Rightlessness : testimony and redress in U.S. prison camps since World War II

332 Pages·2016·3.056 MB·English

by  Paik, A. Naomi

Rightlessness
Studies in United States Culture
Grace Elizabeth Hale, series editor
Series Editorial Board
Sara Blair, University of Michigan
Janet Davis, University of Texas at Austin
Matthew Guterl, Brown University
Franny Nudelman, Carleton University
Leigh Raiford, University of California, Berkeley
Bryant Simon, Temple University
Studies in United States Culture publishes provocative books that explore United
States culture in its many forms and spheres of influence. Bringing together big ideas,
brisk prose, bold storytelling, and sophisticated analysis, books published in the series
serve as an intellectual meeting ground where scholars from different disciplinary
and methodological perspectives can build common lines of inquiry around matters
such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, power, and empire in an American context.
Rightlessness
Testimony and Redress in
U.S. Prison Camps since World War II
A. Naomi Paik
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill
Publication of this book was supported by an award from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Campus Research Board and by the Thornton H. Brooks Fund
of the University of North Carolina Press.
© 2016 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Designed by Alyssa D’Avanzo
Set in Utopia by codeMantra, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Cover illustration courtesy of Matt Rota.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paik, A. Naomi, author.
Rightlessness : testimony and redress in U.S. prison camps since World War II /
A. Naomi Paik.
pages cm. — (Studies in United States culture)
Based on author’s thesis (doctoral—Yale University, 2009) issued under title:
Testifying to rightlessness : redressing the camp in narratives of U.S. culture and law.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-4696-2631-4 (pbk : alk. paper) — isbn 978-1-4696-2632-1 (ebook)
1. War and emergency legislation—United States. 2. Detention of persons—
United States. 3. War on Terrorism, 2001–2009. 4. Terrorism—Prevention—Law and
legislation—United States. 5. Detention of unlawful combatants—United States.
6. Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp. 7. Refugees—Legal status, laws, etc.—
United States. 8. Haitians—Legal status, laws, etc.—United States. I. Title.
kf7225.P35 2016
345.73'013—dc23
2015029153
For my parents
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part I 19
1. Internment Remains
The 1988 Civil Liberties Act and Racism Re-Formed 21
2. Residues of Rightlessness
Ghosts and the Afterlife of Internment 57
Part II 85
3. Just to Stay Alive
Haitian Refugees and Guantánamo’s Carceral Quarantine 87
4. Not a Place to Live
Resisting Rightlessness through Word and Body 114
Part III 151
5. Creating the Enemy Combatant
Performances of Justice and Realities of Rightlessness 153
6. Living in a Dying Situation
Preserving Life at Guantánamo 188
Conclusion 217
Notes 231
Bibliography 271
Index 293
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Figures
1. Carved bird featured in the video History and Memory 75
2. Image of Rea Tajiri’s grandmother from the
video History and Memory 76
3. Bird-carving class from the video History and Memory 77
4. Restraint chair used during force-feedings at
Guantánamo camp of War on Terror 199