After being moved to Terminal Island, then Boyle Heights, then Manzanar, many members of Jeanne's family were fearful about leaving Manzanar to return to American society. What security did Manzanar offer that the outside American society did not?

Although Manzanar was an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, it morphed into its own community, where its inhabitans could practice both Japanese and American cultures. Since the rest of American society is not exclusively Japanese-American, Jeanne's family feared that they would face discrimination upon leaving.