"I'm Japanese, not Japanese American!"

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

I had one of those awkward moments recently that started innocently enough but then snowballed and concluded with my apologizing for the "misunderstanding".

Japanese love to use the words "misunderstanding" and "understand" when speaking English. I remember on quite a few occasions I'd tell my boss the other guy's not interested in the offer and he'd respond, "you just have to make him understand!" I'd say "boss, he understands and he's not interested!"

Anyway...there's a lot of understanding that needs to be accomplished between Americans and Japanese.

But I digress....

So the awkward moment with my old Japanese friend had to do with AZN T.V. and where did all the Sunday Japanese progamming go? I commented that perhaps the NHK program featuring Hideki Tojo's granddaughter turned off some of the AZN execs or the non-Japanese viewing public.

"How could that be?", I was told. "The program was entirely in Japanese without subtitles."

"Hmm! It seems the Japanese programming has been replaced with East Indian programming", I said. "Are there many more East Indians in America than Japanese?"

"There must be!", I was told.

"I don't think so", I said. "There are a lot more Japanese than East Indians in America."

(This is where the conversation started to get dicey.... )

"Japanese! I'm not talking about Japanese-Americans! Japanese-Americans aren't Japanese, you know!", I was told.

"Oh, I'm referring to Japanese from Japan", I said. "I'm well aware Japanese-Americans aren't Japanese, especially in 2005."

"I don't want to be confused for a Japanese-American! I'm not a Japanese-American!", I was told.

"So how's your dessert?", I said....

Whew...that was close!

Japanese are touchy about some issues and it seems that lately being confused with Japanese-Americans in the states has become one of them. My Japanese-American buddies in Tokyo may have felt the same way. Whenever we'd go to an izakaya, the waitress would always naturally start the conversation with the Japanese-American usually who spoke less Japanese than me.

My Japanese-American buddy stares at the waitress with an "I don't know what you're saying lady" kind of look and she thinks he's nuts and then I start ordering in Japanese and she thinks we're both nuts!

Anyway...the awkward exchange above reminded me of an article by Gil Asakawa from last December. Gil is a bonifide JACL reparations aparachik for the Denver area and our views of the evacuation are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Gil's article refers to the JACL crusade to stamp out "Jap" from every vestige of American society, and like the JACL in general he believes it's acceptable to use "Jap" as a weapon in which to thump white Americans over the head in racial guilt rather than to understand (I love that word) the use of the word in its historical context, ie. "JapTown".

For Gil "Jap" is another tool for the cause...

Here's a link to Gil's article. I'll not copy the entire article here as it is quite long and contains various "Gilisms" I'd rather not repeat....

To summarize, some Japanese company uses the word "Jap" and along comes your typical JACL Japanese-American activist type telling them "Jap" is racist...and well, you get the picture.

Asakawa writes, "I received a distressing e-mail from a JACL member who contacted a Japanese-run Web site for scuba diving news, Cyber Diver News Network, or CDNN (http://www.cdnn.info).

She saw that the Web site's news headlines used "JAP" as an abbreviation for Japan, and sent an irate e-mail to the editor.

Satoru "Stanford" Suzuki, the editor-in-chief, responded testily back, and then followed up with a quite nasty message:

Don't be stupid. You are not Japanese. You are American. So don't lecture me about what it means to be Japanese and how I should react to the word 'Jap'. Modern Japanese don't care about WWII and do not associate the word with racism and war attrocities (sic) such as the Nanking Massacre, which makes your little historical anecdote about American internment camps sound like a Sunday picnic.

"For we Japanese, it's just a short form of 'Japan' and 'Japanese' equivalent to 'Brit'. If that's a problem for you, if you want to live in the past, if you want to cultivate some kind of a victim complex, if you want to get overly excited about a mere word, regardless of how it's actually used in 2004, we Japanese don't care. The war has been over for 60 years and we Japanese have moved on. "

After giving some examples of other Asian and Filipino Web sites that also us "Jap" in headlines, Suzuki finished up sarcastically:

"For my part, the discussion is closed. I've got better things to do than entertain a dumb retro-Yank on a bad Jap trip.

"Peace and love from a modern Jap journalist in modern Japan."

