It matters little to the Nisei that Muslims, not Japanese, are the target this time around. Most of the former evacuees came out of the concentration-camp ordeal swearing to prevent such a fate ever befalling Americans again, and they now feel duty-bound to speak up.
"There are things [occurring] that are really disturbing today that in some ways echo what had happened to us," Tateishi says. "I felt that it was our responsibility to speak out and take a very strong position."
Initially the JACL was highly supportive of Bush's post-attack policies regarding Muslim-Americans. In stark contrast to the hysteria deliberately spread by public officials about Japanese-Americans in the wake of Pearl Harbor, the president himself explicitly called Islam a "religion of peace" and made highly public appeals for tolerance of Muslims. He also vowed to crack down on hate crimes against Muslims. The JACL responded by printing a glowing letter of support for Bush.
But a series of subsequent Bush moves ostensibly made in the interest of national security have gradually driven the JACL to the front line of the administration's critics. What really set off the alarms was the decision to use military tribunals in detaining so-called "enemy combatants" -- and, in a move reminiscent of the Nisei tribulation, proposing internment camps for those prisoners.
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