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 Thomass 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 shouldnt 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 ...
You're going to have to explain to me Mr. Zulu, real slow, how those are two different things in this context.
Seppuku - indeed. In other words, not only is he a liar but he is in all other respects, dishonorable as well
Woosy girly-boy having to eat his own words ... does anyone really care what the little creep says?
I know this as a survivor of the Japanese American internment,...”
Mr. Takei still does not understand what Judge Thomas was saying. As I understand it, the judge was asserting that even under oppression you do not yield your dignity.
It is pretty simple.
At the same time, there are people who are not under any real sort of oppression who yet have no dignity.
Set your phaser on bung Mr. Sulu. Fire a proton torpedo at Uranus.
Sure we did not gas them. But anyone who thinks the internment camps were legit is simply wrong.
Did anyone here say that?
You said “they were not Auschwitz.”
I agreed.
LOL!
And kind of a crappy actor, to boot.
Excuse me, but where you alive in California at that time? My mother was and the parents of my best childhood friend from the age of 7 to 10, were also alive at that time -- but being of Japanese ancestry, they were interned.
What was WRONG was for those interned Japanese families to have to give up their land and their possessions, have them repossessed or purchased. But the REALITY is that:
1. Vigilante ignoramus "patriots" were vandalizing Japanese properties and harming Japanese Americans
2. Even long-established Japanese-American families into their second generation were receiving official decrees from the Emperor of Japan as to how they should proceed to aid Japan from their place in America; most just ignored them and went on with their lives as free Americans
3. Japan had declared war on America, attacked Pearl Harbor, and there WERE acts of sabotage in America perpetrated by Japanese
The camps were legitimate in the context of the times and circumstances, and such camps WILL BE LEGIT AGAIN in the context of Muslim Americans if suddenly we started seeing "Aluah Akbar!" suicide bombings and attacks all over America. The camps were, and would be, for the protection of both the imprisoned before ticked-off Americans killed them in mob rage, and for the protection of Americans to keep at bay an identified potential enemy until the end of the fighting. As Hugin pointed out, it was very, very far from Auschwitz.
The taking of Japanese American property, productive farmland, family businesses, that so many had to sell it for a song and were taken advantage of by BAD AMORAL avaricious "businessmen" in America -- THAT WAS SIMPLY WRONG, and THAT is a legit grievance that interned Japanese Americans have.
Courtesy post to my #73 above
As far as the Japanese internment camps during WWII, that was a wrong headed policy by St. FDR. But for this punk to say he was “a survivor” makes it sound like they were Nazi death camps.
To my knowledge, no one died or was even abused during those internments.
The guy is a Hollywood drama queen looking to extend his long ago 15 minutes of fame. Screw him.
His immediate jump for the racial attack on Thomas shows where his feeling lay. He does not like “uppity Negros” who don't behave the way he wants.
I agree...it’s a sorry excuse for an apology, but he did at least acknowledge that his language was inappropriate for the occasion. I’m willing to give him credit for at least recognizing that he had been reduced to a pathetic whiny sniveling little b*tch.
GT is an embarrassment to all Japanese.
Oh, I guess you are right.
Never mind.
So what race do you want to falsely imprison next. There are some Russians on my street. He has a great BMW. When you toss him in jail, can I have his car?
Yes he is and does. So did his father. Takei talks proudly about the 1952 election, the first one where he really got involved.
He rooted for... Adlai Stevenson!
Yes, the man from the same party that put his family in a f$#^ing internment camp!
After justifiably complaining about internment, he NEVER complains about FDR.
Get your facts straight.
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