Satoru Suzuki reminded me of my awkward exchange and admittedly after reviewing the two I had a pretty good chuckle at the expense of the Japanese-American reparations movement. My gut tells me they're an embarrasment to many in the old country, too...

Being "Japanese" in Brazil and Okinawa

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

The following piece from the Japan Policy Research Institute whets my appetite for more knowledge of the history of Japanese-Brazilians. I have found bits and pieces of this history but nothing seems to be available, at least in English.

From what I have read, espionage in Brazil's ethnic Japanese community assisted in the sinking of 17 allied merchant vessels by German U-boats by August 1942. Ethnic Japanese fishing vessels provided information that led to the sinkings.

I also know ethnic Japanese fishermen based out of Terminal Island near Los Angeles had been photographed by the U.S. military flying Japanese flags on their boats off California.

My copy of "Kokutai no Hongi" was translated from a Japanese language copy found at a Japanese "Language School" in Brazil that had been closed.

Brazil waited until June, 1945 to declare war on Japan.

There are a lot of unanswered questions. If you know of a good source to study this history, please let me know.

This piece by Kozy Amemiya is a good read. One criticism is it lacks footnotes which makes it difficult for further study.

The link to Amemiya's piece at the Japan Policy Research Institute is here.

Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan and Bainbridge Island, Washington U.S.A.: Different definitions of "revisionism" but the same general problem...

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Interesting piece from Kyodo News highlights problems with historical revisionism in Japan.

The difference is that in Otawara the textbooks whitewash Japanese behavior and on Bainbridge the textbooks tar American behavior.

The similarity is in Otawara the Japanese come out looking rosier than the truth and on Bainbridge the Japanese come out looking rosier than the truth...

Here's the article:

City opts to use revisionist texts
Closed-door decision sparks protests, irks teachers, Seoul


UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. (Kyodo) The board of education in the city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, chose two social studies textbooks Wednesday that have been condemned, especially by China and South Korea, for distorting history by whitewashing Japanese atrocities.

Otawara is the first municipality to choose the junior high textbooks -- one for history and one for civics -- edited by the nationalistic Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and published by Fusosha Publishing Inc.

In South Korea, Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu Hyung issued a statement expressing "deep regret" and "disappointment" over the board of education's decision.

The adoption would "run contrary to efforts by (Seoul) to establish a future oriented (South) Korea-Japan relationship based on a correct recognition of history," Lee said in the statement.

The textbooks will be used by a combined 2,300 students at 12 municipal junior high schools for the next four years, beginning next April, city officials said.

The board of education followed recommendations Tuesday by the city's textbook selection committee. It claimed it found the texts to be the "most balanced."

"We are convinced that with this (textbook) adoption, children will grow up to have pride and love for the country of Japan," Ryu Onuma, Otawara's education chief, told a news conference.

Critics, however, say the texts play down the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and ignore the sexual enslavement of women for Japanese soldiers and depicts Japanese wartime actions as aimed at liberating other parts of Asia.

Speaking about criticism of the textbooks at home and abroad, Onuma said, "We are aware of the objections, but we hold firm that our decision is based on educational consideration."

South Korea and China have repeatedly said Fushosha's history textbook glosses over Japan's militaristic past.

The two nations also oppose the civics textbook's description of the Japanese-held Senkaku Islands -- called the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese -- and the South Korean-held islets in the Sea of Japan -- known as Tok-do in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan -- as traditionally Japanese territories. The text says further that Seoul is illegally occupying the rocky islets.

The history textbook also is contentious in Japan for its nationalistic content, but already has been selected by a small number of public junior high schools run by the Tokyo Metropolitan and Ehime Prefectural governments, and several private schools.

The group that edited the textbooks welcomed the board of education's decision.

"It is a historic step that shows efforts to bring history education back on the right track have begun to take root," Hidetsugu Yagi, head of the group, said.

Meanwhile, a Tochigi teacher union slammed the adoption of the textbooks, stating: "We strongly protest against the adoption. We had called for an adoption of fair and transparent textbooks, but the decision was made at a closed-door meeting."

Citizens' groups here are stepping up their campaigns against the Fushosha textbooks as 583 districts nationwide must choose texts by Aug. 31 for use over the next four years. The districts are comprised of either a single school board or several, which will decide jointly on the new textbooks.

