What  do u think about the Texas Education Agency, TEA, recent vote along party lines to change the Texas High School Social Studies curriculum to a more conservative view & in one particular instance to rewrite history. What I'm talking about is that the TEA wants to add to the curriculum, that since German & Italian resident aliens during WWII were arrested & incarcerated, which I see as not a problem, but to say that the round-up & incarceration of all the West Coast Japanese was not racist, I say that is similar to what a Holocaust denier says. Never mind that about 1% of the German & Italians in the US were incarcerated for being a threat, almost 95% of the West Coast Japanese alien residents & US citizen were incarcerated with no due process. My take is, the TEA move is similar to a Holocaust denier. If u want more info., checkout the NY Times education section on 12 March 2010.

to make future generations to their level of thinking so that dumbness and bigotry continues..........

Who else is going to protect us from the religious whack jobs on the right.  I know your post makes no reference to religion, but whenever you see right wing fanantics, they usually are quoting Jesus.

To claim that the incarceration of virtually every Japanese American possible was not racist is the ultimate in revisionist history.

Some years ago, there was an "apologist" who claimed the Japanese-Americans were "put under Government protection for their own safety."

Er.. protection?

I've been to Manzanar. Other than the absence of crematoriums, it didn't seem very different from pictures I have of the camps in Europe.

America had concentration camps. It really IS that simple. And shameful.








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including my mother's best childhood friend.

To attempt to rewrite history in the hopes of white washing that shameful chapter in American history is vile, and shameful.

I don't want the "loony left" in charge of anything, because I don't think they are competent enough to run a laundrymat, but they are necessary. Without the lib's the religious right's "Christian soldiers" would run roughshod over any and everbody who didn't look like them or think like them.

I have an older friend who was interned along with his family. In the process, they took away their store, which is still in operation and owned by an anglo family. He was allowed to join and serve in the the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe, and was highly decorated. Yet, after the war, they did not get their home and store returned to them. In some respects the whole thing turned out the be a big land and property grab by those in power, just like they did with the the Native American Indians.

"Come See the Paradise".

I could find NOTHING in the proposed changes that supports your statement (and quite to the contrary BTW). I think I found the NYT article that you mentioned but did not link. And I think the issue of racism against Japanese internees was one that the NYT reporter was attempting to play up. He made no direct reference as you did that the Texas school board was now going to require any such teaching as you clearly stated in your OP. The NYT reporter DID say (without any supporting quotes or documentation of course) that the teaching of the fact that Germans and Italians citizens were also interred was meant to downplay racism against the Japanese.

Here is the excerpt from the Texas rule:

“Analyze major issues of World War II, including the Holocaust; the internment of Japanese, German, and Italian Americans; and the development of conventional and atomic weapons;”

Here is the NYT apparent opinion:

“He also won approval for an amendment stressing that Germans and Italians as well as Japanese were interned in the United States during World War II, to counter the idea that the internment of Japanese was motivated by racism.”

The school board member’s motives may indeed been what the NYT’s reporter stated, but 1) I see no supporting evidence and 2) The actual new rule included no such directive (as your OP stated).

I hate to see any politics finding its way into schools (other than reasonable discussions in certain high school and college classes). But it’s a fact of life that both sides have long been attempting to rewrite history lessons in order to further their long term agenda. It’s only natural the struggle continues. Too bad the struggle can’t result in a balance instead of swings. But in this case (and probably due to my bias) I don’t see more damage than I see repair.

I think this is your NYT Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.htm


This is where you can find all the Texas Education Agency proposals as well as email addresses for submitting opinion before their final vote in May.

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/home/sboeprop.html


Specific PDF including the changes you brought up (see page 4):

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/board/proposed/0310/ch113C-one.pdf


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It looks more like profiling gone wrong,ignorant leaders ,and war hysteria..If it was racism why did the Chinese gain more stature and become honest and hardworking after 1941 instead of maintaining their weird and crazy image.

as national spokesman.

which is to paint Texas (and the south in general) as backward and bigoted. Hence the replies from anonymous and fasteddie. Right on cue.

Your retort was so weak I am speculating  perhaps you missed my point..Before 1941 the  Chinese were looked down on by mainstream America, and merely viewed as a necessary  weird and sometimes devious labor force, lower on the social scale than a Black man,or  Japanese...Once the Japanese interment in 1942, and China became our Ally, the US Government started a public relations campaign in favor of the Chinese as hard working, good people..
I can usually tell if someone is from Japan or China, especially when they talk, however they are both Asian..and usually much smarter than the rest of us..
 As back woods as the majority of  white people were with other races back then,if it had been a racist internment, the Chinese would have gotten lumped in at the same time and seen more prejudice , not less. . ...Just because most white people were racists back then doesn't mean racism was the reason behind their actions.
I look at it as a mob mentality vigilante war fevor, not racism..
Quite rude of you to bring the physically challenged into your lack of debate, and belittle them by the mockery of me being their spokesperson.
and by the way its the National Federation for the Blind and they already have a spokesperson much more articulate than me, and "light" years ahead of your response..
I stand by my original post and I advise you to read some History, not written especially for you.
The Japanese interment is one reason of many why I am not impressed with FDR...If I had stuck with the required reading books,they might have fooled me too..

