EDITORIAL: Don’t make the same mistakes that followed attack on Pearl Harbor

Posted 12/6/16

Seventy-five years later, the legacies of World War II veterans live on. Often referred to as part of the Greatest Generation, WWII veterans responded to the surprise attack by bravely fighting for America and freedom around the world. Like service …

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EDITORIAL: Don’t make the same mistakes that followed attack on Pearl Harbor

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Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of “a date which will live in infamy.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the historic declaration following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Seventy-five years later, the legacies of World War II veterans live on. Often referred to as part of the Greatest Generation, WWII veterans responded to the surprise attack by bravely fighting for America and freedom around the world. Like service members before and since, they made incredible sacrifices for our country — including their own lives.

In addition to veterans’ legacy of service, however, are other remnants of the war. Just look in the shadow of Heart Mountain.

In the days following the Pearl Harbor attack, thousands of Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and the lives they had built. From small infants to elderly grandparents, families were uprooted and confined in internment camps across America, including one at Heart Mountain.

Today, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center shares their stories, preserves the camp’s history and spotlights an important message: Never again.

It’s a message we have echoed in the past, and in light of recent events in our country, it’s one we’ll continue to repeat.

About a year ago, Donald Trump — now the president-elect — said he supported creating a mandatory database to track Muslims in the United States.

Last month, a member of Trump’s transition team suggested the new administration could reinstate a registry for immigrants from mostly-Muslim countries. Soon after, a prominent Trump supporter said the internment of Japanese Americans was a “precedent” for such a registry.

“We’ve done it based on race; we’ve done it based on religion; we’ve done it based on region,” Carl Higbie told Megyn Kelly on Fox News. “We’ve done it with Iran back — back a while ago. We did it during World War II with Japanese.”

Those are dangerous words. That’s not a history we should repeat. Our country pledges to uphold liberty and justice for all — not to discriminate based on race or religion.

As America transitions to a new administration next month, Trump and his transition team should revisit what the last two Republican presidents had to say about internment camps.

Former President George H.W. Bush issued formal apologies and federal payments to each living survivor of the WWII internment.

“A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories; neither can they fully convey our nation’s resolve to rectify injustice to uphold the rights of individuals,” Bush wrote in 1991. “We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.”

Ten years after those apologies were issued, America was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. As fears ran high, some Americans talked about not letting Muslims on airplanes, and even suggested internment, recalled Norman Mineta, former U.S. secretary of transportation.

At the time, Mineta was serving in President George W. Bush’s cabinet. For Mineta, talks of internment were deeply personal — he and his family were forced to live in barracks at Heart Mountain during World War II.

President Bush’s response in 2001: “We don’t want to have happen today what happened to Norm in 1942.”

Nor can we allow it to happen in 2017 — or any year to follow.

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