Summary

In “Better Them Than Us (1942),” when Henry showed his father the proclamation, his father said only to Henry that it was “better them than us” (125). His mother asked him why it mattered. He told his parents in English that it mattered because Keiko was Japanese. In his room, Henry went out on the fire escape where he watched as a car pulled up to a restaurant next door. A Japanese couple got out of the car and were helped by a group of Chinese to put their belongings inside the restaurant. The couple left, headed toward the train station, with only four suitcases.

His mother came into his room bringing him cookies and asking if he needed to talk. Henry asked his mother why his father would not talk to him. She explained how his father had lived in...