General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Wow, where did this come from? [View all]bvar22
(39,909 posts)...and one that has been acknowledged.
However, it does NOT make FDR a "racist".
It may make him guilty of Hysterical Xenophobia during Wartime,
but more likely, it makes him susceptible to the will of the people.
(Go read some of the speeches and demands being made in Congress after Dec 7th)
If you want to continue with the campaign of branding FDR a "Racist", I offer these two challenges:
1)Document FDR's "dislike" of the Japanese as a race prior to 1941.
2)Find ANY statement of Racial, Religious, and Economic Equality
stated as Democratic Party Policy that precedes FDR's State of the Union Address , 1941.
In that SOTU, he makes racial equality official Party Policy, and he did not make an exception for the Japanese.
He makes that Policy statement twice within two paragraphs:
"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for allregardless of station, race, or creed.
After the list of RIGHTS, it is followed again by:
If there is a statement of Racial Equality as official policy of the Democratic Party that precedes FDR's,
I have been unable to find it.
I don't endorse the Japanese Internment during WW2.
However, I do understand it.
I consider the attacks on FDR that attempt to discredit him as a "racist"
to be a cheap shot,
not well thought out,
and previously emanating from the Right Wing,
Unfortunately, it has been recently picked up and repeated by the Democratic Party "Centrists"
who desperately clutch at this in a misguided attempt to somehow make "Centrism" appear more palatable
or look better by comparison.
It is not fair or logical to judge historical figures by our current Social Values.
To do so, we would have to write off every single president prior to LBJ as a "Racist",
even Abraham Lincoln.
We would also be forced to write off the vast majority of Americans in 1941 as "racists" also.
FDR did not act in a vacuum, but went along with the hysterical majority of Americans,
in the street and in Congress. Most Americans believed that FDR did not go far enough with the internments.
Go read some history of life in California immediately after Dec7, 1941,
or, if you don't like to read history,
go see Spielberg's movie, 1941.
(If anything, Spielberg is guilty of understatement with this movie)
The population were absolutely sure that the "Filthy Nips" were going to land on the beaches immediately,
and that the "Japs" had already landed Saboteurs and Agents that were marking targets in California.
It was an insane, hysterical time, and to pull one piece of it out of context,
and use it to smear ANYBODY living in the USA at that time shows a lack of knowledge and discernment.
I will repeat the two challenges:
1) Document FDR's "dislike" of the Japanese as a race prior to 1941.
2) Find ANY statement of Racial, Religious, and Economic Equality
stated as Democratic Party Policy that precedes FDR's State of the Union Address , 1941.