Japanese Internment; Day of Remembrance

Editorial: Day of Remembrance Is a Reminder to Continue to Fight Injustice
by KAREN KOREMATSU
On this day in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave the U.S. military the authority to incarcerate more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. February 19 is observed today as the Day of Remembrance.


Pictures of people who were incarcerated at Manzanar War Relocation Center are displayed alongside family tags at Manzanar National Historic Site on December 9, 2015 near Independence, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
In communities across the country, the Day of Remembrance is commemorated with events to promote education and understanding about this dark chapter in American history. The legacy of the World War II experience is personal to me: my father, Fred T. Korematsu, challenged the incarceration in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he is the namesake of the civil rights organization I lead, which honors his fight for justice for all people.

The Day of Remembrance is a reminder that we cannot let down our guard against injustice even as we move farther from the events of World War II. We must find purpose in this history, seeking out its lessons and reaching out to educate others across different generations and diverse communities.


Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute. Bob Hsiang / Courtesy of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute

The article is a little disjointed, but today is the anniversary of the day an American president signed orders to make an entire race of Americans into second class citizens, for the specific purpose of violating their civil rights and imprisoning them.

I think the Republican party wants to do the same, along economic/class fault lines this time. Or religious ones. If those fail, simple racism is the classic standby.

America is about inclusiveness. To the extent we turn away from this ideal, we are both poorer and less American.

Thoughts?

ttystikk said:

The article is a little disjointed, but today is the anniversary of the day an American president signed orders to make an entire race of Americans into second class citizens, for the specific purpose of violating their civil rights and imprisoning them.

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Damn tidestick I think your lack of verticality has left you short sighted. FDR was a SOCIALIST demoRAT the president that would be king, and that is why there is a 2 term limit as president. Your post is disjointed, the truth is imprisoning them violated their civil rights. You trying to compound the truth with your spin is silly.

ttystikk said:

I think the Republican party wants to do the same,

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You take what a SOCIALIST demoRAT did and think to project it onto the republican party? Are you not a SOCIALIST demoRAT yourself? You say you think, and I wander if you do.

ttystikk said:

along economic/class fault lines this time. Or religious ones. If those fail, simple racism is the classic standby.

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These are the very ways YOU SOCIALIST demoRATS use to divide the people of the US. With you socialists its always religion, class, racism and guns. All of your socialist ideas just break down into ways to remove our freedoms.

ttystikk said:

America is about inclusiveness. To the extent we turn away from this ideal, we are both poorer and less American. Thoughts?

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No AMERICA is about FREEDOM, a large mixing pot where you are free to be different, live and think as you like. Free to be rich if you are smart or are wiling to work for it. Its about options, and with freedom your able to chose what you like and the direction you wish to take.
COMMUNISTS/SOCIALISTS/PROGRESSIVES are about INCLUSIVENESS where we are the same poor little BOTS doing whatever the government tells us to do, without the right to chose. ONLY ONE CLASS the governing body the rest are just the classless property of the STATE.
As for thoughts I think you find something your good at and do it. As your thoughts and ideas are ludicrous without merit and imbecilic as well.

i like the ANGRY CAPITALIZATION coming from our white supremacist friend here. really rounds out the meltdown that he is having.

Yes, we should all take a moment to remember what is just another "Fine example of democrat leadership".

Or even better, let's hear from FDR himself "The problem with kicking a Chow's ass is an hour later you wanna do it again".

Why do you libs align yourselves with the democrat party of hate, racism and bigotry?

MuyLocoNC said:

Why do you libs align yourselves with the democrat party of hate, racism and bigotry?

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maybe try picking something more recent than 70 years ago.

for example, why not examine the endless amounts of racism emanating from your fellow conservatives on this very site? there were dozens who actually joined a white supremacy group, which you have yet to condemn. what's up with that?

LOL

UncleBuck said:

i like the ANGRY CAPITALIZATION coming from our white supremacist friend here. really rounds out the meltdown that he is having.

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I can't even imagine. Thanks to ignore, I don't have to.

Apparently, the US government did offer an apology and compensation to Japanese Internment victims and their families, back in 1988.

That excuses nothing. We must never allow our government to discriminate against American citizens in such a way again.

How many others here reach out to those of different religions, national origins and races? I do every chance I get, and I'm constantly rewarded with rich experiences and friends for my effort.

Racism is about division. Division is about control. Control is power. Power is money. Yes, it really is that simple; keep the people at each other's throats over distractions like their skin color or where they come from, and those in control can continue doing as they like... which usually involves stealing from you or your children, or relieving you of your constitutional and civil rights.

I guess "the constitution" failed to protect THOSE Americans huh ?

Of course FDR was a huge abuser of rights. He tried hard to stack the Supreme Court and loved
Josef Stalin. A first class douche bag of the highest magnitude, right up there with the racist Abe Lincoln.

ttystikk said:

Apparently, the US government did offer an apology and compensation to Japanese Internment victims and their families, back in 1988.

That excuses nothing. We must never allow our government to discriminate against American citizens in such a way again.

How many others here reach out to those of different religions, national origins and races? I do every chance I get, and I'm constantly rewarded with rich experiences and friends for my effort.

Racism is about division. Division is about control. Control is power. Power is money. Yes, it really is that simple; keep the people at each other's throats over distractions like their skin color or where they come from, and those in control can continue doing as they like... which usually involves stealing from you or your children, or relieving you of your constitutional and civil rights.

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The nature of the form of American government makes it impossible for you to do anything about stopping its discrimination. You are engaging in fantasy based wishful thinking.

