Monday, February 19, 2007

65 th Anniversary of "Day of Remembrance"- Executive Order 9066

The ANNOTICO Report

 

On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed  Executive Order 9066- the document that made it possible to intern thousands of Italian, German and Japanese Americans, and even Italian, German and Japanese Latin Americans during World War II.

 

The article below written to pander to Japanese Americans, hardly mentions the Italian and German Americans.

 

600,000 Italian Americans, 300,000 German Americans, and 120,000 Japanese Americans were declared Enemy Aliens during WWII , and were to subject to Registration,  Internment, Relocation,(and fire sale of homes)  Confiscation of property, such as Fishing Boats, Curfews, (resulting in loss of Jobs requiring night work such as Restaurants), Restrictions fromCertain Types of  Employment, No possession of Radios, Flashlights, and further endless list of prohibitions.

 

The Italian Americans were by Number MOST greatly impacted, and one could argue that even Otherwise, economically, and freedom wise, were more greatly impacted.

 

The Internment Camps were Housing Centers that had the highest live-birth rate and the lowest death rate in wartime United States. The Japanese in the centers "received free food, lodging, medical and dental care, clothing allowance, education, hospital care, social programs and all basic necessities. . . . The government even paid travel expenses and assisted in cases of emergency relief." Additionally, 4,300 students of Japanese ancestry received scholarships to attend more than 500 colleges and universities located outside of the exclusionary zone.

 

What kind of life was it for an Italian when he could NOT get a job, pay the rent, and feed his family?

The Internment Camps in comparison seemed like a "free' ride.

 

No, they were not Resort Hotels, they were Military Barracks that US Military are required to live in, when they are not in tents, "improvised" housing, or fox holes. Nor were they "Homeless"

 

The Japanese seem to have to keep up this "drumbeat" to counter the public's negative feelings about Japan's "Sneak Attack on Pearl Harbor" , and the incredible number of unspeakable atrocities committed by the Japanese Military, i.e "The Bataan Death March" , "The Rape of Nanking"

 

For the Japanese Americans to scream that racial prejudice was the basis of Enemy Alien treatment, is to ignore:

 

(1)The far greater numbers of Italians and Germans "Restricted",

(2) That Italy or Germany did Not commit a "Sneak Attack" on Pearl Harbor, or ANY other American territory, and      (3) There was no fear of Italy or Germany invading either of our coasts,  while Japanese Submarines were Shelling 

            Oil Refineries and unleashing Fire Balloons on the West Coast, that had the US Population in a lather.

 

Further, the Japanese Americans received an APOLOGY and REIMBURSEMENT as far back as 1988, while the Italian and German Americans were still trying to get Documents Declassified. Why the "selectivity", the "discrimination"?

 

After persistent efforts, the Italian Americans were able to get the Documents declassified, and a Justice Department Report written, But NO Apology, nor NO Reimbursement or Restitution!!!!!!!! 

 

It makes me angriest when some self consumed Japanese American states: "The US would NEVER have done the same to the Italian Americans. They had Joe DiMaggio"

 

They DID Do it to ITALIAN Americans, in far Greater Numbers, AND they Did it to Joe DiMaggio's parents, who were prevented from going near their Restaurant on the San Francisco Wharf, and had to relocate from their Home, ALL while "Slugging"  Joe DiMaggio was in the US Military.

 

One of the best stories is about how the US  required a 93 year old BED RIDDEN Italian American to be taken from his home in the "Forbidden Zone" on a "stretcher" to a place further inland where he would not pose so great a Threat!!!! :) :(

 

I do not rejoice in, nor approve of the treatment of the Japanese Americans, BUT I highly resent their almost complete excluding  of Italians Americans from  discussion of the WWII Enemy Alien Treatment. It is Self Centered, Selfish, and Distorted.

 

Their efforts could better be spent on showing their solidarity with Muslims who are now having their Civil Rights violated, with "profiling", arbitrary detentions, and often coercive treatment.

 

The best tribute to PAST injustices to You, is to dedicating yourself to Defending Others from Injustices Now!!!!!

 

 

See: Una Storia Segreta      by Lawrence DiStasi

 

See:  The Censored History of Internment    by Joseph E. Fallon

 

See: German and Italian Americans Under Siege during World War II

 

Justice for the Forgotten Internees

Washington Post

By Xavier Becerra and Dan Lungren

Monday, February 19, 2007

Art Shibayama is an American who served in the Army during the Korean War. Like many veterans, Cpl. Shibayama was not born in the United States. He was born in Lima, Peru, to Japanese Peruvian parents. Until 1942, Shibayama, his two brothers and three sisters lived comfortably with their parents and grandparents, all of whom had thriving businesses. However, after America entered World War II, his family was forcibly removed from Peru, transported to the United States and held in a government-run internment camp in Crystal City, Tex.

Like many Japanese American families, Shibayama's family lost everything they owned. But the greater injustice occurred when his grandparents were sent to Japan in exchange for American prisoners of war. Their family never saw them again.

Shibayama and his family were among the estimated 2,300 people of Japanese descent from 13 Latin American countries who were taken from their homes and forcibly transported to the Crystal City camp during World War II. The U.S. government orchestrated and financed the deportation of Japanese Latin Americans for use in prisoner-of-war exchanges with Japan. Eight hundred people were sent across the Pacific, while the remaining Japanese Latin Americans were held in camps without due process until after the war ended.

Further study of the events surrounding the deportation and incarceration of Japanese Latin Americans is merited and necessary. While most Americans are aware of the internment of Japanese Americans, few know about U.S. government activities in other countries that were fueled by prejudice against people of Japanese ancestry.

That is why we have introduced H.R. 662, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act. We should review U.S. military and State Department directives requiring the relocation, detention and deportation of Japanese Latin Americans to Axis countries. Then we should recommend appropriate remedies. It is the right thing to do to affirm our commitment to democracy and the rule of law.

This year marks the 26th anniversary of the formation of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, whose findings led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. It provided an official apology and financial redress to most of the Japanese Americans who were subjected to wrongdoing and confined in camps during World War II. Those loyal Americans were vindicated by the fact that not a single documented case of sabotage or espionage was committed by a Japanese American during that time. This act was the culmination of a half-century of struggle to bring justice to those who were denied it. But work to rectify and close this regrettable chapter in our nation's history remains unfinished.

U.S. involvement in the expulsion and internment of people of Japanese descent who lived in various Latin American countries is thoroughly recorded in government files. These civilians were robbed of their freedom -- their civil and human rights thrown by the wayside -- as they were kidnapped from nations not directly involved in World War II. The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians acknowledged these federal actions in detaining and interning civilians of enemy or foreign nationality, particularly those of Japanese ancestry, but the commission failed to fully examine and report on the historical documents that exist in distant archives.

Today, the Day of Remembrance, marks the anniversary of the 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066 -- the document that made it possible to intern thousands of Japanese Americans, German Americans, Italian Americans and Japanese Latin Americans during World War II. Though it is important that we remember what took place, it is more critical that we act, for justice delayed is justice denied. And for the dwindling number of surviving internees who became Americans, such as Cpl. Art Shibayama, justice has been delayed far too long. They deserve our attention, our respect and the official recognition of a country that is willing to heal and to make amends.

Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, and Dan Lungren, a Republican, are U.S. representatives from California.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn

/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800906.html

 

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