guard tower at manzanar internment camp, california
We've been here before. It is in our story.
It was this week in 1942 an offense against Asian people began and it betrayed American principle and idealism.
Immigration is a recurrent political thorn and people suffer. There are seasons of hate and victimhood changes by ethnicity, heritage, and nationality. As violence and animosity toward AAPI peoples accelerate, we recall how the American federal government crossed a line of ignominy.
Manzanar is emblematic of the mistreatment of people of Asian ancestry, and their resilient grace in sustaining.
MANZANAR
The National Historic Site is history as a window to our national soul. It's also evidence of a test of civility and a benchmark on doing what we say we believe.
In this instance it was people of Japanese heritage. We know however, our villainy has been felt by Native citizens, Africans, Jews, Irish, Germans, Italians, Mexicans, and others despite we are a nation of immigrants. Immigration makes us better, and more culturally rich, but our history condemns us.
The Manzanar Site, ironically near Independence California, tells the history and testifies as to how fragile our civil liberties are.
They had been uprooted and forced to live in a cramped adversity with communal latrines and showers without stalls. Personal space and privacy taken from them.
Nearly 26 thousand Japanese Americans served in the US Military during WWII, many serving with distinction and decoration.
In the frame below is Teru Arikawa the mother of PFC Frank Arikawa, the first soldier from Manzanar who was killed in the line of duty.
The quote below is from President Harry Truman at a White House ceremony honoring the 442nd and 100th Infantry Battalion of the Hawaiian Territorial Guard.
With that simple order American civil liberties and justice were savaged.
Processing and reporting centers were opened and Japanese Americans were forced to depart.
Post Trump America holds new paranoias and hatreds with new generations who are the target of zealots, racists, ideologues and politicians seeking favor.
I asked once if Manzanar could happen again? Could we again suspend due process and trample civil liberties because of fear and a perceived threat? With the Trump-McConnell appointees on the federal bench, and all the believers of the big lie, it's a valid question still.
Manzanar can be explained, but not excused, by the fear stemming from war. Now it is another affliction that stalks us. Ignorance, brutality, political expediency and radicalized hate have aggregated to threaten our way of life, our beliefs and our future.
We have soul searching and soul work to do.
See you down the trail.