The fight for reparations for those interned in the U.S. during World War II came with significant resistance — not just from the American public at large, but from the Japanese-American community itself. The new book 'Redress' tells the story.
I spoke with Tateishi about the redress campaign's challenges, educating the public about internment and the implications for other reparations efforts.The redress campaign happened over 30 years ago. Why did you decide to write this book now?
The Japanese Zen philosophy is one that seeks harmony in the world. You don't air your grievances, because it makes other people uncomfortable. One metaphor is, a trickle of water coming down the hillside will always take the easiest route. We took that route. There was an enormous wall of silence in the Japanese American community.[During the 1960s and 70s], [the Sansei generation] would learn [about the internment camps] in a college class and go home and ask their parents about it.
The redress campaign wasn't just about trying to gain monetary compensation. I mean, you figure three years of imprisonment and the 30 years of guilt and shame we lived with, $20,000 wasn't going to abrogate all of that. But the money was part of the message. The American public didn't give a damn until the minute we started demanding compensation.
The day after 9/11, the JACL published a letter warning the U.S. not to racially profile Arab and Muslim Americans. Specifically, you urged Americans"not to make the same mistakes as a nation that were made in the hysteria of WWII following the attack at Pearl Harbor." Why did the JACL anticipate this reaction?
From our experience, we knew that fear overcomes reason very easily. I don't think there was an American on 9/11 who didn't feel a sense of fear, including those who are Arab and Muslim. But they had to fear something else that other people didn't have to, and that was the wrath of the American public.I don't have any answers. Our situation was very different—we didn't come out of the same historical experience.
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