Racism and America’s concentration camps | Mas Hashimoto | TEDxMeritAcademy

How many of you are familiar with the
Japanese-American incarceration?

[audience raises hands]

Oh! Thank you, and good night.
[laughter]

You guys are wonderful.

I was a prisoner of war,
during World War II.

Held by my own country.

I was six years old.

This is my prison number: 125...

[checks paper]
12524.

I'm the letter D.

My family had 12524.

My family and I were incarcerated for
three and a half years.

In Poston, Arizona, during World War II.

As a teacher, I would ask my students,
sometimes on the first day of school:

"Draw an American for me."

"Take out a piece of paper, and
draw an American for me. Okay?"

And then I would go around the room,
and check the drawings.

And sometimes, the drawings would be of
a stick figure.

Not much better than kindergarten.

Excuse me, Marsha.

Marsha is a kindergarten teacher, my wife.
[audience laughs]

Draw an American for me.
You get somebody in mind?

Hm?

How many of you thought of drawing a
woman?

[audience stays silent]

Thank you.

A majority of Americans are women.

Who says it's a man's world?

Men, [laughs].

Women can do everything a man can do.
And more.

How many of you thought of drawing a
blonde, blue-eyed, hunk of a guy?

[a few people raise their hands]

Hitler would have been so proud of you.
[audience laughs]

To many Americans, WASP is the
American—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

If you're not a White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant, you're not really an American.

You know, I'm not Japanese.

I've never been Japanese.

I'm an American, of Japanese ancestry.

My father was Japanese, my mother was
Japanese, but I'm not Japanese.

When I go to Japan, and I speak,
they laugh and they go:

"We don't talk like that anymore."

They know I'm a 外人 (Gai-jin),
a foreigner.

When I was in London, shopping,

and I had a nice conversation with
the sales lady,

and at the end she says:
"Oh, you Yanks."

She's looking at me, and I'm a Yank.

But in this country—parts of this country—
I'm a damned Jap.

And I don't mean just the South.

There are parts of Idaho,
Montana, North Dakota and such.

It's kind of dangerous for me to travel.

Racism still prevails in this country.

After 9/11—the attack on the twin towers
in New York—there was talk about

rounding up all the Arabs and Muslim
Americans in this country, and

incarcerating them in concentration camps.

Now to his credit, George W. Bush—the
president—he, called the Cabinet meeting.

And he told his Cabinet members:

"We're not going to do, to the Arab and
Muslim Americans in this country,

what we did to Norm Mineta
and his family."

And all talk, about rounding up the Arab
and Muslims, stopped.

And we were grateful.

Now, why was Norm, his family, and 120,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans

—two-thirds were American citizens—from
Washington, Oregon, and California,

incarcerated after the attack on
Pearl Harbour?

Well, Cabrillo College instructor,
Sandy Lydon—historian emeritus—

said the Japanese strawberry farmer of
Watsonville had nothing to do with the

attack on Pearl Harbour.

Did you know that there were 158,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans

living in the territory of Hawaii—it
wasn't a state yet—

who were not incarcerated,
with the exception of about 2,000.

They're in the war zone.

Well they needed the Japanese and
Japanese-Americans in Hawaii

to run the economy of Hawaii.

They were the plurality, they were 37% of
the population—census was taken in 1940.

Their general Evman said it's not
necessary to do this.

There is no plans for sabotage.

We, who were 2,500 miles away from
the war zone, we get incarcerated.

Why?

I have to take you back a little bit, in
American history.

United States Constitution legalized
slavery.

The U.S. government condoned,
and practiced racism.

The Naturalization act in 1790,

Asians, could not become citizens of
the United States.

The Cherokee Nation.

You've heard of the trail of tears?

They were forced, out of their homes.

Dred Scott decision, he was a slave.
Even free territory.

There was an anti-Irish catholic mentality
in this country.

There were signs that were printed,
and displayed: 'No Irish Need Apply.'

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Plessy vs. Ferguson.

Separate but equal.

How can the separate be equal?

A. Mitchell Palmer Raids, 1919-1920.

The communists, and, and Jews too,
were deported without trial.

Just placed on a ship and shipped out.

Immigration Act of 1924.

Japanese could not come to this country
anymore.

Fred Korematsu case.

Our history is a history of racism.

Discrimination regarding immigration
as well.

In the early 20th century, it was said in
the newspapers—Examiner, The Chronicle,

The McClatchy papers, you know,
Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, and

The Sentinel—that the Japanese race is
an alien race which can never be

assimilated into the American way of life.

There is nothing of value, of
Japanese culture.

Nothing of value.

How many of you have eaten sushi?

[audience laughs]
Oh yeah, sushi's good for you.

What about bonsai?

Ikebana flower arranging?

Origami?

Wax on, wax off?
[audience laughs]

Karate?

Ah, Japanese culture is rich.

And so many enjoy participating in
Japanese culture.

To make sure the Japanese did not
assimilate into this country,

laws were passed.

Asians could not own property,
marry whites,

become citizens of the United States.

