| OCR Text |
Show \ .... , Jll'l· 1\,' 1'11\1\y HERE i the definite development of race-con ciou servility. ThE.> amp nre c mpo ed of two di t\nct group'. the white Admini trat r nd the internee·. D pite all the talk about democracy, no one of Japane e extra tion can hold any po ition of re·ponsibility. Can1p council. ha e no po ·er and no real control. Let u take pcciflc examples of thL ituati n. Fir.t, we find an eminent physician of Japanese ( ontinued on Ps>ao , .......... , • (Con:nuod from Par~~.~ p 1 e."Ctraction, who before the war wa the director of a major deArtment of one of the largest ho pitals on the We t Coast (not a J panese ho pital, but 04Aruerican"). But in camp, this outstand- ._,.... _ ing physician can only be a assistant to a white, third rate medic ho had ju lini bed interning at a third rate outhern ho p-ital. I couM tell many imilar stories. Besides, top-pay is only nineteen dollar· a month. Talk about expropriation of property and taking away rights without the due process of the law, tbi is one of the worst. Incidentally, people ba'Ve forfeited in urance policies upon which they have _paid for ears 2Uld upon real estate upon which they may have h-ad on y - su~ l.eft to pay-because on 12, $!6, and $19 a month ~f, • they must buy their nece!sities), one cannot pay ' premiums and mortgages. It i not deliberate, but the effects are the same. • * ORST of all, isolated, browbeaten, unhappy, and demoralized, the internee are ripe for believing in the worst rumors. The majority are plainly afraid all will be run out of the country after the war. The Hearst papers, we ha e already mentioned. There have been demands in the alifornia legislature and the Oregon senate tor their deportation. The United , tatcs Congress ha everal bills an it calendar (Stewart, Gillette, Holman, and other bills) which would first trip these of Japanese ancestry J:U citizenship, then...put them simultaneously into ~ncentrat\cm camps for forced labor in chain gangs for subsistence for white employers, and expulsion after the war. In the meanwhile, the Native Sons and certain American Legion posts are carrying their legal attacks to the United tates uprerne Court -\o deprive ALL of AKY Oriental extraction of citizenship on the ba · that this is exclusively a white man's country. Can something be done to correct this? Y~s. The camps can be improved. The internees can be given worthwhile jobs while they wait for o-pportunity to leave. Their pay can be raised to decent levels. Publicity must be organized to counteract the Hearst-Legion-Rankin demagogery. The probLtmt is primmrily one of public relatihns. This was on~ of the most astonishing discoveries to me-that no one agency had the responsibility. The WRA and the OWl occasionally argue who should, but in the meanwhile, Hearst pape1·s -and their oolumni!Yts continue their way without a challenge. Basic, too, i the failure to give any professional or administrative positions to qualified, loyal citizens of Japanese extraction in the civil service. The President has clearly !rtated that citizens of Japanese extraction must have equal rights, but some of the agencies apparently do not believe him. Thus, the WRA has tried to place a number of trained scientists and profess-ional specialists through the Civil Service. These people are already cleared by the FBI and the Army and Navy Intelligence Services. Frightful sh{)t-qlges exist in these skills which these people have. Will the (Civil Service act? Its purpose is deliberate-to keep out these people as long as possible. And to clinch the point that this -is pure prejudice, some of the men have since been commissioned by the Army or offered commission for positions of great 1·esponsibility! The Labor Department flatly bars employment of citizens of Japanese extraction. What an ·irony that the Army, denounced by zone "liberals" as reaocionary (and it is con~ervative and some otligers are reactionary), is in practice more liberal than the "Jiberal'-' civilian agencies. This problem is a cnallehge. P1ivate organizations, especially churches, cannot work alone despite their valiant efforts. They need public support. It is not without significance that Americans of, Chinese extraction are donating funds and sending messages of fraternal good will. ' Some Chinese nationals have sent aid on the intelligent promise that thi internment is an example of the ve-:y bigotry they are fighting. Needless to say, the international reper<us-ion, especially in outh Asia, is large. The Japanese propagandists are trying to seJJ their case a a race war-and this situation play. into their hands. We in America can fight most effectively only when we practice |
