Days of remembrance in American history

One day they were well-regarded members of American society, but with a swirl of the president’s pen, they became “alien enemies.” Virtually overnight, children were expelled from school, adults were fired from their jobs, and they were forced to sell or abandon their businesses at great loss. These were Americans of Japanese descent — who lost their property, their rights and their freedom — they took what they could carry to one of 15 “assembly centers” — converted horse stalls at race tracks — until they could be transported to a prison camp under armed guards. Tanforan Racetrack was one of 12 California assembly centers that housed more than 7,000 Bay Area Americans of Japanese descent for more than seven months before they were shipped to prison camp — called “War Relocation Centers” or “internment camps.”

In Los Angeles, the largest assembly center was at Santa Anita Racetrack, which, at its peak, housed nearly 19,000 Americans of Japanese descent. My entire family, including both sets of grandparents and my parents, Tokiko and Minoru, who were children at the time, were forced to leave their homes in Hollywood, relocate to the race track, and later endure a lengthy train ride with covered windows to the desolation of Heart Mountain, Wyoming, where they were held for several years.

After the war, my father joined the U.S. Army, including others from the camps, where they served with distinction and honor. My father was deployed to occupied Japan where he worked as an interpreter. In the 1980s, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., held an exhibition on the “internment camps.” Upon seeing a “replica” of their housing barracks with frilly window curtains and furniture — my mother burst into tears — there were no curtains in the horse stalls and the “replica” failed to reproduce the stench of horse manure.

While Americans of Japanese descent were imprisoned, other “alien enemies” included Italian citizens were merely watched. For example, in 1941, Leo Giorgetti came home to the coast in Half Moon Bay on leave from the Pacific where he was proudly serving in the U.S. Navy, only to discover that his mother, an Italian citizen, was forced to leave their coastside farm at sundown to sleep 1 mile inland because the government feared that Italian citizens might aid German U-Boats off the coast with signal lights!

The imprisonment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II is one of the most disgraceful events in our history and was never taught in schools. What happened must be acknowledged and included in our educational curriculum. The same is true with remembering and teaching the history of African enslavement that began in 1619, before the Mayflower arrived from Europe in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. And we must not forget the wholesale genocide and indoctrination of Native Americans throughout history and into the 20th century. Future generations must be allowed learn, encouraged to think critically, and grow with empathy and humanity. It is the only way the sins of history will not repeat itself.

Sadly, violent attacks on Asians in the Bay Area and nationwide are increasing and we must speak up and act on this problem. History cannot be allowed to condone the resurgence of enactments like the Chinese Exclusion laws and the National Origins quota systems. We must act together to stop attacks on citizens because of their race, religion, gender or color of their skin. We are all immigrants or the children of immigrants in our country.

Only through acknowledgement of America’s ignoble history can we become the country our constitution intended. Words are not enough — it is only through direct and swift action by us all together can we be the country we claim to be. Violence and repressive conduct against any of our citizens, including immigrants, must be stopped. Otherwise, we cannot survive as a democratic society. We do not need another executive order like 9066. We are, after all, the United States of America.

Nanci E. Nishimura is co-chair of the Leaders Forum, from the White House Initiative on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. She is also a trial attorney and partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.