Fred Korematsu responds to Michelle Malkin...

[DjTj]

I don't think I ever saw this on DU, but I think it's great that Fred Korematsu is still active and fighting the good fight. He wrote an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle this week:

Do we really need to relearn the lessons of Japanese American internment?

by Fred Korematsu

In 1942, I was arrested and convicted for being a Japanese American trying to live here in the Bay Area. The day after my arrest a newspaper headline declared, "Jap Spy Arrested in San Leandro."

...

But now the old accusations are back. Fox News media personality Michelle Malkin claims that some Japanese Americans were spies during World War II. Based upon her suspicions, Malkin claims the internment of all Japanese Americans was not such a bad idea after all. She goes on to claim that racial profiling of Arab Americans today is justified by the need to fight terrorism. According to Malkin, it is OK to take away an entire ethnic group's civil rights because some individuals are suspect. Malkin argues for reviving the old notion of guilt by association.

...

Fears and prejudices directed against minority communities are too easy to evoke and exaggerate, often to serve the political agendas of those who promote those fears. I know what it is like to be at the other end of such scapegoating and how difficult it is to clear one's name after unjustified suspicions are endorsed as fact by the government. If someone is a spy or terrorist they should be prosecuted for their actions. But no one should ever be locked away simply because they share the same race, ethnicity, or religion as a spy or terrorist. If that principle was not learned from the internment of Japanese Americans, then these are very dangerous times for our democracy.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/16/EDGP28P0T11.DTL

[saigon68]

1. THOSE WHO IGNORE HISTORY

ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.

[Swamp Rat]

2. Thanks for the post.

Very poignant.

[DjTj]

17. Your welcome.

I thought so too.

Fred Korematsu, at 85 years old, is truly an amazing individual. The 60th anniversary of Korematsu v. U.S. is coming up, and I hope it gets at least some coverage. It should be on everyone's mind when we think about the "War on Terror".

[bluestateguy]

3. Michelle Malkin forfeits her right to not be called racist or sexist names

[jrthin]

5. She's just another self-hating minority. n/t

[amber dog democrat]

4. She is just another Ann Coulter

This premise : " OK to take away an entire ethnic group's civil rights because some individuals are suspect. Malkin argues for reviving the old notion of guilt by association. " is enough to permanently discredit her.

Isn't this what the Nazis did? Lying fascist bitch.

[jdj]

6. I wonder if they run want ads somewhere...

Wanted: Asian-American to justify WW2 interment of Japanese

also wanted: African Americans to argue against affirmative action, and Attractive photogenic bottle blonds to decry the women's movement.

for more openings, click on www.jobswiththeGOP.com

[amber dog democrat]

7. I think the African American

is on the Supreme Court. Worthless at best.

[Lisa]

8. so who were they, Michelle?

Isn't it funny how she suddenly goes all vague and doesn't offer any actual examples! If she's going to fling around unsubstantiated rumors like that, she should be prepared to show us the evidence -- or apologize for shoddy research.

As Mr. Korematsu says, "As my case was being reconsidered by the courts, again as a result of the efforts of many people across the country, Congress created a commission to study the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans. The commission found that no Japanese American had been involved in espionage or sabotage and that no military necessity existed to imprison us."

[nosmokes]

9. i think we should intern malkin

and a few of her fox friends.

[billbuckhead]

10. I wonder if she knows much about what happened in the Phillipines after

the Spanish American war? I wondered how her ancestors fared in that deal?

[nostamj]

11. beauty is skin deep

UGLY is to the bone... will hate professionals like Malkin and her ilk have a place in Kerry's America?

dumb question. I know.



MICHELLE, HELL'S BELLE
SHE CAN'T PUT TWO WORDS TOGETHER WELL
POOR MICHELLE

MICHELLE, OH WELL,
USTED ES STUPIDO, MUY MAL,
MI MAL MICHELLE

I HATE YOU, I SO LOVE TO GOAD YOU
AND SEE YOUR HEAD EXPLODE.
YOU'RE SUCH A SHRILL PANTLOAD
I AM SENDING YOU SOME BRIE TO GO WITH
YOUR FAVORITE WHINE.

SOME PEOPLE SAY YOU SNACK ON KITTENS
I READ THAT IN SOME BOOK
GIVE US YOUR OUTRAGED LOOK...
AND TAKE YOUR RACIST SHIT TO RUSH
HE WON'T BE MEAN.

(HE LOVES YOU)

I WANT YOU EXPOSED AS THE LOSER
I THINK YOU KNOW YOU ARE
HOW DID YOU GO SO FAR?
UNTIL YOU'RE THROUGH WE'LL SHOW THE TRUTHS
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND

I WILL SEND CHRIS MATTHEWS 'THANK YOUS'
FOR HIS SMACKDOWN, MAL MICHELLE

[Flammable Materials]

12. Crap, didn't ANYONE see "The Siege"?

Argh.

[hlthe2b]

13. How tragic that this man should be persecuted not once but twice

in his lifetime, merely for his race/ethnicity. May the worst karma possible revisit Maulkin repeatedly for this shameless exploitation of such a serious issue, simply to try to make her 15 minutes of fame.

[UdoKier]

14. A lot of the Filipinas around US military bases in the Phillipines...

have been prostitutes. By her logic, I suppose she should be arrested for prostitution, esp. when in the vicinity of a military base?

[EstimatedProphet]

16. Well, yes she should be

She is after all a media whore.

[UdoKier]

15. She is ashamed of her heritage - identifies with whites.

That's why she changed her surname from "Malagang" to Malkin.

[bo44]

18. Coconut: Brown on the outside, white on the inside eom

[idlisambar]

20. Michelle Malkin is of Filipino descent, not Japanese...

...so she is not really showing that she is "ashamed of her heritage" by writing a book defending internment of Japanese-Americans.

It would be (even more) insane if a Japanese-American such a book.

[atre]

19. Every law student knows the name "Korematsu"

One of the darkest days in the history of the Supreme Court, even moreso than Plessy, was when the Supreme Court created the strict scrutiny standard and then proceeded to rule that internment of Japanese based solely on national origin met that test.