We are squarely in the center of the anniversary of one of the most un-American acts of any President and congress in recorded history – the forced internment during World War II of 120,000 people of Japanese decent – of which 62% were US citizens.

This action was so intolerable that four successive presidents later acted on it. Gerald Ford rescinded the law that enabled the travesty, Jimmy Carter convened a commission to study the effects and issue reparations, Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law based on the Carter commission recommendations, and George H.W. Bush signed an appropriation bill authorizing payments.

Our own government’s official apology document stated the internment was based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership”. As citizens we must remember that our own government can, and will, sometimes make horrendous decisions which violate our most basic constitutional rights. It is up to every person of conscious to understand and oppose injustice.
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