Can We Keep the Past in the Past?

By Kathryn Fyfe

People say that history is doomed to repeat itself. But is it really? How can that even be true with the incredible rate at which the world changes? The exact same events that have passed in history are not necessarily doomed to repeat. But if we watch carefully, we can see similar trends and comparisons between modern issues and our past handling of similar issues. For example, when compared to the Japanese internment during World War II, there are similar trends, events, and sentiments toward Arab Americans and Muslims in the US today.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which began the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. People of Japanese origin or ancestry on the west coast, given little or no warning, were rounded up and sent to 10 different internment camps across the country with. These law abiding and productive citizens were forced to store or sell almost everything they owned, often at a huge loss.

Japanese Americans were sent to camps in deserts and swamps, surrounded by barbed wire, watched by armed guards. They were given small lodgings with almost no furnishings and forced to live there for up to four years. The last camp did not close until early 1946. When they returned home, Japanese Americans often had nothing to return to. Their homes and storage units had been looted and their belongings sold, as many had assumed they would never come back. The government had sent them home with almost nothing, including no apology.

This was a horrible series of events. But it’s all in the past, right? The Japanese internment ended over 75 years ago, and surely Americans today are much wiser and levelheaded, especially now that we are not in the midst of a worldwide war. But when we look at treatment today of Arab Americans and Muslims in the US, the past does not seem so far behind us.

Japanese Americans were interned because of widespread fears that people of Japanese ancestry living in the US would help coordinate more Japanese attacks on the US. Japanese Americans were interned because they lived in a country already rampant with racism against Asian Americans. Japanese Americans were interned because people were looking for an excuse to get rid of them even before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

America certainly already has a culture of racism against Arab (or Arab looking) Americans and Muslim people. Racial profiling of Arab Americans has been a pervasive problem in America since well before September 11, 2001. Just as Japanese Americans before, during, and after World War II did, Arab Americans toady face racism, hate crimes, and violations of their rights.

The “Muslim Ban” put forth by the Trump administration starting in 2017 is further evidence of trends similar to those that led to internment camps. Just as people feared Japanese Americans helping to coordinate a Japanese attack on America, people now fear terrorist attacks coordinated by people from majority Muslim countries. There were many movements and lawsuits against all three iterations of the Muslim Ban, but the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the third Muslim Ban. After the court’s decision, a leading activist against the ban even likened the decision to Korematsu vs. the United States, a Supreme Court case which upheld the Japanese internment.

There are not yet internment camps for Arab or Muslim Americans. However, we can see the same patterns and trends that led to the Japanese internment during World War II with these people groups. Bruce Embrey, cochair of the Manzanar Committee draws connections from the Japanese internment to modern civil rights issues:

“We must stand, today, with all those that face civil rights abuses, stand with those who are unjustly accused or persecuted simply because of their faith, their birthplace or ancestry. We must stand up for others if we are to truly honor the sacrifices of our families.”

We must not forget the atrocities of the Japanese internment lest we let it happen again.