There's nothing you can do about it by voting in a new douche either...the problem is in the DNA of the coercion based nature of government.

If an entity is systemically based in coercion, which the American government is, it is self evident that it MUST discriminate against at least SOME people.

But please do continue....baa baa baa

Rob Roy said:

The nature of the form of American government makes it impossible for you to do anything about stopping its discrimination.

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we passed civil rights to stop people like you from hanging "polite and reasonable" signs like this one:

Before some of you apologize to the Japanese for us demeaning them during WWII, and blame the USA for Pearl Harbor and the USS Indianapolis, read this:

http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Halloran.htm

QUOTE: The wooden stable - where I was held captive in a steel cage - was surrounded by a huge fire that night. Again, I don't know how I endured the heat or the smoke. After I survived the fire bombing, I was removed from my own cage and put on exhibit (naked) in a tiger cage at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, where Japanese civilians, mostly women, looked upon me in sad silence. Thankfully, I was eventually moved to the Omori POW facility.

I've read corroborating reports of other WWII USA POWs in Japan being chained naked in zoos for the public to see them. In particular, specific mention with references can be found in the book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", by Richard Rhodes.

The Japanese murdered many people in cold blood at Pearl Harbor, kamikaze style. Then when we had their asses almost kicked in 1944, they swore they would never surrender. Their leaders told ours that our soldiers would have to fight their way into the streets of Tokyo and fight every soldier and citizen. Their leaders were insanely nationalistic, and expected nothing less of their citizens.

And while the internment of Japanese civilians in the USA during WWII was a mistake, it was not the gross racist mistake that it's being made out to be. It was assumed that many of those people might be as insanely nationalistic as the Japanese leadership would have wanted.

I'm sorry for the way the Japanese in the USA were treated. Internment was a mistake. But our soldiers were treated much worse by the Japanese. Much worse.

RickyBobby26 said:

Before some of you apologize to the Japanese for us demeaning them during WWII, and blame the USA for Pearl Harbor and the USS Indianapolis, read this:

http://www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Halloran.htm

QUOTE: The wooden stable - where I was held captive in a steel cage - was surrounded by a huge fire that night. Again, I don't know how I endured the heat or the smoke. After I survived the fire bombing, I was removed from my own cage and put on exhibit (naked) in a tiger cage at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, where Japanese civilians, mostly women, looked upon me in sad silence. Thankfully, I was eventually moved to the Omori POW facility.

I've read corroborating reports of other WWII USA POWs in Japan being chained naked in zoos for the public to see them. In particular, specific mention with references can be found in the book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", by Richard Rhodes.

The Japanese murdered many people in cold blood at Pearl Harbor, kamikaze style. Then when we had their asses almost kicked in 1944, they swore they would never surrender. Their leaders told ours that our soldiers would have to fight their way into the streets of Tokyo and fight every soldier and citizen. Their leaders were insanely nationalistic, and expected nothing less of their citizens.

And while the internment of Japanese civilians in the USA during WWII was a mistake, it was not the gross racist mistake that it's being made out to be. It was assumed that many of those people might be as insanely nationalistic as the Japanese leadership would have wanted.

I'm sorry for the way the Japanese in the USA were treated. Internment was a mistake. But our soldiers were treated much worse by the Japanese. Much worse.

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The issue of Japanese Internment had and has exactly nothing whatsoever to do with how Japan treated American POWs.

The Japanese mistreated American prisoners, true. Not an excuse, and those stories came out later anyway.

ttystikk said:

The issue of Japanese Internment had and has exactly nothing whatsoever to do with how Japan treated American POWs.

The Japanese mistreated American prisoners, true. Not an excuse, and those stories came out later anyway.

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No it's not an excuse, but the insane nationalism shown by the Japanese during those times was a compelling factor in the decision to intern. It wasn't just a "hey let's lock up all the Japs" thing. But it was wrong nevertheless.

RickyBobby26 said:

No it's not an excuse, but the insane nationalism shown by the Japanese during those times was a compelling factor in the decision to intern. It wasn't just a "hey let's lock up all the Japs" thing. But it was wrong nevertheless.

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It was racism, goaded by fear of nationalism. At least admit the truth of the motivations.

The government suspends our liberties whenever it chooses.

It has also confiscated all of the gold in civilian possession before.

We really do not have any rights other than those we fight for which makes the 2nd Amendment that much more important.

ttystikk said:

It was racism, goaded by fear of nationalism. At least admit the truth of the motivations.

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B.S. The Japanese in America were not treated with any more racism than any of the other immigrants to this country. None of them were treated well including the first settlers by the Indians.

It was an irrational fear that Japanese Americans would commit attacks against infrastructure and other soft targets in America.

I do agree that it was completely wrong.

NLXSK1 said:

B.S. The Japanese in America were not treated with any more racism than any of the other immigrants to this country. None of them were treated well including the first settlers by the Indians.

It was an irrational fear that Japanese Americans would commit attacks against infrastructure and other soft targets in America.

I do agree that it was completely wrong.

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Why is racism so difficult for white folk to admit?

ttystikk said:

It was racism, goaded by fear of nationalism. At least admit the truth of the motivations.

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I was not alive then and neither were you. Those were different times. I can't say that fear of insane Japanese nationalism was wrong.

But it has proven to be bad judgement. We'll have to agree to disagree on the rest.

NLXSK1 said:

B.S. The Japanese in America were not treated with any more racism than any of the other immigrants to this country.

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And not one damned bit LESS, either, which would be the point the selectively deaf 'conservatives' seem at pains to ignore.

In fact, Germans and Irish WERE treated better; none of them got interned because of their origins- and yes, there were Nazi spies among them.