate continue to be an issue in the future? Jimmy Mirikitani has a saying, make art, not war.

Ray 4

Work Cited Eckland, K. N.p. Web. 26 Sep 2013 < http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0007.101?rgn=main;view=fulltext>

Josh, F. n.d., n. pag. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/history-of-hate-crimes-againstsikhs-since-911_n_1751841.html>.

Khan, M. N.p. Web. 30 Sep 2013. <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jmmh/10381607.0007.101?rgn=main;view=fulltext>. Teitelman, R. Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia, 2004. 0. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/51e.asp>.