In Otawara, about 40 local residents demonstrated Wednesday in front of City Hall, where the board of education met in a private meeting to choose the textbooks.

The group was angry that the Fushosha books were chosen and that the decision was made behind closed doors.

"I do not want children to learn from this book," a 75-year-old man said, and a woman in her 50s said she felt the text contradicted Japan's history of upholding peace since the end of World War II.

According to city education chief Onuma, the board decided not to open the meeting to the public so it would have a peaceful atmosphere in which to decide on the new texts.

The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, which created the books at the center the public maelstrom, was launched in 1997 to counter what it reckons are mainstream Japanese history textbooks that are "biased against Japan" and are marked by "self-denigration."

The society aims for its textbooks to be in 10 percent of the junior high schools nationwide. But its first edition, approved by the education ministry in 2001, was used by only 0.04 percent.

Update: Kyodo News Release

China says rightist textbook will 'poison' teenagers

BEIJING — China on Thursday criticized the city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, for becoming the first municipal government to adopt a nationalistic history textbook for use by junior high school students, saying the textbook will "mislead and poison" teenage readers.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said: "The Japanese side should earnestly take a responsible attitude toward history and toward the future. By correctly recognizing history to teach the young generation, this can advance Japan's international image as well as Japan's relations with neighboring countries, which suits Japan's own interests." (Kyodo News)

Why politicians should avoid legislating American history..

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

We are often reminded by the Japanese-American reparations movement and the media that President Ronald Reagan signed H.R. 442 into law. Any explanation as to why and how Reagan signed the legislation is never addressed.

The following scholarly piece was written by Tim Maga, Ogelsby Professor of American Heritage, Bradley University and was published in Presidential Studies Quarterly the summer of 1998. It is written in a tone sympathetic to the reparations movement and is not without comments that need clarification. It's worth reading however and provides insight into why politicians should avoid legislating American history…

Read the piece here.

Bremerton Sun article on NPS comments

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Today's Bremerton Sun has an article by Steve Gardner on comments received by NPS regarding the "internment memorial".

According to the Sun (which received the information from NPS) there was a total of 1,300 comments received. Of these 1,093 were accepted by the Park Service with the others thrown out.

It should be noted the comments had to request one of three NPS options, A,B or C with each option determining the degree of NPS involvement.

Demanding accurate historical content or that no memorial be built at all wasn't an option, hence the 207 comments the NPS chose to throw out.

(Admittedly, having not received the cooperation NPS provided to the Bremerton Sun I can't verify this yet. I project the vast majority of comments the NPS threw out are pro-historical accuracy.)

Of the 1,093 total NPS chose to include, we are told 1,050 are generally pro-reparations and 43 pro-historical accuracy.

This is being heralded as a big victory for the reparations movment.

But breaking down for islanders-only commenting, the total is 413 for and 10 against!

Only 423 islanders out of 22,000 people even bothered to comment?

That's not a victory for either side of the debate.

Kitsap County excluding Bainbridge generated only 67 comments!

Seattle writers included 186 comments.

We've asked the park service to let us review the comments minus names and addresses and they have balked. We followed proper NPS procedure in filing a FOIA request weeks ago. Obviously NPS didn't have a problem letting the Bremerton Sun have the comments.

At any rate, having the NPS managing the comments and excluding/including what they think is acceptable is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse. The result is not surprising.

Certainly, 423 islander comments out of 22,000 people is no victory except for community apathy.

Update: Steve Gardner of the Sun provides clarification in the comments section.

Eric Muller begrudgingly admits he's wrong...

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Here's an email from a Friend of Historical Accuracy to Eric Muller:

Professor:

Let me try to straighten you out on this. Olsen and "Bob" both live on Bainbridge Island. They know each other. But Olsen is not Bob. I didn't know who "Bob" was until recently and had been communicating with him numerous times before I knew that he was the "Bob" of your blog fame. I have also communicated with Olsen and his wife. "Bob" and the Olsens have different e-mail addresses and different home addresses.

"Bob" has legitimate personal reasons for not publicly using his name on blog posts. That's his business. Many others whom you allow to comment on your blog are anonymous and you seem to think nothing of it..

