Why do Liberals believe that the internment of the Japanese was wrong, but not that of the GermanAmerican Bund

Question

During WWII, Democrat President, Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the "internment" (arrest) of Japanese people living in the United States.

Today, president day Liberals seem to enjoy citing this fact as evidence in support of their claim that 'America is racist' while continently neglecting to mention that it was THEIR PRESIDENT who ordered the internment.

Another fact these Liberals always seem to forget to mention is that, along with the Japanese, members of the German-American Bund were interned, often in the very same camps.

This repeated oversight seems to suggest that Liberals believe that, while it is wrong to intern non-Caucasian people, such as the Japanese, it is perfectly acceptable for their leaders to intern Caucasian people.

Looking at the situation objectively though, the Japanese and the Bund members were "interned" for the same reasons, namely that they worshiped men the US was at war with and treated these men as pseudo gods.

In the case of the Japanese, Bushido, the state mandated religion of Japan, required all Japanese people, both in Japan and abroad, to worship the Emperor as a living god. When their “living god”, Emperor Herohito, bombed our base at Pearl Harbor, declared war on our nation, and ordered all his followers, including those in the US, to make war on the United States, we were rightfully suspicious of the Japanese fifth column in this country, especially after we discovered that Japanese-American spies had gathered tactical information on operations at Pearl Harbor for that Japanese and played in integral role in the attack.

Similarly, the German-American Bund worshiped Hitler as a sort of pseudo-god, calling him the “Savior of Germany”, saluting his picture, and wearing Nazi uniforms. For these reasons, and the fact that they advocated that a pro-Nazi fascist government be installed in the United States, the members of the German-American Bund were similarly interned, often in the same camps as the Japanese.

Yet, while their president interned both Japanese and Germans, Liberals only seem to bemoan the fact that ‘Americans’ interned the Japanese, neglecting to mention that they also interned Germans for the same reasons.

This fact would seem to add weight to the argument that anti-Caucasian racism is becoming disturbingly prevalent within the Liberal movement.

BTW; Given their clear loyalty to our enemy, I personally believe that we were completely justified in interning both the German American Bund and practitioners of Bushido during World War II. Furthermore, we are equally justified in “interning” members of Al Qaeda at Gitmo today.

We own no apologies to any of these anti-American groups.

Answer 1

Uh, I haven't forgotten it was FDR who ordered the Japanese interred. (Nor that Eleanor argued AGAINST it.)

I don't know what the German-American Bund is, nor had I ever heard they were interred, and I don't know WHY they were interred.

You're wrong, though about the Japanese: they were interned simply for either coming from Japan or being of Japanese decent.

Incarcerating people who haven't done anything wrong is always wrong.

So what, exactly, is your problem with that?

Answer 2

Lad, you are suffering from some basic confusion and misconceptions regarding the two groups in question. In regards to the German-American bund, THEY were actively and outspokenly pro-Nazi. Any internment wasn't done on the basis of having a german family heritage, but on the basis of political affiliation and activities. The Japaneese internments, on the other hand, were done STRICTLY on the basis of Japanese ancestry. You are also mis-informed in regards to the nature of and adherence to Bushido. It is NOT a religion, it is the "Warriors code" the way of the Samaurai. The Nisei did not consider themselves to be Samaurai, tho the 442nd brigade fought with the courage associated therewith. Religiously-speaking, the Japanese were primarily of Shinto or Bhudist beliefs, NEITHER of which worship the emperor, and primarily work towards peace. Japanese-Americans also belonged to the many christian denominations. So much for that. The reason that people all across the political spectrum, not merely liberals, feel that the internment of the Japanese-americans was wrong was because it was done based STRICTLY on their ancestry, NOT on any anti-american activities. If the same ancestry criteria had been applied across the board, then anyone with a germanic last name would have been put in a camp as well. Only the bund hierarchy was interned, and that simply because of their stated intentions and alignment towards Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Answer 3

They were Nazis. Not the same thing here.


The German American Bund or German American Federation was an Antisemitic fraternal American organization established in the 1930s as a merger of two older organizations, the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) and the Free Society of Teutonia.

The National Socialist German Workers Party German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP, commonly, the Nazi Party

The Free Society of Teutonia was a German American organisation that was associated with a strong support for Nazism.

Answer 4

Now Red, I'm going to ask you to do a few things for me.

First, double click on the computer clock readout - it's usually in the lower right corner of the screen on the Start Bar.

Read the date. In my case, it's 5th October 2007.

Now subtract 1942 from the current year. You get 65. That's how years ago this took place. How exactly is FDR the President of modern day Liberals? They weren't even alive to see his presidency. All this in a year when traditional values and beliefs were different, might I add.

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Besides, the average person is ignorant to the internment of other groups during the war - I haven't heard of the German-American Bund until you mentioned it yourself. If you want to rattle on about Presidential actions that are decades past, you're going to have to answer to the failures of past Republican Presidents.

Answer 5

Being Japanese is based on who your parents were. If you were in the German American Bund, that means you joined a fascist organization as an adult US citizen.

So a better question is "why can't idiots see the difference between being Japanese and being a fascist?"

Answer 6

Do you really not see the difference between these two groups? Hitler handpicked the head of the German-American Bund, Fritz Kuhn. Did Hirohito handpick the head of Japanese Americans? Does that question even make sense? No, because they were not an organized party with a distinctly anti-American/pro-Nazi agenda. If you really are deluded enough to believe these two groups equate, ask yourself why you couldn't ask why it was ok to intern German-Americans (instead of the German-American Bund). I thought so. You're dumb.

Answer 7

Many of your assertion are plain wrong. An AMERICAN president ordered the internment of the Japanese, and it was wrong. It was racial profiling, and while it may have served as a useful prevention step; there was no overt reason to believe that any Japanese person was necessarily a threat to the US. Many that were interned harbored no ill will towards the US, which was now their home. Fortunately it was short lived.

It's unacceptable to intern anyone unless they are charged with a crime with sufficient evidence.

Answer 8

So then do you believe that any one who does not follow the religous politics of the current admin needs to be interned? All Hindus, Druids, Wiccans, etc because they worship a different group? What about Beatle mania..People who worship Jim Morrison as ###.
Very slippery slope. Most people forget that Germans were also interned. many were about to change thier names. In Anglo- America a Shultz is easier to hide than a Tojo....

Answer 9

So only Liberals think this? That's a sweeping generalization-and clearly not true. However why is the internment of the German Bund never talked about? I never learned about that in school? So is it really all Liberals? Come on. Where are the German Bund camp survivors?

Answer 10

Nice spin. The Japanese-Americans were put in camps as a result of unfounded fear,as were some Americans of German and Italian descent. The difference lies in how they were treated. I never called anyone racist over it,just wrong,regardless of group. the bund is another story