publication: Asian Week

May 16, 2008 - May 22, 2008

FULL TEXT A foreign enemy launches a catastrophic assault on American soil. The government detains suspected enemy allies as a preventative measure against future attacks. In doing so, government officials utilize unreliable blanket judgments grounded in ethnicity and appearance. The wartime hysteria creates an atmosphere of fear and hostility towards people of a certain skin color and descent. An entire population suffers through the humiliation of unsubstantiated claims, undue scrutiny, unlawful detention, and unjustifiable losses in civil rights and personal dignity. This sad and disconcerting portrait is eerily applicable to both present and past. The tragic events of Sept. 11 changed how Americans see Muslim Americans, specifically those of Middle Eastern descent. Government policies against suspected terrorist supporters include warrantless wiretapping, indefinite incarceration, and the exclusion of legal representation. Likewise, Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 altered Americans' perceptions of Japanese American citizens, who, based on looks and a shared culture, endured accusations of allying with the Japanese Empire and subverting American forces. In 1942, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were ordered to isolated internment camps.