Remembering Executive Order 9066 by A. Zhang '13
Photo by Russell Lee, 1942; made available from Manzanar National Historic Site.
On February 19th, the Day of Remembrance, I'd like for us to remember that Franklin D. Roosevelt, considered one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, a Democrat who used unprecedented executive powers to implement Social Security and social safety nets, reforms to Wall Street, and economic recovery from The Great Depression, also ordered for the incarceration of 120,000 US residents of Japanese descent, about two thirds of whom were American citizens, including children. For those who spoke up against the incarceration, charged racism, and resisted the draft out of principle, they were sent to federal prison.
For those on the left, I hope that people (including myself) are as vigilant and critical of the political actions of Obama, H. R. Clinton, Sanders, Warren, and other popular Democratic leaders as we are of the Trump administration. Because we find many among his administration so personally reprehensible, it is easy to view their political actions as something to be outraged about. It is much harder, for example, to feel outraged about Obama, the nation's first black president, whose administration has deported the greatest number of undocumented immigrants of any administration and whose foreign policy has perpetuated and augmented the suppression and oppression of Muslim, South Asian, and black & brown & indigenous people domestically and abroad.
I think it is fine for us to accept the mistakes individuals make among each other because we're human. I don't think it is fine for us to casually accept the mistakes and agendas of elected officials. Politicians will use their good looks, grace, and likeability, as well as some truly positive actions, to keep the people distracted and apologetic for their more deplorable actions. I think that it is entirely possible that, again, some of the worst actions a government will take will be under a "progressive" president.
To learn more about Executive Order 9066, here are some articles:
"FDR Called Them Concentration Camps: Why Terminology Matters" by Joseph Shoji Lachman (Angry Asian Man)
"US: Remembering Japanese internment camps 75 years on" by Massoud Hayoun (Al Jazeera)
