Japanese American Internment Camps

74 Years Since Pearl Harbor And New Challenge To The Homeland!

Ronald Leave a comment

On this day in 1941, 74 years ago, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sending America into World War II.

The number of veterans still alive today after 74 years is dwindling rapidly, just as we face, arguably, the greatest challenge to homeland security since then.

The question is, after the San Benardino Massacre of last week, caused by two Muslim terrorists living in California, what is the appropriate action to take, since the growing threat of Islamic terrorism has no real state boundaries, and there is no way to declare a world wide war against more than a billion Muslims, when the number of those supportive of or engaged in terrorism is miniscule, as compared to the number of Muslims in America and in the world at large.

One thing that cannot be allowed to occur is the mass of Muslims in America and overseas to be seen as the enemy, as that would lead to perpetual war and bloodshed without end, and to deny basic civil liberties to them!

Also, we cannot allow all Muslims and Arabs, and anyone who resembles them in appearance, to be singled out for violence, legal restrictions, and even internment in prison camps, as occurred to the Japanese American population in America from February 1942 to late 1945.

Fear and hysteria are being promoted by many Republicans, including many of their Presidential candidates, and that must be combated, as it is not a solution to victimize the vast numbers who have nothing to do with terrorism or violence!

Grim, Tragic Anniversary: 70 Years Since Executive Order 9066 Forcing Japanese American Internment Camps

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is a grim, sad anniversary, 70 years since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, forcing the internment of about 110,000 Japanese American men, women and children, two and a half months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing America into World War II.

This denial of the Bill Of Rights, one of the worst violations of civil liberties in US history, was imposed out of hysteria and panic after the Pearl Harbor attack, and very few people or groups denounced it, and it was later upheld as a necessary war action by a wartime US Supreme Court decision.

It is shocking in itself, but even more so when one considers the fact that first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, highly disturbed by the decision of her husband, complained to him, and was angrily told never to bring up the issue again.

This shows how the Presidency can give one, even as outstanding in other ways as Franklin D. Roosevelt, a sense of cockiness and arrogance, that he can lose a sense of what is right and wrong, and what is necessary.

This is one of the most despicable acts of FDR in office, and compensation for the surviving victims came only in 1988, when President Ronald Reagan signed into law an apology, and compensation of $20,000 per survivor.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Americans who served in segregated units in World War II were heroes, who accomplished more than any other military units of that war, and were finally given recognition by the US Mint in 2011 with a special medal commissioned for public sale to commemorate their heroism.