You will note that "Bob's" blog is titled "Friends of Historical Accuracy" and as such it appears to speak for a group of like-minded people. I don't know how many or whom they all are. As for the e-mail you refer to, I am told by "Bob" that it was sent to him by Olsen to put on the blog. If you look at it more closely you will see that it is headed up "Not a Friend of Historical Accuracy" and does not indicate that it was personally addressed to "Bob."

As to your reasons for dumping "Bob" it has been a long time and I do recall that he asked a question about whether or not you had received a grant to write your book, which you denied. I don't remember the details of it such as whether he specifically referred to CLPEF or CCLPEP or something else but seems to me that was insignificant. The fact was you did receive grant money but left the impression that you did not. You frankly admit you did in the introduction to your book. I have no problem with that but some do.

If you will look again at what I said about why you dumped "Bob," you will note that I only mentioned that he gave the reason. If his reason disagrees with your own, that isn't my fault for not knowing it.

In any event, the bottom line is that you are wrong. Olsen is not "Bob" and "Bob" is not Olsen. You haven't done the good detective work you think you have and it would be nice if you admitted it.

Your insistance that I'm giving "Olsen's blog" publicity doesn't hold water because it isn't Olsens blog. However, in view of this e-mail exchange with you, I am willing for you to delete the following portion of my comment if that is all you object to:

"Incidentally, you might take a look at today's initial blog entry on http://friendsofhistoricalaccuracy.blogspot.com/
for a few remarks from someone who admits to being the real "Bob." He has a few things to say about your misidentification and the reason why you barred him from your site."

If you object to posting the rest of my comment, that's up to you.

Muller spins it this way here:

(The name has been changed to "Friend of Historical Accuracy" for privacy.)

"UPDATE: "Bob," it turns out, corresponds with (and, apparently, identifies himself to) Commander "Friend of Historical Accuracy", another frequent commenter on this site.

Through "Friend of Historical Accuracy", "Bob" insists that he is not Captain James Olsen of Bainbridge Island, but is instead a Bainbridge Island resident who is a friend of Captain James Olsen's. Naturally I have no way to confirm that this is true, and given "Bob's" pathological deceptiveness, I wouldn't believe him if he told me himself.

On the other hand, while I disagree with "Friend of Historical Accuracy" about most everything, I don't think him a liar. So I think it best to take back what I wrote earlier today: for now, it looks as though "Bob" is not actually retired Coast Guard captain James Olsen of Bainbridge Island, but is instead a fellow Bainbridge Islander and friend of Olsen's."

You were wrong, Eric. You made an overzelous accusation based on circumstantial evidence without considering the merits.

The old saying is, "A+ students become law professors because they're too socially inept to be good lawyers..."

Whats's worse, you're denial of accepting reparations funds is sleazy.

Regards,

Bob

Eric Muller = Flagellating Protozoa

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Professor Muller flagellates by providing this email response to a Friend of Historical Accuracy:

On the merits, "Bob"/Olsen is making a fatal blunder.

"Bob"/Olsen asked me specifically whether I'd ever received money from the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund ("CLPEF").

That was a *federal* program that terminated several years ago. I said I had not, which is true. What "Bob"/Olsen did *not* ask me was whether I had ever received grant money from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP), a *state*-funded program in California which came into existence after CLPEF terminated, and is still part of the California budget.

The answer to that is, of course, that I have received two grants from CLPEP. "Bob"/Olsen is now crowing that I lied in denying receipt of grant money from CLPEF. But I didn't receive grant money from CLPEF. "Bob"/Olsen asked the wrong question, you see, and I answered the question he asked rather than the one he thinks he asked.

My response that Eric refuses to post on his own blog site:

Technically, Eric is right. My initial question did not differentiate between the CLPEF and the CCLPEF.

However, Eric's blog is not a courtroom.

I am not a lawyer (5 in the family is enough) and if Eric wants to play semantics that's fine.

I pointedly asked if he had accepted funds and he denied it. The funds regardless of state or federal taxpayer dollars is irrelevant. Eric was given the opportunity to come clean on his financing and he chose the sleazy denial.

"Fatal blunder"...what a joke!

Eric then says:

At the time I barred him, "Bob" was impersonating other commenters, not merely posting anonymously but constantly shifting IP addresses to avoid all accountability, and hurling invective at others. Remember? Yes, yes ... others were hurling them too--but they identified themselves, took responsibility for what they wrote, and did not shift IP addresses in order to defeat my ability to control my own board.

