An important and valuable walk down memory lane with respect to historical happenings in the so-called United States. A sizable portion of the population of the United States were enslavers and proponents of mass murderers, something that tends to be unstated in our history books and Hollywood films that have a penchant for depicting the devil (Americans in general) as the “good guy,” when nothing could be further from the truth in most cases. If there is a state in the world that is adept at pillaging and plundering, it is the United States of America. Unless we acted as a united force, internment camps seem likely to become in vogue again.
Here's another story for you: another Punjabi immigrant, another American veteran, they even served at the same duty station (Fort Lewis, here in Washington) -- my husband, Zahid Chaudhry. He came in the '90s - fully documented - and despite over a quarter century of law abiding residency, two Honorable periods of military service, including injuries that left him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life, AND his marriage to me (a white American) and our two little kids...he's never been granted citizenship and is still targeted for deportation. History here: www.KeepZahidHome.org
Thank you for your work - it's inspiring, and I feel deep kinship and solidarity. I'm a candidate for Congress in Washington State, fiercely standing for America to finally live up to the best of our principles and become the thriving, vibrant, multiracial democracy we always aspired to be. "Liberty and Justice for All" doesn't come with an asterisk. And it's up to us - all of us alive today, concomitant with our knowledge, ability, and privilege - to stand up, be the good people, and do the right thing.
I was considering writing an article very similar to much of what you have here due to an exchange I had elsewhere on Substack. Someone had said that Trump doesn't represent America, and I replied that unfortunately he represents America all too well. We've always been a country for rich white men first and foremost. It's going to take a great deal of effort to change 250 years of history.
He's working to revive the era in which his undocumented non-english speaking Grandpa with a criminal record could immigrate just fine because he was white, but no one else could no matter what.
I'm just in the past few years realizing how much white privilege I have had my entire life. I've been so sheltered.
I truly don't understand how anyone can hate a person because of skin color, or any other difference between them. We're all the same inside. We all have hopes, dreams, fears. Just because we have different life experiences, shouldn't make us enemies or adversaries. I know that makes me sound very naive.
I was born in 1952, and the amount of anti-Asian and particularly anti-Japanese hate I saw in my youth was mind-boggling. It was incomprehensible to me that Germans - whose crimes were arguably worse than Japan’s - were welcomed here while Asians were shunned. The only reason I could see was the Germans were white people and Asians weren’t.
I can't afford subscriptions, but want to thank you so much for writing and posting this. It's a shameful history, but it's IS our history and most of us are not so craven that we have to turn away from it. I think about both my own parents and grandparents, all of them good people who worked quite consciously to better this country in military/intelligence service and standing up public education across the South where it had never existed before. Nevertheless, I don't think they would have totally dissapproved of these Feb 19th rulings. They would have been saddened and a bit confused, but also accepted the biases and "facts" of their day. I remain very proud of them and can also handle knowing how wrong they were in regard to race. This is what mature adults do.
A less well-known chapter in the US's WWII history is the establishment of holding camps for enemies along the US-Mexico border, some on the Mexican side and some on the US side. The US ordered the Latin American nations to send all their citizens of Italian, German, or Japanese origin to the US for the duration of the war. They were held in these camps along the border. The camp southeast of El Paso in Socorro, Texas, held Germans and Italians. Most of the camps were in Mexico, contiguous to the US border.
Excellent. Thank you. This is why both History is needed concerning the Past and the Press is needed to alert us to what's happening currently. We are supposed to be the Government and those elected are doing our collective bidding. Uneducated Citizens cannot maintain a Democracy.
My Sicilian grandfather was labeled an enemy alien in 1940 when he tried to sign up for service. For two years he lived under virtual house arrest, having escaped imprisonment because he worked at the Ritz Carlton in Boston and had some influential connections. I cannot emphasize the trauma he endured—”il vigogno,” or shame as Italians called this painful humiliation—or how it rolled down through two generations, affecting his children and his grandchildren. The trauma had emotional, mental, and even financial costs in lost livelihood and intergenerational wealth after he left his job because of “nervous breakdown.” And yet what I remember of “Nonno” is how he took of his hat any time he heard the national anthem, how deeply he loved this country. ~ I have a brother-in-law from India…about ten years ago, at a fireworks display, he stood up and put his hand over his heart during the national anthem — something I hadn’t done in years. When I asked why, he said, “So people will see a brown-skinned patriot.” Whiteness is an invention but patriotism is not. I know, because everyone in my family is from somewhere else…and they are all the face of America.
Your personal piece is very moving for me. Often, I think that personal stories can elicit powerful emotional reactions and deep impressions that stay with us longer than objective writings do. I know this has happened to me here. I am very sure I will be remembering the image of your grandfather taking his hat off when he heard the national anthem, out of respect and love for our country, despite how cruelly he had been treated by it. I am imagining myself remembering this image the next time I hear the national anthem. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Undocumented immigrants should speak with their lawyers before being public on anything. Citizens should speak up loudly against these cruel injustices.
