This weekend marked the 25th anniversary of the day the United States formally apologized and approved payments of $20,000 each to those Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in prison camp during World War II.
But according to the executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League, this country has learned little from that lesson of the past.
In a blog for the Progressive, Priscilla Ouchida wrote:
Today, the government can still pick up someone suspected of terrorism and detain that person indefinitely, without formal charges. This is chillingly similar to the military authority used to incarcerate Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The Japanese American community has been consistently among the first and most vocal to speak out about the injustices being perpetrated against Muslim Americans and Middle Easterners in the United States today.
Yet with a few exceptions, Americans have been largely silent on this issue and 12 years after September 11, it continues.
Does this silence mean a lack of awareness or an agreement among Americans that indefinitely detaining someone without charges is justified?
Read Ouchida’s blog in the Progressive and share your thoughts below.
