In Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, what is the most humiliating thing in the camps for the Japanese people...

In Farewell to Manzanar, the conditions that the Japanese had to experience in the camps were humiliating.

Forced relocation was very humiliating. Once Japanese-Americans were relocated, their humiliation at places like Manzanar continued. Basic services were not even basic. Food was improperly prepared. This contributed to spells of diarrhea which became known as "Manzanar runs.”  To have to endure improperly prepared and spoiled food is an indignity.  It is humiliating for both child and adult alike. In intense detail, Farewell to Manzanar depicts this reality.

The presence of diarrhea highlights another aspect of humiliation that Japanese people had to experience. Using the bathroom at Manzanar was humiliating.  Toilets were backed up.  Jeanne and her mother had to use a bathroom where the floor was covered with human waste.  They had to walk a considerable distance to find a bathroom that did work.  The use of a bathroom is one of the most basic experiences.  Human beings should be able to have a functional bathroom that reflects their dignity. Standing in human waste is humiliating.  It is the type of moment where people have to wonder at what point their lives turned into such a sad and pathetic condition. When the Japanese who were forced to stay at internment camps cannot even experience a working toilet, it is a reminder of the humiliation that many endured in American internment camps.