My answer is what nonsense! I had always posted in a civil tone on Eric's blog regardless of the hateful invective served up by the Muller peanut gallery towards Commander "Friend of Historical Accuracy" (an 86 year old Naval intelligence veteran) or myself.

After I had pointedly inquired into Muller's financing and he banned me from commenting, I chose to spoof my IP address. It's perfectly legal and not my concern Muller was too inept to deal with it.

Fact is professor, you made accusations based on circumstantial evidence. You publically identified me as Capt. Olsen and you were wrong.

Eric Muller: Is that Ethical?

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

Eric Muller has a little blurb on his site confusing me with an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard who has been a vocal critic of the reparations curriculum at Sakai School and biased historical content set for the "internment memorial" on Bainbridge Island.

Eric's site is here, http://isthatlegal.org/.

Eric says some unflattering things about me to justify his kicking me off his site. Suffice to say Eric couldn't win the debate.

He chose to remove me from posting from his site after I pointedly asked him if he had received any money from the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. The fund was created after a law passed under intense lobbying by the reparations movment and Japanese-American politicians for the first time created in the United States a "history by legislation".

I believe that any scholar accepting our taxpayer dollars from this fund is incapable of producing an unbiased scholarly analysis of the history.

If you've seen any of the "scholarly" work financed by the fund you'll know what I mean.

(Scroll down at the CLPEF link and check out "recipients list".)

Naturally, Eric is aghast that I would question his reputation, vehimently denies accepting any money for his work and then kicks me off his site.

So after a bit of digging, guess who's name pops up as a CLPEF recipient?

California Civil Liberties Public Education Program Announces Grant Recipients for Fiscal Year 1999-2000

Dr. Eric L. Muller
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

"LOYAL PROTEST: JAPANESE AMERICAN DRAFT RESISTERS IN THE FEDERAL COURTS"

This project has two related components: (1) the completion of a book chronicling the experience of the Nisei draft resisters of World War II and their encounters with the federal criminal justice system, and (2) a public lecture tour in California to share the results of the research on the Nisei draft resisters with interested organizations and groups in California.

Fiscal Year 2003-2004 CCLPEP GRANT RECIPIENTS

Eric Muller
University of North Carolina School of Law
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Project Name: Judgments Judged and Wrongs Remembered: Examining the Japanese American Civil Liberties Cases of World War II on Their 60th Anniversary

This project is a conference to be held at the Japanese American National Museum commemorating the 60 th anniversary of the various legal cases on Japanese American civil liberties from World War II.

I have used the analogy that any scholar feeding at the reparations money trough like Muller is akin to the booze industry financing a report that concludes binge drinking is healthy.

Not only is Muller feeding at the money trough, he is also telling another untruth....

London terrorist attacks

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

While the latest terrorist attacks in London are indeed horrific, let's all sleep better at night knowing nobody's civil liberties were violated.

(With the exception of the dead and wounded.)

Hope that provides you with comfort in the war on terrorism.

"...They will know we are Christians by our love..."

Friends of Historical Accuracy regarding the ethnic Japanese Evacuation of 1942

"We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love..."

That's a nice song. We used to sing it regularly in church back in the '70s but not much anymore.

The song comes to mind after the latest round of hate mail to arrive at "Friends of Historical Accuracy". Boy, do we get hate mail!
The names have been removed to protect the innocent and the guilty. The profanity remains.

Not a Friend of Hisorical Accuracy:

"I am so sick of reading about your nonsensical bull shit – why don’t you move off the Island and relocate somewhere where your revisionist thinking bull shit might make sense. I’m the one who took down your levy signage and threw them in the garbage – not the city. I think you are a complete idiot!"

Friend of Historical Accuracy:

"Sounds like an anger problem...

As long as someone with your credentials thinks I am an idiot there is hope. Your sign vandalism was very effective. Thanks for all your assistance. Perhaps you should talk to COBI about their delusion they removed the signs!! You could make a guilty Mayor K sleep better at night knowing that it was you and not her enforcement people.

