History Must Be Remembered

Years ago when I was teaching elementary school in North Hollywood, I met a young teacher who I would not forget.  She was Japanese American, and an outstanding young teacher.  One day she told me she was going to visit Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp from WW11.  Honestly, I had never heard of it.  I don't ever remember being taught about internment camps in high school or college, and was shocked to hear her story.

Her parents had come to the U.S. from Japan, and had settled in the San Francisco area.  Eventually they saved enough money to open a small retail store of some sort, and were making a nice life for themselves.  That was, until WW11.  Upon executive order from FDR, they were quietly removed from their homes one day and sent to Manzanar,  near Bishop, California.  I know where it is, as we used to pass it on the way to Mammoth, and for years I didn't know what it was.  This was just one of tens of thousands of stories of the inexcusable treatment of Japanese Americans during WW11.  Boy, what fear can do!

Between 110,000 and 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of them second generation, were removed from their homes and sent to internment camps during WW11.  FDR, by executive order, enacted this on February 19, 1942.  All people of Japanese ancestry were removed from the entire West Coast.  The U.S. Census Bureau assisted the internment efforts by providing confidential neighborhood information on Japanese Americans.  This was denied for many years, until the truth came out during the Carter administration, when a thorough investigation of internment camps was undertaken.  The result was that $1.6 billion in reparations was paid to 82,219 Japanese Americans, who were unfairly interned.

This was racially motivated, as these citizens offered no real threat.  It reminds me of what is happening today with minorities, specifically immigrants.  Some politicians are trying to scare us.  They want us to think immigrants are terrorists, rapists, and murderers.  Statistics say they are less likely to commit heinous crimes than American born citizens.

Although internment camps are not being suggested by any politician, deporting immigrants has been suggested.   Immigrants are a vital part of our community, and contribute significantly to the fabric of America.  Yes, we need to control immigration, but this should be done by reforming immigration law, not rounding up immigrants and deporting them.  What was done to the Japanese Americans during WW11 was disgraceful.  We are better than that.