An important and valuable walk down memory lane with respect to historical happenings in the so-called United States. A sizable portion of the population of the United States were enslavers and proponents of mass murderers, something that tends to be unstated in our history books and Hollywood films that have a penchant for depicting the devil (Americans in general) as the “good guy,” when nothing could be further from the truth in most cases. If there is a state in the world that is adept at pillaging and plundering, it is the United States of America. Unless we acted as a united force, internment camps seem likely to become in vogue again.
Here's another story for you: another Punjabi immigrant, another American veteran, they even served at the same duty station (Fort Lewis, here in Washington) -- my husband, Zahid Chaudhry. He came in the '90s - fully documented - and despite over a quarter century of law abiding residency, two Honorable periods of military service, including injuries that left him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life, AND his marriage to me (a white American) and our two little kids...he's never been granted citizenship and is still targeted for deportation. History here: www.KeepZahidHome.org
Thank you for your work - it's inspiring, and I feel deep kinship and solidarity. I'm a candidate for Congress in Washington State, fiercely standing for America to finally live up to the best of our principles and become the thriving, vibrant, multiracial democracy we always aspired to be. "Liberty and Justice for All" doesn't come with an asterisk. And it's up to us - all of us alive today, concomitant with our knowledge, ability, and privilege - to stand up, be the good people, and do the right thing.
I was considering writing an article very similar to much of what you have here due to an exchange I had elsewhere on Substack. Someone had said that Trump doesn't represent America, and I replied that unfortunately he represents America all too well. We've always been a country for rich white men first and foremost. It's going to take a great deal of effort to change 250 years of history.
He's working to revive the era in which his undocumented non-english speaking Grandpa with a criminal record could immigrate just fine because he was white, but no one else could no matter what.
I'm just in the past few years realizing how much white privilege I have had my entire life. I've been so sheltered.
I truly don't understand how anyone can hate a person because of skin color, or any other difference between them. We're all the same inside. We all have hopes, dreams, fears. Just because we have different life experiences, shouldn't make us enemies or adversaries. I know that makes me sound very naive.
I commend you on your journey of more self awareness and acting to demand justice.
I was born in 1952, and the amount of anti-Asian and particularly anti-Japanese hate I saw in my youth was mind-boggling. It was incomprehensible to me that Germans - whose crimes were arguably worse than Japan’s - were welcomed here while Asians were shunned. The only reason I could see was the Germans were white people and Asians weren’t.
I can't afford subscriptions, but want to thank you so much for writing and posting this. It's a shameful history, but it's IS our history and most of us are not so craven that we have to turn away from it. I think about both my own parents and grandparents, all of them good people who worked quite consciously to better this country in military/intelligence service and standing up public education across the South where it had never existed before. Nevertheless, I don't think they would have totally dissapproved of these Feb 19th rulings. They would have been saddened and a bit confused, but also accepted the biases and "facts" of their day. I remain very proud of them and can also handle knowing how wrong they were in regard to race. This is what mature adults do.
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A less well-known chapter in the US's WWII history is the establishment of holding camps for enemies along the US-Mexico border, some on the Mexican side and some on the US side. The US ordered the Latin American nations to send all their citizens of Italian, German, or Japanese origin to the US for the duration of the war. They were held in these camps along the border. The camp southeast of El Paso in Socorro, Texas, held Germans and Italians. Most of the camps were in Mexico, contiguous to the US border.
Yes thank you for that important reminder.
Excellent. Thank you. This is why both History is needed concerning the Past and the Press is needed to alert us to what's happening currently. We are supposed to be the Government and those elected are doing our collective bidding. Uneducated Citizens cannot maintain a Democracy.
Exactly right.
why were not Italians put in concentration camps? Italy, under Mussolini, warred against the USA in WWII.
Or Germans for that matter.
Because they are white! Japanese and any other person non-white were the enemy.
My Sicilian grandfather was labeled an enemy alien in 1940 when he tried to sign up for service. For two years he lived under virtual house arrest, having escaped imprisonment because he worked at the Ritz Carlton in Boston and had some influential connections. I cannot emphasize the trauma he endured—”il vigogno,” or shame as Italians called this painful humiliation—or how it rolled down through two generations, affecting his children and his grandchildren. The trauma had emotional, mental, and even financial costs in lost livelihood and intergenerational wealth after he left his job because of “nervous breakdown.” And yet what I remember of “Nonno” is how he took of his hat any time he heard the national anthem, how deeply he loved this country. ~ I have a brother-in-law from India…about ten years ago, at a fireworks display, he stood up and put his hand over his heart during the national anthem — something I hadn’t done in years. When I asked why, he said, “So people will see a brown-skinned patriot.” Whiteness is an invention but patriotism is not. I know, because everyone in my family is from somewhere else…and they are all the face of America.
Your personal piece is very moving for me. Often, I think that personal stories can elicit powerful emotional reactions and deep impressions that stay with us longer than objective writings do. I know this has happened to me here. I am very sure I will be remembering the image of your grandfather taking his hat off when he heard the national anthem, out of respect and love for our country, despite how cruelly he had been treated by it. I am imagining myself remembering this image the next time I hear the national anthem. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Agree totally!
Well said
Is it safe for us to sign things like this? Even for citizens?
Undocumented immigrants should speak with their lawyers before being public on anything. Citizens should speak up loudly against these cruel injustices.