Ben by Daniel Shelton for April 27, 2022

This will be the next American atrocity the GOP will try to ban from the school books.

The Canadians had Japanese internment camps too? I didn’t know that.

It was not a good thing. Many sons of Japanese ancestry enlisted in the military and were decorated as heroes. Pearl Harbor caught us off guard. We didn’t know who to trust. There were spies both that didn’t look like the average American and those who did. It is not excusable but explanable as to how and why it happened. Hopefully, we have learned from it and it will not be repeated.

And municipal figures sent thr families of Japanese businessmen off to internment camps and expropriated their homes, businesses and possessions. Recommended: the book Oba-San.

He should study the real history of the war and the atrocities committed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, in China and throughout the pacific. The Japanese also attacked the continental US by balloon firebombs and were very close to Canada via the Aleutians. The people of North America distrusted anyone of Japanese descent. The camps were a blot on our history but very understandable.

Is this a rerun? 60 years would have been around 2000-ish.

Not less regard for, they have no Bill of Rights.

Ignorance was (and still is) quite universal!!

Yet, nothing was done about the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Prejudice, Racism, Acts of the Japanese Government at the time that reinforced prejudices (sneak attack vs. declared war), where the ethnic Japanese population was located in the country, lack of Japanese in the rest of the general population to the east made it easier to isolate and intern. The Canadians set up their first camp in January 1942, the US executive Order to do the same was in February 1942. I think either would have happened absent the other and there was no cause/effect between the two. While there was prejudice and racism against the Chinese populations, they were embraced as allies. Germans and Italians were much harder to identify by sight and were more numerous and spread out across the US. There were over 2 million ethnic Italians and Germans in the US in 1940 while only 125,000 Japanese and those were mostly located on the west coast and Hawaii. Right or Wrong at the time, today we all learn from the errors of the past.

We have always had mistreatment of minorities in our country throughout our history. Nowadays it is even more intense since the Trump presidency. His blatant mistreatment of minorities / others; different nationalities, physically challenged, physical appearances, was popular during his presidency and brought out the bigotry that so many people felt but never acted upon until he showed it was ok to do so, some without consequences.

It might have been true concern, but most likely public relations to show the government was doing “something”.

Dad was a WWII vet, stationed in Tokyo as part of the Army of Occupation. He explained the internment camps to me one time from the perception of that time. The Japanese culture emphasized loyalty to the the country and the emperor. Even though many Japanese living abroad had shed that feeling, many, (probably most), had not. So in the mind of the people at that time, knowing who to trust and who not to was a big issue. The chance of what we would now call terrorist attacks on our soil by Japan was thought to be great, hence it was deemed important to our security to confine them to the camps.We look back on it now and see how awful it was, but to truly understand things in history – good or bad- you have to look at the mindset of all involved and the culture and circumstances at that time, and not how we perceive things today. Then we can understand the why, and not repeat the bad.

I wonder why Daniel,Shelton brought this up now?

It was closer to 80 years ago.

Why this subject now? It’s like the author who wants to write the Great American Novel. Only this guy obviously said: “Ben is no more. I’m going to teach these people some history. They thought they’d get a laugh…..Ha! No more!!!”

Today…4/27 is National Babe Ruth Day. Huh? So we won’t forget. Enjoy the day. We know our history. Bring back Ben.

right?

Because we citizens continue to elect stupid people to office….

Thanks to Mike Peterson at CSOTD for supplying the link below.

I guess many besides me didn’t know about Canada’s internments.

Naturally, this cannot be taught in Florida, because it might make some white kids feel bad, just like teaching about the 3/5ths clause in the Constitution.

===

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/japanese-internment-banished-and-beyond-tears-feature#:~:text=Beginning%20in%20early%201942%2C%20the,of%20the%20Second%20World%20War.

Hasn’t it been more like eighty years?

War causes distrust and fear and unrealistic . There was a well respected business in town that had medalions in the facade of the business that were symbols of good luck. Due to public reaction, even though they had been there for several decades, that had to be removed as they were mistaken for the NAZI symbol.

George Takei was a child in a US internment camp during the War. In recent years he has been talking about it.

It seems that our. “peace loving” neighbors to the north have exibited some of the same ethnic mistreatments that they condemn USA for?!?