A Memorial to a Mistake / Joe Nathan’s Column
Something unexpected happened as I was walking last week toward Union (train) Station in Washington D.C. Suddenly, off to my left, there was a pool of water with several large rocks in the middle. I almost passed by, thinking, “That’s pretty.” But then I noticed a path leading to something behind the pool. Turns out it was a remarkable memorial to a major mistake that the U.S. made in World War II.
As we approach July 4, we celebrate our country’s birthday and the freedom it offers. A great nation also acknowledges mistakes.
I’d never seen any publicity, or mention of the Japanese American Memorial – also known as the “Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II.” It sits, quietly on Louisiana Ave NW, at D Street, just a few minutes from the US Capitol, as well as Union Station.
The memorial has a twin purpose. It honors
- More than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated with little advance notice, and no trial, during the war.
- The Japanese Americans who fought for the United States in the war, winning many awards for their valor.
In both word and sculpture, the memorial makes its points powerfully, but quietly. At the center of the memorial, which takes just a few minutes to view, there’s a sculpture with two cranes, wrapped in barbed wire.
A few feet away, the words of President Ronald Reagan are inscribed in stone. When he signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, the President acknowledged, “Here we admit a wrong. Here we affirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.” We’re not there yet, but this memorial is an important reminder of what can happen at a time of great stress (think for example, of the so-far unsuccessful efforts to resolve cases of those at the Guantanamo prison).
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the 1988 law called the Executive Order a “grave injustice.” The Law also provided financial compensation to families whose members were sent to camps, often in desert areas.
As a history teacher, I talked with young people about Executive Order 9066, which President Franklin Roosevelt signed, sending thousands of Japanese Americans to “internment” camps. It was a hysterical action that generally was not repeated against German-Americans. The noted nature photographer Ansel Adams took many pictures of detained Japanese Americans. The Library of Congress makes them available here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/anseladams/.
Washington DC has many monuments to heroism. That’s in part what this memorial recognizes. But it also points to a major mistake that this country made.
As visitors leave the memorial, the words of the late U.S. Congressman and Senator Daniel K Inouye are presented. Inouye, who served this country as an Army Captain during World War II wrote “The lessons learned must remain as a grave reminder of what we must not allow to happen again to any group.”
Joe Nathan, formerly a Minnesota public school teacher and administrator, directs the Center for School Change. Reactions welcome, please comment below.
July 3, 2013 @ 8:55 am
This article and photo touch the soul of America. We have lived through some trying times. We are still trying to understand what democracy means, and how easily
we can lose our freedom. This memorial relates to one
of the most tragic events in our history: how we locked up some of our own people because we were at war with their ancestral homeland. It is scary. I visited Peru years ago after they ended military rule. What they called “democracy” there was less restriction. I knew then that there is no “pure” democracy. It is an ideal to
aim for, and we must protect it and never repeat our mistakes. We now depend on Congress for so much;
but we mut always be alert.
July 3, 2013 @ 10:03 am
Thanks for sharing that, Joe. If we are the “city upon the hill” then we are strong enough and noble enough to admit and atone for our mistakes. This is what Reagan did. It is not partisan. It is the right thing to do.
Your reference to Guantanamo is poignant.
Thanks.
July 3, 2013 @ 10:38 am
Kudos Joe! Thank you for reminding us if what we should never forget
Carlos
July 8, 2013 @ 2:22 pm
It is so important for us to acknowledge mistakes. We grow as a nation when we are forth coming and honest. To err is human.
August 15, 2013 @ 8:59 am
Recommit to justice
July 11, 2013 at 9:51 am
To the editor:
In a recent column, Joe Nathan spoke about “a memorial to a mistake,” a memorial a few blocks from the nation’s Capitol dedicated to captives in internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Nathan mentions President Reagan’s admission of the mistake and re-commitment to equal justice in 1988. Nathan observes the memorial and reminds us that stress may be behind similar mistakes, like Guantanamo, where many individuals are incarcerated whose guilt may be questionable.
Two weeks ago, a group of Minnesotans motivated by the need for intergenerational justice traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Citizens Climate Lobby International Conference. We heard from Dr. James Hanson who showed us pictures of his grandchildren and said he had returned to speak on human-induced climate change because of concern for them.
About 400 concerned citizens from the U.S. and Canada visited over 400 congressional offices to discuss the public health problems and damage to our environment from our use of fossil fuels. According to the Clean Air Task Force, coal plants alone cause 13,000 deaths each year and fossil fuel use costs us $120 billion a year in mostly health-related damages (2009 NAS study).
In our visits we found many U.S. representatives and senators acutely aware of the damage being caused by climate change. U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan’s legislative director suggested a town hall forum on climate change to further the discussion with his constituents. The South Metro CCL members from U.S. Rep. John Kline’s district (including me) would welcome a community forum that addresses climate change in their district, too.
It is time to recommit to justice for all our citizens and for those just learning to walk who will one day ask us: “What did we do to solve the climate crisis?”
VEDA KANITZ
Lakeville
May 21, 2014 @ 10:52 am
This is very tastefully written. This happens to be one of my favorite memorials to take students to see. The discussion that is generated from this one memorial is priceless. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
May 21, 2014 @ 11:01 am
Shannon, I’d love to know more about which students you take to the memorial and what reactions they have. Please share more with us.
Thanks.