WW2 Japanese-American internment was based on government lies

[Newsjock]

Source: Fresno Bee

Tuesday's revelation that the World War II internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans was based on lies by a top U.S. official was not actually news to some local Japanese-Americans.

... Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal said Tuesday that the internment of Japanese-Americans was based on lies and deliberate deception by the wartime solicitor general.

... He said Charles Fahy, solicitor general appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, purposely withheld an intelligence report that concluded Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast were not a military threat.

As the U.S. government's top attorney, Fahy was duty-bound to be impartial and truthful, Katyal said. Instead, Fahy lied to the Supreme Court, saying the government and the military had concluded just the opposite – that Japanese-Americans were a threat and interning them was a "military necessity."

Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/25/2402902/japanese-americans-not-surprised.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Japanese-Americans were portrayed as the "terrorists" of that era.

And by the way, you DO know that the Supreme Court case that legitimized those forced internments hasn't been overturned or reversed, meaning it could happen again.

[Fumesucker]

2. Not to mention that Census data was used to help round up the J-A people..

I have to say that I don't blame people who are suspicious of the census, there is historical precedent for the suspicion.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. + 1

I've seen the Census from the 30s and 40s. You had to put your country of origin.

[dkf]

3. What is amazing is that instead of prompting hatred of their own country it engendered love of

Country leading so many to enlist and to prove their loyalty with their lives.

The 442nd made up of Japanese Americans was the most decorated Regiment in the history of the country.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

[ChicagoRonin]

5. However . . . (impact of history)

I'm Japanese American myself and am active in the Chicago-area JA community (which includes a lot of former West Coast internees).
I'd just like to point out that although the internment did spur many to demonstrate their patriotism (442nd) and led to other Japanese Americans to become active as progressive politicians (Daniel Inouye, Norman Mineta, etc.) or activists (actor George Takei) I know many others here who are hard-core Republicans if for no other reason than it was a Democratic President who signed the order that locked them up during WWII. Others also still adhere to the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality of their immigrant parents and grandparents, which is fine, but I know some who are firmly anti-tax, anti-union and apparently don't feel the race lessons of the internment apply to African Americans, Latinos, or even the Arab/Muslim Americans (since 9/11).

[dkf]

6. I'm in Hawaii and here Japanese Americans, especially old timers, are Democrats.

They are especially tied in to the unions and have a significant presence in the government.