A WWII Anniversary Americans Would Rather Forget

[George Schot]

So why weren't they rounded up, forced into camps, and kept there by barbed wire and guards with rifles?

Although not rounded up there was certainly local backlash. During WWI families of German descent changed their name so as not to appear as German and the "old folks" from Germany would stop speaking German in public.

 

[George Schot]

Are you at all familiar with the long history of racist immigration laws at the national level and racist land laws at the state level aimed at Asians in general and Japanese in particular?

Of course, but these change according to the current situation of the times and certainly not geared primarily toward Asians.

During WWII there was propaganda against the Japanese while at the same time there was positive messages aimed at the Chinese who were victims. Now go back to the 1800s and we see legislation at keeping more Chinese workers out of the country. After the Communists stole mainland China it changed once again. Various other places also tried to limit other groups such as the Irish, Catholics, Jews, blacks, Mormons, and so on.

Of course this is not exclusive to the U.S. Look at China's aid to the Pol Pot regime of Cambodia which was used to kill 2.3 million Cambodians and then to attack Vietnam. The whole point of the aid was for China to get rid of a Soviet client state in their backyard via the proxy of Pol Pot. Go back a few more years and we see Russia asking the U.S. if it would be o.k. for them to nuke China over their series of border clashes with China. A decade before both China & Russia were fighting as allies in North Korea against the U.N.

 

[Mike Cash]

in regards to the atomic bombs

I ordinarily don't protest too much against thread drift, but if you want to open the whole A-bomb can of worms then please start a new thread to do so.

(You do realize George Takei is an American, right? Why should he be called upon to justify or condemn the actions of the Japanese military?)

Technically they do.

Followed by how technically they don't....

Of course, but these change according to the current situation of the times and certainly not geared primarily toward Asians.

You obviously didn't read any of the information in the links I provided which were both specific to the time and aimed directly at Asians.

 

[George Schot]

I ordinarily don't protest too much against thread drift, but if you want to open the whole A-bomb can of worms then please start a new thread to do so.

Not off topic. I wasn't the person who brought up George as a supposed expert on the subject. Just because his family was involved and because he is a celebrity does no make him an expert, especially when he made historically incorrect statements in an effort to connect the internment with the the dropping of the bombs. His statements have been proven false by who - survivors of the bomb who are not afraid to tow the official government policy of acting like Sargent Shultz.

 

[George Schot]

(You do realize George Takei is an American, right? Why should he be called upon to justify or condemn the actions of the Japanese military?)

Yes, no one knows he is a U.S. citizen but you.

He has made false statements about the U.S. military actions disproven by Japanese who survived the bomb and other sources. Just because you are a U.S. citizen does not qualify you to make such statements. He is a Hollywood liberal trying to use his family's internment to discredit the bomb.

I frankly take offense to his statements, having a relative die on Iwo Jimo during mop up operations.

 

[George Schot]

You obviously didn't read any of the information in the links I provided which were both specific to the time and aimed directly at Asians.

You did not read my post which says at different times different policies were directed against different groups of people. The Japanese were only one group form one time period.

 

[Mike Cash]

Not off topic. I wasn't the person who brought up George as a supposed expert on the subject.

Neither Thomas nor I... the two people who mentioned Takei...offered him up as an "expert".

If you have a wild hair up your aśś about Takei, take it to another thread. The A-bombs, Japanese conscription policies, and Japanese domestic propaganda activities during WWII have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the topic of this thread. Your personal grievances against Takei have NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with this thread. Takei was mentioned in passing in this thread and there was nothing in the subsequent discussion that had anything to do with his personal experiences, statements, or opinions. Start another thread and hate on the man all you want.

 

[Mike Cash]

You did not read my post which says at different times different policies were directed against different groups of people. The Japanese were only one group form one time period.

Done with you. Bye.

 

[RolandtheHeadless]

Pretty hard to make the case that the Japanese internment by the US was not based on racism, and I see that no one here has done so.