Re: Re: For Andrew and K2 - (long)
2003-05-08 by Jon
Thanks for the enlightening post Rick. I remember coming across a book in college that was a collection of photographs censored by the US Government during WWII. There were many pictures of warehouses full of material collected in scrap drives--much of the rubber, metal, etc. rotting away as it couldn't be recycled using then-current technology. Other pictures censored were of non-caucasian or mixed race people that had either been successful, brave, or were shown mixing with caucasians (especially if they were of African/Latin descent). The photograph that stands out the most in my memory was one of a Japanese-American man standing at the door of his car at the gate of one of the internment camps. He had an agitated, confused look on his face--and was neatly dressed in his heavily decorated WWI US Army uniform. This only makes me wonder even more what is going on right now in Guantanamo Bay. http://web.amnesty.org/web/wire.nsf/April2002/guantanamo Jon
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> Andrew (Malaysia) and others who are interested, > > I'm sure Jack and others can offer an explanation but as Andy kindly pointed > out I am of Japanese descent (third generation Japanese American). So > perhaps, without assuming any moral high ground, I can offer some personal > insights. > > Unfortunately, unbeknownst to much of the US populace even today, several > months after the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor (12-7-42) the > President passed an emergency Executive Order that directed anyone with > Japanese descent living in the Western United States to be incarcerated, > without due legal process, in various relocation centers (i.e., prisons). > The crime was never identified and the locations and length of time was > undetermined. > > My parents and three siblings (age 11, 4 and 2) had 48 hours to gather what > they could carry and were rounded up and sent to a processing center. As > they owned and operated a grocery store in San Francisco they were bused to > a local race track where they were assigned a filthy 10''x16' horse stall > and told to make do with several cots, a pile of blankets, and a few pots > and pans. There were communal outhouses, kitchens and, other than the wooden > walls separating the stalls, no privacy whatsoever. What was supposed to be > a three or five day stay turned into almost three weeks - all behind locked > gates, barbed wire and no legal representation. At the height of the frenzy > there was even hushed discussion in Congress of forced castration on these > innocent people. > > My family was eventually interned at Topaz, Utah - a dusty, hot-in-the > summer/freezing-cold-in-the-winter high desert (i.e. a hell hole). They were > there for 2 1/2 years. My father worked three jobs and, remember, my mother > had three young kids with another born while they were there. This was > definitely NOT a camping trip. > > After leaving the internment camp and fearing extreme "anti-Jap" sentiment > on the West Coast they were accepted into a Catholic orphanage in Salt Lake > City where they lived and worked, saving what money they could while waiting > for the racism to subside so they could return to San Francisco. In 1950 - > almost 8 years after being uprooted they were finally able to return to > familiar surroundings only to find their personal effects, the business and > property gone. > > My father passed away a few weeks ago (92 years old!) and in spite of > surviving a catastrophic earthquake in Japan and the Great Depression, > losing a young daughter and then his wife, and other tragedies and hardships > that we all endure, he always said that the most emotionally and financially > devastating and humiliating experience was having his family abruptly ripped > from their home and business and forced to live like prisoners for no other > reason than skin color and nationality. Some will say it was for their own > protection - bullshit - others will say it was for national security - more > bullshit. The overarching reason was to rip-off homes, businesses and land > from many of the hardworking Japanese in the cities and farming communities. > > So political correctness aside - you can now understand why many of us who > value freedom and humanity in this group and elsewhere (the real patriots) > cringe and become gravely concerned when racial epithets - however innocent > - are bandied about. And even more so, are really angered when the practice > is rationalized as being either the norm, meaningless vestiges of an > unfortunate past, or - which really pisses me off - written off as > predictable responses from the overly sensitive, politically correct crowd > (thanks Rush and Savage!). > > So, Andrew and others, there's a wealth of info on the Web if you're > interested. Even today, many high school US history books fail to offer any > in depth information of the Japanese internment camps, if any, at all. > > If anyone has any comment I'd be more than happy to discuss it further > off-list. > > It's time to move on! > > Peace, > > Rick Murai