Dear Muslim Americans: We See You, and We Hear You. From, A Japanese American in Solidarity.
“My father once told me that American democracy is a people’s democracy at heart, and that it therefore can be as great as the American people, or as fallible.” -George Takei
Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, a wave of anti-Japanese hysteria hit the U.S. with an unstoppable force.
The Japanese Americans who’d only ever known America as their home were told they were no longer welcome, forced into cramped concentration camps and stripped of their belongings, their jobs, and ultimately — their humanity.
Many Japanese Americans who were put into concentration camps are still alive today, most notably actor George Takei, who speaks eloquently on the topic. The life of a prisoner was unimaginable, as Takei describes how “Lining up for meals and for the public latrine in a prison camp became (their) normality.”
Living conditions were inadequate at best and inhumane at worst; as the camps reportedly lacked basic plumbing and cooking facilities. It is also important to note that camps were surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, and armed guards were “instructed to shoot anyone attempting to leave.”
As many are eager to avoid the mistakes of our past, Carl Higbe, a vocal Trump surrogate, recently declared that Japanese internment should serve as a precedent for proposing a Muslim registry.
The fundamental problem with Higby’s comment is that it inherently assumes Japanese internment was in any way justifiable and not, in fact, a flagrant violation of basic human rights.
Not only did the proclamation displace and disenfranchise entire communities, but it also declared them second-class citizens and treated them as subhuman.
So how did we get to the point of imprisoning thousands of innocent Americans?
As history.com notes, “In early 1942, the Roosevelt administration was pressured to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by farmers seeking to eliminate Japanese competition, a public fearing sabotage, politicians hoping to gain by standing against an unpopular group, and military authorities.”
Racially motivated fear, a population that blames their economic problems on immigrants, and corrupt politicians seeking political gain from the ignorance of the general public. Sound familiar?
The media also played a huge role in spreading anti-Japanese hatred because, much like today, sensationalist and racist news has proven to be profitable and therefore justifiable in the eyes of those producing it.
This chilling period in American history happened less than a century ago, yet as we’ve seen in our political climate today, history is repeating itself with a disturbing irony.
At this very moment, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment is at its peak, with the rhetoric of the Trump campaign feeding into the fear-mongering and scapegoating the Japanese experienced not too long ago.
“It’s more important than ever to recall the mistakes of our country’s past and be vigilant to avoid recreating them.” -Asian Americans Advancing Justice
When we let fear instead of love rule our judgment and guide our policy, we end up with edicts like Executive Order 9066, which legalized the forced incarceration of more than 127,000 Japanese Americans (half of whom were children) without due process — one of the fundamental pillars of our justice system.
The frequency with which “Islamic terrorism” happens is over-reported in mainstream media, as various studies show domestic terrorism from white supremacists and right-wing extremists occur at a higher rate than international terrorism.
The Pope is one of many to denounce “Islamic terror,” stating, “If I speak about Islamic violence I need to speak about Catholic violence.”
The treatment of Muslim Americans after 9/11 is strikingly similar to the treatment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor.
As Karen Korematsu notes, “Racial tensions are prevalent, and stories of hate crimes, profiling, and discrimination against immigrants and minorities pervade the news. The American Muslim community, in particular, is facing a recent surge in the hostility it has confronted since 9/11, with some public leaders amplifying the unjust hysteria by proposing measures to curtail this community’s freedom and civil liberties.”
The lesson to be learned is that the fear-mongering and scapegoating of an entire group of people for the acts of a few is discriminatory, unjust, and a violation of our constitutional rights.
Here are some ways you can help support the Muslim community:
- Sign this petition by the ACLU to end the discriminatory Muslim registration program.
- Follow True Islam on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook to learn about the true nature of Islam. True Islam is a campaign that aims to unite Muslims and non-Muslims in an effort to educate and inform on Islamic teachings.
- Use your voice to call out hate speech. Phrases like “Islamic terrorism” reinforce the negative stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists.
- Educate yourself on the people being affected by the Syrian refugee crisis. Here is a list of organizations to donate to, groups to volunteer with, and additional ways to support the cause.
- Donate to this upcoming indie film which is set to imagine Muslim Americans interned under a Trump administration, “imagined as a cautionary tale.”
- Learn about the diversity of the Muslim community. Muslims are activists, singers, actors, revolutionaries, teachers, and even your neighbors. Some well-known members of the Muslim community are Malala Yousafzai, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Iman, Janet Jackson, Amal Clooney, Zayn Malik, Dave Chappelle, Shaq, and many others.