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1679.html

You argue that the internment of 110,000 Japanese in WWII (more than half of whom were American citizens) was not racist bc we did also not intern the Chinese that you apparently think look just the like the Japanese. But that is equivalent to arguing that the treatment of blacks in the South in the 1950s was not racist bc we treated hispanics and asians better.

   The internment of the Japanese in WWI was solely based on their nationality. If you were Japanese on the West Coast, the government presumed without any evidence that you were a threat to national security.

       That is purely racist government action and there can be no argument about this bc in 1988, "Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership". Over $1.6 billion in reparations were later disbursed by the U.S. government to Japanese Americans who had either suffered internment or were heirs of those who had suffered internment."

    You are, of course, free to disagree with me, the Congress, the president, and most of the free world as to whether this was racist but when you take such an extreme position and caption your post "I can't see the racism" perhaps you should expect some degree of satiric response.

marikod  "110,000 Japanese in WWII (more than half of whom were American citizens) was not racist bc we did also not intern the Chinese that you apparently think look just the like the Japanese"

I don't think you are stupid so there should be no reason for you to misquote me.Lets stick to the facts lest you lose all credibility like willie ..I never said the Chinese look like the Japanese..I did say they both look like Asians.As a matter of fact I said I can usually tell the difference..and especially when they talk, was sarcasm since its usually very  easy to physically distinguish between the Chinese and Japanese..

marikod  "The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership".

If you had understood my post and headline you would have noticed I believe  that war hysteria and ignorant  leadership were  main contributing factors to the Japanese internment, so in fact I do agree with most of what the Government had to say in their apology.

marikod " But that is equivalent to arguing that the treatment of blacks in the South in the 1950s was not racist bc we treated hispanics and asians better."

No its not like arguing  your absurd concoction, and the Blacks and hispanics didn't attack us in the 50s...You are failing to see the Pearl Harbor revenge syndrome, since in your simplistic view, racism is the root cause of all evil.. I will explain  again, Japanese and Chinese look like Asians from the far east, and their complexions are not far apart.
 Keep digging.

were the main contributors to the internment decision, I would not quarrel with that. But in your OP caption you did not say that - you said "I can't see the racism." And I replied, you must be blind if you can't see it.

       I think that is still valid in terms of what you posted, but I'll accept that the caption of your post was not precisely what you meant.

I had a client tell me the same thing. LOL
It was for their "protection".  I asked him if he was cool with white men like himself being caged like an animal for no offense other than being white. His response was "it was justified at the time".

I had a client tell me the same thing. LOL
It was for their "protection".  I asked him if he was cool with white men like himself being caged like an animal for no offense other than being white. His response was "it was justified at the time".

That said, in spite of the fact that it was intended to be "nationalistic" and not racist, it did have that effect with the average "round eyed white man".

Every one of my uncles on my Chinese side served in WWII,but none of them fought in the Pacific.I imagine it was a lot safer fighting Germans than to be shot by their own comrades, because all "slant eyes" look alike to most white people. rofl

Most people forget, the Chinese were at war with the Japanese well before we were.

First, you are right - it is more accurate to say the persons selected for internment were selected based on nationality rather than race, since the Japanese are not a distinct race.

     So, after thinking about it, I think I would agree with Quad that the decision to inter was the result of poor leadership and war hysteria - but the persons selected for internment were selected solely bc of their nationality.

    Okay, Quad you have now been fired as National Spokesman for the Society of the Blind. But don't worry - there are plenty of other candidates for the position.

You link the right NY Time article, I'm sure people appreciate the link. I'm aware of the draft proposals on the TEA site. I have no problem with the proposal that German & Italian resident aliens were incarcerated after hearings, about 1% of their population in the US, but about 95% of the West Coast Japanese community were incarcerated with no hearings.
  Are u saying the reporter didn't check the facts of the article & his editor didn't either? There are blogs on the left & right which say the sambbbe thing as the NY Times article, I won't use them bc I only quote reputable News publications. A couple more facts, 2/3 of the West Coast Japanese, were Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) and their parents were barred from applying for US citizenship till 1952.
  I didn't expect to be preaching to the choir, I guess most of you payed attention in social studies class. And the 2 who doubt my facts & my narrative, & aren't persuaded by their hobbyist brothers who fleshed out the debate,I won't waste my breath, bc everyone else gets IT. There should be more, TEA will be holding hearings in Austin on 19 May.

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