12 Comments

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  rjd_jr at 08:09 AM JST - 16th May

  These pilgrimmages are nice. Contrary to the likes of ignoramuses like Michelle Malkin, who has no clue as to what she has ever talked about, many of these internees were subject to injustice. What truly annoys me though is when people equate the Japanese American experience to Japanese in Japan, for example, saying President Reagan apologized to the internees, but the Japanese government never apologized to the POW's of Imperial Japan. Totally different, apples and oranges, ridiculous comparison and analogy.

  But I am a bit worried about CAIR jumping on this bandwagon.

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  Badsey at 09:06 AM JST - 16th May

  people that could not get out of the exclusion zones were temporarily interned, of course at that time I 'm sure they weren't welcomed much where else.

  True interned people were German POWs, some Japanese prisoners for various reasons.

  At the time Japanese would say "it can't be helped" What could they do if they didn't have family not in the exclusion zone that could take them in + the rules kept changing.

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  morosophos at 12:23 PM JST - 16th May

  This pilgrimage puts Japan to shame. Where are the memorial sites for Chinese, Korean and Allied civilian internees in Japan, paid for by Japanese taxpayers? It's time to recognize all those sites so that they "never happen again."

  Apparently rjd has never read Malkin's book. Makes one wonder just who is ignorant, and who hates historical facts.

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  KaptainKichigai at 12:38 PM JST - 16th May

  This pilgrimage is in recognition of Japanese AMERICANS that were interned. The USA interned its own citizens. That is the point. And now it is being related to the fear American Citizens that are Muslim are feeling because America is again at war. Memorial sights for victims of Japans warcrimes is a completely different issue. Perhaps a pilgramage to honor the woman that were used as entertainment for the Japanese troops would be more comparable.

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  gifu at 08:15 PM JST - 16th May

  Actually at that time, Koreans were Japanese citizens, so the forced slave labour and prostitution of Koreans in Japan is more than comparable to the internment of Japanese-Americans. Both were shameful and immoral, but while the Americans have faced up to their past,the Japanese government deny and deny, even in the face of clear evidence gathered by more moral Japanese.

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  NeoJamal at 10:42 PM JST - 16th May

  This pilgrimage puts Japan to shame. Where are the memorial sites for Chinese, Korean and Allied civilian internees in Japan, paid for by Japanese taxpayers? It's time to recognize all those sites so that they "never happen again."

  Apparently rjd has never read Malkin's book. Makes one wonder just who is ignorant, and who hates historical facts.

  These classes of people are not Japanese citizens to begin with (Koreans are Japanese subjects as gifu has correctly pointed out). Rjd was correct to have identified the absurd premise of internment defenders such as yourself. He already pointed out that harsh treatment of POWs (non Japanese citizens) under the Japanese which is a foreign relations disaster cannot be compared which are internal affairs of Americans interning Americans as such. Your failure to understand this distinction as Rjd has pointed out just another exhibition of intellectual cretinism that widely persists in the pro-internment camp. Rest assure that as long as your revisionist camp consists of mostly ill-read individuals like yourself and Malkin, internment justification will be no more than a racist agenda that will only be picked up by other contemporary neo-cons to poorly justify racial profiling in American civil society.

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  KaptainKichigai at 11:48 PM JST - 16th May

  Well put neoJ

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  0JAMBO at 02:17 AM JST - 17th May

  I think it's very important to point out an important difference between the situation Japanese-Americans faced in 1941 and the situation Muslims encounter in the USA today. Americans of Japanese descent are what they are because of an accident of birth - just like every other American. Muslims are what they are because they choose to be - Muslims. Certain Islamic activists attempt to equate the very real and very unfair persecution of Japanese-Americans during World War II to criticism of Islam, inferring in effect that it is racial bigotry against the (mostly foreign-born) adherents of that faith. As a "revealed religion" like Christianity and Judaism, belief in Islam is ultimately a matter of faith regarding the veracity of its prophet Mohamed. Islam is a bundle of ideas and concepts that can be examined critically and argued over; In fact it needs to be because at least for some its activists, there is a political component to Islam that is is in conflict with reigning ideas of secular American government. Criticism of Islam certainly ought to take place from an informed perspective but Muslim activists shouldn't be allowed to shut down argument by hiding behind phony claims of racial bigotry.

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  Alphaape at 07:08 PM JST - 20th May

  To add to OJAMBO's point, I visited one of the Navy bases in the Norfolk Virginia area, and one of the old timers told me of a bar that was owned by a German that used to be near one of the bases. He came to America as a POW. He and the rest of the German POW's were allowed to go to various places on the base like the movie theater and post exchange freely, while Black US citizens who were in the military were denied the right and had to go to Black only facilities in seperate bases.

  Muslims in America don't face that type of discrimination, even the Arab ones immediately after 9/11. True some people don't like them, that will all ways be the case, but a lot of it has to do with how they carry themselves. Not trying to "blame the victim" but if you walk into a resturant and tell the owner you will not eat there because a blind man has a seeing eye dog present and you find that an affront to your religion (as was the case in Minnesota) then you will be ostracized because of what you believe. People will associate you with the more radical elements of your religion becuase they probably don't know many members.

  The Japanese internment was quite simply a racist reactionary measure to calm the nerves of a jittery America. Even during the war, the US did not amend the Chinese Exclusion laws for immigrants from China until 1943, and they were considered the US ally in the war with tons of equipment and men going there.

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  rjd_jr at 12:18 AM JST - 21st May

  To add to Aphaape's excellent post, the exclusion zones were primarily on the west coast. There were a lot of white people that were eyeing the farms and properties of the Nisei in California.

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  usaexpat at 11:29 PM JST - 21st May

  So a lot of bad things happened during the war and these folks choose to recognize the injustices done by the US government to its own citizens. Sounds fair to me. Those of you who want to negate the tragedy of the internment camps by saying that Japan hasn't owned up to its own shame during the war don't get it. So, Japan hasn't faced its past which was much worse than America's therfore anything America did was excusable? What a farce and an insult to our intelligence. I'm from Milwaukee which for a little history lesson means a lot in the context of WWII. Before the war our German language paper had a larger distribution than the English language paper. During the war my family's books were burned, people were rounded up and questioned, "You're German aren't you? ever been to a Bund meeting? So do you secretly support Hitler? You know we can arrest you, destroy your business and family right?" that's why it's important for America to face up to its past. Our hands aren't clean and they never have been. What Japan chooses to do in terms of its war time record is its business but the US still has some explaining to do in my book.

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  canadianbento at 08:08 AM JST - 23rd May

  What is the date for the Pilgrimage to Manzanar?

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