In 1942 approximately 110,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and placed in “war relocation camps” following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This was authorized by an Executive Order issued by Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1988, the Congress passed and President Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment, blaming the internment on “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”
Those who think that could not happen again should not be so sure. 1942 was not that long ago and unfortunately I do not think we have a greater appreciation of constitutional rights nor greater respect for our fellow citizens now than we did then. We can still fall victim to race prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership.
In 1942, the census bureau helped make the Japanese round-up possible by providing confidential information on Japanese Americans. The government now has more ability to locate and track people and has more information on the American people than they did in 1942.
The one thing that so dismays me and makes me think that we are not a better people now than we were in 1942 and that our liberties are no more secure, is that I see as great a threat coming from the right as I do from the left. I do not expect better from the left, but I am disappointed in the right.
Certainly it is the Obama administration that is the immediate threat to our liberties, attempting to curtail our rights by the mandate to purchase in the health care act, by the attempt to suspend the secret ballot by card check, by attempts to gain control over the
Internet, and by partial nationalization of the financial sector, the auto sector, and the energy sector of the economy. The threat to our liberties has never been greater. The degree to which power is being concentrated in the White House is unprecedented.
It is the right however, carrying signs proclaiming their love of the constitution and respect for the founding fathers, that may be an equal or greater threat. Many on the right show little respect for freedom of religion, free speech, due process and property rights.
In
Murfressboro we see a Muslin group wanting to build a mosque. The mosque meets the zoning and land use requirements of the property, yet there is public demand that the building of the mosque be stopped. A leading Republican candidate for the 6
th Congressional Distinct nomination has joined in the demand. There is a fear that all Muslims are actual or potential terrorist and that this mosque will be a terrorist training school.
Let me make this clear: I support efforts to track down terrorist. I want a vigilant government that protects us from those who would do us harm. I do not want to suspend the constitution in order to make it easier to catch the bad guys however. I don’t want to deny rights to other American citizens because they practice a certain religious faith or because of their appearance or ancestry.
A democracy means more than simply majority rule. If we don’t hold the right to freedom of religion sacred, if we do not respect our constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, if we can change the rules and deny someone the right to develop their property just because we don’t like what they are going to build, are we any better than the socialist of the left? Our rights are not to apply just to the majority. The majority do not need a Bill of Rights. If today we can deny a Muslim congregation the right to build a mosque, tomorrow we can deny the Mormons or Church of Scientology the right to build a house of worship. Is freedom of religion only for members of the Church of Christ and Baptist?
Is the tug of war between the right and the left simply about who exercises dictatorial power and who gets to pick the winner and losers? Is it devoid of any real understanding or respect for freedom? Is all this talk on the right about us being endowed by our Creator with inherent and inalienable rights just convenient rhetoric to score points?
As I watch the debate about the building of a mosque in
Murfressboro, I fear that if we had another 9-11 type attack on America that we would see a demand that the rights of Muslim be suspended and they all be rounded up and locked away. This demand would not come from the left but from supposedly constitution-loving, small-government advocating, freedom-loving right wingers.