Japanese Internment and Lessons From the Past

I truly do believe that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.   

            I also love my country, but that doesn’t mean it is without fault.  One of the most shameful times in this nation’s history is when we chose to put Japanese-Americans in concentration camps at the beginning of World War II.  That action cannot be defended.  It cannot be excused.  It must be seen as an example of the mentality of the mob. 

            Yet, piercing every dark sky, there are random points of light.  Bob Fletcher, who died on May 23, 2013 at the age of 101 was just such a light.  Mr. Fletcher worked as a California agricultural inspector.  As such, he knew the Japanese families who worked in the agriculturally rich central valley of California around the town of Florin. 

            Of the 120,000 Japanese sent to internment camps three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many represented families that had been in California since 1890.  Unfortunately, that did not earn them a fair hearing in the court of public opinion.  They were herded up, their loyalties questioned, and their futures thrown into limbo. 

            Amid a morass of fear, anger and depression, Al Tsukamoto approached Bob Fletcher, a man that he knew only by reputation.  Tsukamoto was about to be imprisoned based on nothing but his heritage, but he had to trust someone.  Tsukamoto offered Fletcher a business proposal.  Fletcher would manage the farms for three Japanese families.  He would pay the taxes and mortgages, keeping the farms going.  In return Fletcher would keep all the profits until the Japanese could return. 

            Think of the leap of faith this involved!  These Japanese families, despite what was being done to them, had faith not just in Fletcher, but faith that this country would see the error of it ways and release them from their concentration camps. That is a declaration of hope!

            Bob Fletcher left his government job and labored on three farms for three years.  He worked 90 acres of land through 18 hour days.  He lived in a bunkhouse reserved for migrant workers.  He also chose to keep only ½ of the profits, banking the rest for the Japanese.  When these families returned they found their farms intact, money in the bank, and a house cleaned and readied for occupancy by Fletcher and his wife.

            Fletcher is quoted in a 2010 interview in the Sacrament Bee as saying, “I didn’t believe in the evacuation…It was obvious they had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor.”

            Like many people of quiet courage Bob Fletcher didn’t see himself as extraordinary.  What he did see was a massive wrong which he could make partially right.  He had personal honor, character, strength and dogged determination.  I call that principled living.  Just as the internment shames me, Bob Fletcher makes me proud. 

            Life is a circle, and those who want to revile all Muslims for 9-11, or all Latinos for the actions of gangs and random bad actors, are no different than those who wanted to inter Japanese for Pearl Harbor.  Individual actions do not make a group ethos.  The sins of the father do not pass to the sons and daughters.  History is a good teacher and we need not repeat the mistakes of the past.

            We are now in the midst of another historical mistake.  It is driven by ignorance, fed by hysteria and manipulated by an unprincipled poser. 

            Sixty-seven percent of all Americans say that it is unacceptable to separate children from their parents.  Everyone of those people can contact their Congressional representative.  Everyone of those people can vote, and before that they can send money to the candidate of their choice.  Everyone of those people can speak out (sanely and without vulgarity) every time the subject comes up. 

            Let’s remember Bob Fletcher, who resisted with good works—Bob Fletcher, who died in a state of grace.  Even now, I keep the faith.