The past few weeks have been a sociological nightmare, testing ideology, devotion to promises, subjection to fear.
The unfortunate subject that has been affected and pushed the sensitive political buttons is the issue of the United States allowing in Syrian refugees. After the Paris terrorist attacks, the level of fear has been elevated and paranoia seems to have gained a stronghold.
At the Northwest Asian Weekly, we support Governor Inslee’s and Mayor Murray’s statements (please refer to their statements on page 2). We also applaud President’s Obama’s stance. We should not reject those who are seeking sanctuary.
The Northwest Asian Weekly has also published countless stories on Japanese internment, and the resounding argument has been this is the sort of discrimination and prosecution that should not ever happen again.
Mary Woodward, president, Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community, states the Japanese internment was “an event in American history when our political leaders succumbed to fear and prejudice and chose an expedient political path, incarcerating more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry for no other reason than they looked like the enemy. Ironically, this indefensible action was led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt who declared, ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ ”
The repeated message or lesson that was conveyed in every story regarding Japanese interment? The message was clear: It should not happen again.
Refusing sanctuary or imposing detention based on race would be doing exactly that—allowing it to happen again.
We shouldn’t be succumbing to fear.
And repeating mistakes. (end)
Too bad you cannot get it right on internment. German Americans and Italisn Americans were also interned. Many of them sat, worked, played, and went to school in the same internment camps as their Japanese American counterparts!