Quote:
Originally posted by Not Bob
And will our grandchildren have the same reaction to this sort of thing as we now have to Japanese internment camps? Someone (burger?) pointed out the Korematsu decision already. The same arguments about group suspiscion were made in the 1940s, too.
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Hard to say. I don't know what the basis for the round-up was (well, I know Pearl Harbor and all that, but was there anything else?) in those days, but in the present-day circumstances, the chart-toppers on the list of "Who Will Do Anything -- and I do Mean Anything -- to Strike Against American Interests" are muslims. Who is bombing US embassies? It's not the IRA. Who had plans to bomb LAX? Not ETA. What group has "cells" all over the US (a plot was uncovered several months ago in upstate NY involving muslim teenagers -- sons of muslim immigrants) plotting to plant bombs/kill people randomly? Not the Shining Path.
So, I don't know how analagous the situations are. Were there numerous examples of Japanese in the US trying to harm us? I know I read not long ago about INS really cracking down on those who have overstayed their visas, and those who are here on student visas but have never enrolled in school, and I think the focus was on muslims/Arabs. I don't see anything wrong with that, given that their leaders have EXPRESSLY ADVOCATED doing harm to America and Americans whenever and wherever they can, and the community has shown a willingness, some might even say
eagerness to do so.
I know we're all enlightened intellectuals (ahem -- well, y'all are), but it's no joke. I recognize that an anecdote does not evidence make, but this was a reality slap in the face for me the other day: in a taxi cab, the Arab (could tell from the name) driver was annoyed by a person walking too slowly in the crosswalk, and decided that the most virulent epithet he would fling at this fellow was "Jew!" I daresay his attitude is not unique. So, even for Arabs in this country, driving cabs and "minding their own bees wax" there is real hatred that, within that community, is encouraged (or at the very least, not discouraged.)
That last paragraph is not proof of anything, I know. However, I don't think that attitude is an isolated one, and don't think it's that big a leap from "Jews" to "Americans" -- one woman's opinion.
