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A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference

By TChris, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 04:36:07 PM EST
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by TChris

This is a sad anniversary:

On this day - Feb. 19 - in 1942, two months after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order clearing the way for some 120,000 U.S. residents of Japanese descent to be evicted from their homes and imprisoned.

The linked story tells how a librarian, Clara Breed, did what she could to help.

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    A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 04:00:46 PM EST
    i have always felt that these internment camps were no better than those run by the nazis, except they weren't gassing people. as the son of a career marine, many of whose comrades fought in the pacific theatre, mine wasn't the popular view. that said, it never ceased to amaze me how many of those vets expressed similar views; the honor of their service was tarnished by their country's treatment of its own citizens. i'd never heard of miss breed, until reading this. i shall endeavor to acquire this book, for my own and my children's edification. many of our greatest heroes never carried a gun, or fought in a war. my children need to be reminded of that, constantly.

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 05:16:39 PM EST
    i have always felt that these internment camps were no better than those run by the nazis, except they weren't gassing people.
    I've always wondered... how come, since nobody will ever come out of Guantanamo alive (since the GWOT will never end) it's still considered somehow better than a death camp?

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#3)
    by Darryl Pearce on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 05:31:45 PM EST
    Via Ken MacLeod's site: "Work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation." - Alasdair Gray. "If these are the early days of a better nation, there must be hope, and a hope of peace is as good as any, and far better than a hollow hoarding greed or the dry lies of an aweless god." - Graydon Saunders

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#4)
    by Johnny on Sun Feb 19, 2006 at 09:29:13 PM EST
    BFDR herded an entire group of people into concentration camps (while also drafting young men out of said camps to fight for their country) based solely on color of skin. Not really a high point in this countries history.

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 20, 2006 at 04:17:58 AM EST
    CPinVA: you are comparing internment camps to Nazi concentration camps sans gas chambers? Internment camps were wrong and unconstitutional, but how many Japanese Americans were sent as slaves to the armament industry like in Germany? How many were sent as slaves to build defenses like the Atlantic wall? Can you compare diets between the internment camps and concentration camps? How about living conditions? Medical care? Please lets see your comparisons.
    many of whose comrades fought in the pacific theatre, mine wasn't the popular view.
    How old were you when you had this view and it was not popular view. You write as if you had this view during the war.

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 02:16:40 PM EST
    Hindsight is always 20/20... Unfortunately, there was proof of spies in and around Pearl Harbor. The Prez did what he had to do to protect us from more attacks... (sound familiar?) You can all go back & critique now... (with the benefit of hindsight) but it isn't an easy decision at the time.

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#7)
    by Johnny on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 04:09:59 PM EST
    BB, locking people up pre-emptively based strictly on race/religion/creed the easy decision. Not only did we round up and incarcerate over 100,000 people, in all likelyhood the majority of them American citizens, we then issued draft statements to the young men incarcerated within these camps. I am sure, given the prevailing attitude towards brown people at the time, this decision was easily accepted by the majority of the "greatest generation".

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#8)
    by Johnny on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 04:11:23 PM EST
    Also, I am quite certain there are white spies in our midst at this very moment! Quick! Start locking up people who look like they might be a white spy! LOL

    Re: A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference (none / 0) (#9)
    by Johnny on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 04:12:37 PM EST
    locking people up pre-emptively based strictly on race/religion/creed the easy decision.
    Should have read: locking people up pre-emptively based strictly on race/religion/creed is always the easy decision.

    A Librarian Who Tried to Make a Difference | 9 comments (9 topical)