Not a Friend of Historical Accuracy:

"You are a first class nut and so is your wife. . . and I don’t have an anger problem – but I can spot a phoney form a mile away, and I don’t give one flying fuck if you were ever in the Coast Guard – the men were in the Navy so you were either a pussy or not good enough to get in the Navy. I’ll run into you again somewhere and I’d love to knock you on your ass. Anybody who still clings to a Captains rank in the Coast Guard like he was some kind of Rear Admiral in the Pacific Fleet is laughable. A typical rear action chicken shit – just like the moron for a president we have. I hope you get run off this island – you are a despised and frightening fruit cake and I’m pretty sure that looney wife of yours hears voices. Fuck off asshole."

Friend of Historical Accuracy:

"The guy's name, USN, author of other musings of a nut variety: "Please tell Ted Sampler for me that he is a wacko fruitcake who shouldn't be allowed on the streets unsupervised. This moron needs to be locked up. He's really a first class NUT!"

(This was after a bit of Googleing located a couple more quotes from the guy, this one on an anti-Bush web site.)

"I have referred this to BIPD. Keep your threats and rantings to yourself."

Not a Friend of Historical Accuracy:

"Fuck off you chicken shit prick – you and Ted Sampler were probably butt fuckin buddies somewhere along the line – he’s another chicken hearted pussy! Captain my ass – what row boat did you command! What a phony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well, there it is. More tolerance from the supporters of the Sakai School Curriculum and the Japanese-American "Internment" memorial.

Being an inquisitive sort, I did a google on this guy and found that lo and behold, HE GOES TO OUR CHURCH! So I check out the church directory and he looks normal enough, lovely wife and three kids. He's an island newcomer lives in a newly built community here, a fairly young guy - to young to be the disgruntled Vietnam Vet I thought he was. Sounds like he's originally from Tennessee.

We have a city councilwoman on Bainbridge who is also a Tennessee transplant. Her most recent support for the "internment" memorial was to compare the 1942 evacuation to the Jim Crow laws of the south. That's a new one, even for me.

It takes courage to stand up and speak out for what one thinks is right. We know this history better than most Americans and believe strongly that our wartime military and political leaders are being unfairly villified. This history is being portrayed in a biased and one-sided fashion.

If you want to disagree with us, how about a debate on the historical facts? Sending flaming emails filled with profanity just makes you all look like a bunch of jerks.

If this guy really wants to do some ass-knocking, let's hope it's not when we all see each other Sunday morning at church.

"...and they'll know we are Christians by our love..."

Here, In America? The Untruth.

There's a movement down in California that is attempting to lobby the government to pay reparations to ethnic Japanese in Latin America who were interned (not relocated) in the United States during WWII. Their site is here.

The advisory board contains names of the usual suspects. Jack and Aiko Herzig and Dale Minami to name a few. You may recall Aiko Herzig was a CWRIC principal researcher who located "newly discovered evidence" in the return of Korematsu back in the 80s. This is "evidence" the reparations lawyers insisted the government deliberately withheld from the Supreme Court. It was a farce, but that's another story I'd be happy to share with those interested in knowing.

Minami occasionally pops up in the press with soundbites such as, "What happened to Japanese-Americans is happening to Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans today!" But I digress...

The Honorary Co-Chairs of "Here, in America?" are far left California politicians (not historians)Nancy Pelosi, Mike Honda and Xavier Becerra, which is no surprise.

What did surprise me is this picture with the phrase "WHO WILL BE NEXT?" plastered across the front.





The picture is used on a poster advertising "Here, In America?" at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

The picture succeeds in eliciting an emotional reaction from those viewing it without regard to historical context. It looks like a cop working over an old ethnic Japanese man. The truth is quite different.

Here, In America? The Truth.

The truth is the picture was taken in Seattle, Washington on November 24, 1945. The old man is a Japanese repatriate, still loyal to the now defeated Empire of Japan and embarking back to Japan. The cop appears to be helping load up his belongings.

Whatever the cop is doing, it has nothing to do with the image manipulated by ethnic Japanese activists. It is disturbing to find Hastings College of the Law along with a list of scholars involved in perpetuating an untruth. This is not the first time the 1942 evacuation has been perverted to support an agenda and it is terribly dishonest.

If you have questioned our concern with the current "internment" curriculum at Sakai School on Bainbridge Island, this is an example. The Sakai curriculum is a perversion. Blatant dishonesty is being fed to our kids as the truth.