Never forget that many of the things you think will never
happen in the United States have already happened and could happen again. History
repeats itself whenever we allow ourselves to be ignorant of the past. Our past
has not always been nice or heroic. Fear and greed have often made good people
do incredibly terrible things, and there are many examples throughout our
nation’s history where this is true.
February 19, 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of
Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This
is the order credited with the legal internment of “Americans of Japanese Descent”
without due process or any charges brought against them. It is considered an
abhorrent part of our collective history which is evidenced by its severe lack
of focus during History classes in school.
Japanese Internment is usually covered in school as a blip. Nothing
important to study further and quickly forgotten after the test. We don’t want
to think about these things. We’d rather move on, admit that it was bad and
that it shouldn’t be repeated. But this is the problem. We don’t study the bad
stuff, the events we don’t want to repeat. We celebrate our successes and innovations,
we honor our heroes and remember our victories, but we only briefly cover our failures.
As a result of this ignorance, we fail to see when it is being repeated, even
if ever so subtly, today.
Executive Order 9066 did not say anything about Japanese
Americans. It gave the Secretary of War the authority to designate “military
areas”, “from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to
which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject
to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military
Commander may impose in his discretion.”
Executive Order 9102 established the War Relocation
Authority which was charged to “formulate and effectuate a program for the
removal, from the areas designated from time to time by the Secretary of War or
appropriate military commander under the authority of Executive Order No. 9066
of February 19, 1942, of the persons or classes of persons designated under
such Executive Order, and for their relocation, maintenance, and supervision.”
I could be wrong, but neither order specified Japanese Americans, yet the result was
the removal, relocation, and internment of Japanese Americans for the stated
purpose of "national security". They were moved by train to “camps” behind barbed
wire and guarded by soldiers with machine guns in barren wastelands. Just
because it’s not specifically stated doesn’t mean the intent is not clear. The
intent of these Executive Orders was crystal clear to the people writing and
signing them.
EO 9066 “Whereas the successful prosecution of the war
requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to
national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense
utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as
amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August
21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);”
EO 9102 “By virtue of the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and statutes of the United States, as President of the United
States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and in order to provide for
the removal from designated areas of persons whose removal is necessary in the
interests of national security,”
Why Japanese Americans? According to George Takei in his
autobiography To The Stars, it is because they looked like the people
who bombed Pearl Harbor. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor many Japanese
Americans rushed to their nearest military recruitment office to sign up to
fight in the war. They were turned away, labeled as “Enemy Aliens”.
Fear?
On a visit, several years ago, to the Japanese American
Museum of San Jose, CA the curators gave an alternative explanation that stuck
with me. According to the curators, Japanese Americans had amassed a
certain amount of wealth and property in the region and there were many
Americans of European descent who wanted to take it. After Pearl Harbor, these
white men went to the leaders of their political party and convinced them to
push for these executive orders.
Greed?
Was it fear? Was it greed? I don’t know.
What I do know is that the President of the United States and
his advisors targeted a specific immigrant population of concern to discriminate
against. They used “fear” and “national security” in order to convince the American
people of its necessity. They carried out the orders with deliberate speed and
accuracy and those targeted were powerless to fight back.
Those that did fight back were imprisoned. Those who were
unwilling or unable to sign a “loyalty” statement to the United Stated for
numerous and various reasons were treated as disloyal. When the war effort
required more troops, the government came for these “enemy aliens” and demanded
that they sign up for segregated units. Those who refused were considered draft
dodgers and sent to prison.
It wasn’t until 1988 when Ronald Reagan acknowledged this
wrong and apologized, with compensation, to the Japanese American community.
What do we learn from this? Your take-away is up to your own
conscience and interpretation. There is not going to be a direct relationship
or correlation to anything happening now, but there will be similarities. There
will be signs. If you study the past, specifically the dirty, messy parts, you
might see something happening or starting to happen that might be worth your
attention.
As for me, I will remain vigilant. I will continue to learn and speak out when I see something that doesn't seem right. Maybe I'll be wrong. I might lose some friends. It's possible that I will make some folks angry. You may disagree with me or my conclusions. But I will not stop.
Keep in mind these words from Desmond Tutu, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
And these words from The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Please learn more:
Thanks!
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