After the attack on Pearl Harbour,

December 7th, 1941.

John L. DeWitt, commander of the western,
as his fourth army.

At the Presidio of San Francisco.

Had the ear of the President of
the United States.

He said: "A Jap's a Jap."

"It makes no difference whether that Jap
is a citizen or not."

J. Edgar Hoover said: "Mr. President,
we don't need to do this."

Francis Biddle who was the Attorney
General at the time said:

"Mr. President, I don't think we
can do this."

There were no lawsuits filed
on our behalf.

Executive Order 9066, was past
75 years ago.

You know, there was one group, nationally,
one group, that supported us.

The American Quakers.

The American friends.

They're the only ones.

Nationally, not even the ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union) supported us.

Locally, luckily, we had some friends.

City attorney of Watsonville, with John
McCarthy.

Our police chief, Matt Graves.

School teachers, public school teachers.

And many others supported us.

You know, the reward,

they were called 'Jap Lovers'
for supporting us.

They had their homes and cars vandalized.

And they were among the very first to
welcome us back.

We had some very dear friends.

In 1942, our homes were searched,
without search warrants.

The FBI came into our homes

—they got the information from
the Bureau of the Census.

The Bureau of the Census is not supposed
to do that.

We were hacked.
[laughs]

There were no trials, except for four
people.

But for the rest of us, we had no charges,

no attorneys, no due process of law.

[shows paper] This, the Constitution
of the United States,

ceased to exist for us.

From camp—there were ten major camps—

and from the camps, our men and
women volunteered to serve

in the United States Armed Forces.

The men—many of them were in the
hundred 442nd Regimental Combat Team,

the most decorated army unit for its
size and length of service.

My two brothers were in the MIS—
Military Intelligence Service—

because they could read and
write Japanese.

They went to Japanese school after
high school each day.

They fought against the Japanese.

We used the Japanese language as a weapon,
against the Japanese.

The MIS stayed after the war,

with the restoration,
occupation restoration of Japan.

Their service during the war saved
countless American and Japanese lives.

It is estimated that it shortened the
war by two years.

Congress formally acknowledged the work

of the hundred 442nd and MIS, with
a Congressional Gold Medal.

And we're grateful.

Our forced removal was illegal.

Right?

No.

No.

It's legal.

The government of United States can
evict anyone from their homes.

If, under the guise of
"military necessity."

Today, we won't use that term.

We'll use the term "national security."

Congress and the president apologized
for our wartime experience.

Civil Liberties Act was passed on
August 10th, 1988.

We have an official apology.

You know, of the 120,000
[laughs]

the government expected 60,000 to have
died, and 60,000 were still alive.

But we fooled them.

80,000 of us were still alive.

You see, sushi is good for you.
[laughter]

There's only one race,

that's the human race.

There are those who wish to classify us.

Oh, you're Caucasian American,

you're Asian American,

you're Hispanic American,

Black American.

There's only one race.

You know dogs, we call them German
Shepards, French Poodles,

and Chihuahuas.

They go to anybody, huh.
Right?

They're colorblind.

I wish humans were colorblind.

[sighs]

Today, the present administration

is constantly issuing new executive
orders, policies regarding immigration.

Contrary to the spirit of America.

Fortunately—now—we have the Southern
Poverty Law Center,

the American Civil Liberties Union.

We have so many groups and individuals

supporting what really is of
true America.

Something we didn't see in 1942.

Will it happen again?

Memory is short.

No.
Not under the guise of military necessity.

So who's the biggest threat?

Some suspect it will be the reporters and
producers of fake news.

[laughs]

It doesn't have to be an individual
or group.

A national group, a racial group.

It could be an occupation.

The days of Walter Cronkite, the conscious
of America, are long gone.

Now we have the internet, radio talk
show hosts, TV commentators.

I'm grateful to be living here in
Santa Cruz county.

The second most liberal county in
the nation.

You know, if you know the history of Santa
Cruz city, it wasn't always that way.

Yeah, minorities were not welcomed in
Santa Cruz.

Growing up, I didn't come to
Santa Cruz very often.

But that all changed.

How?

Thanks to Cabrillo College.

And the University of Santa Cruz—
University of California, at Santa Cruz.

The intelligentsia came.

And it changed the whole county.

Today, this is the most wonderful place
in the whole world to live.

And I kid you not.

Gordon Hirabayashi.

He was a student at the
University of Washington.

A Quaker.

He was arrested, convicted, imprisoned.

The prosecuting attorneys lied
to the judges.

Yeah, he spent some time.

Now, his conviction was vacated.

Not overturned, vacated.

Gordon Hirabayashi said:
"Ancestry is not a crime."

Today we would add:
"Islam is not a crime."

With our newfound energy, we have
a lot of work to do.

You know those, gentlemen who live not
too far from Charlottesville, Virginia,

at a place called Monticello.

Thomas Jefferson,

"Eternal vigilance is a price of liberty."

It's up to us, all of us, to work in
peace, and harmony, compassion,

to overcome hate and bigotry.

And we can do it.

Thank you.

[audience applause]