Posted on 07/03/2015 3:12:51 PM PDT by raccoonradio
I owe an apology. On the eve of Independence Day, I have a renewed sense of what this country stands for, and how I personally could help achieve it. The promise of equality and freedom is one that all of us have to work for, at all times. I know this as a survivor of the Japanese American internment, which each day drives me only to strive harder to help fulfill that promise for future generations.
I recently was asked by a reporter about Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in the marriage equality cases, in which he wrote words that really got under my skin, by suggesting that the government cannot take away human dignity through slavery, or though internment. In my mind that suggested that this meant he felt the government therefore shouldn’t be held accountable, or should do nothing in the face of gross violations of dignity. When asked by a reporter about the opinion, I was still seething, and I referred to him as a “clown in blackface” to suggest that he had abdicated and abandoned his heritage. This was not intended to be racist, but rather to evoke a history of racism in the theatrical arts. While I continue to vehemently disagree with Justice Thomas, the words I chose, said in the heat of anger, were not carefully considered.
I am reminded, especially on this July 4th holiday, that though we have the freedom to speak our minds, we must use that freedom judiciously. Each of us, as humans, have hot-button topics that can set-us off, and Justice Thomas had hit mine, that is clear. But my choice of words was regrettable, not because I do not believe Justice Thomas is deeply wrong, but because they were ad hominem and uncivil, and for that I am sorry.
(Excerpt) Read more at facebook.com ...
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX if you want to respect truth and preserve American freedoms righteously in the future.
You were taught to conclude that the Japanese camps were bad, malevolently inspired, wrong, BAD America. It's probably one of many such wrong things you have internalized as infallible.
It's not personal -- it's REALITY. Please, at least consider and mull my points. What I have written is TRUE.
How many Americans have lost a meal because Japanese were interned during WWII? How many Americans have lost five minutes sleep because Japanese were interned during WWII? At least be honest with yourselves.
I don’t know why you think I’m disagreeing with you. I’m probably a lot older than you think. I went to school in the 50s and 60s and not much was said about it one way or another. I also went to school with people whose parents were interned, and have worked with others who were interned. None were bitter or anti-American in any way because of it, though it was clearly an injustice. Again, hindsight is 20-20.
As for spies, yes they were there. In Hawaii where there was no mass internment, the Japanese-Americans worked with the FBI to help identify and round them up.
So where is the apology to Justice Thomas?
Another screed and no specific apology to a human being.
George Takei—too much “pride” to say he’s sorry.
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