Interesting Read... Options

[Blakjak]

Anybody read Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas? I'm about halfway through it now and I find it very interesting. Druid you're from Kansas right lol. No, but it really is a thought-provoking read, something I think everyone should try and muscle their way through.

*I know this isn't about the War on Terror but it deals with politics so I thought it would be relevant.

This post has been edited by Blakjak: 06/27/05 4:55pm

[Druid]

Japanese-American Interment is a great example of revisionist history.
Look through the page you linked to, not a single mention about German or Italians. I think most people would be surprised to find out Japanese actually made up the minority of people deemed Enemy Aliens.
Germain 300,000
Italian 600,000
Japanese 115,000

Now guess the reason why there is little or no mention of German and Italian interment. Simple, the Germans and Italians didn't sue for reparations.
Another point often missing is the fact for those who WERE U.S. citizen, were given the opportunity to give up their citizenship, if they did they many were allowed to go back to Japan.
You would think a site dedicated to how wrong interment was would also mention other groups also effected, but it doesn't. I find that very strange.
Add to that, the numbers people cite when they talk about interment sound worse than they really were. Not sure the percentage but a large amount where never locked up as most people would image when they think of interment, almost a quarter where simply relocated and prohibited from entering the pacific coast states.
Two years ago on another forum was a discussion about possible interment of Arab-Americans. A Canadian blasted America for trampling citizen's rights because of interment during WW2. I was amazed that he didn't know Canada did the same thing during that time.

I don't really know if interment was the right decision or if it was even necessary but I do know it wasn't a simply case of prejudice as some revisionist make it out to be. The revisionist tend to overlook that several intercepted and later decoded messages from the Japanesse miltary mention information recieved from spies inside of America or the fact every ship that sailed from pacific ports was attacked, this numbers was almost cut in half after interment.