IT'S ABOUT TIME

Calif. considers formal apology for state's role in WWII Japanese internment

The Manzanar National Historic Site in California holds a cemetery marker where thousands of Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Photo by King of Hearts/Wikimedia Commons/UPI

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The state of California would issue an official apology to all Americans of Japanese descent who were forced into internment camps during World War II under a bill being considered this week.

The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, a Democrat from Torrance, Calif., and supported by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on the measure, which contains a history lesson not only on the 1942 order by President Franklin Roosevelt to forcibly remove more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from their homes and businesses, but also on the state's role in other similar acts.

Also cited within the bill are the California Alien Land Law of 1913, making land ownership for Japanese immigrants illegal, and a 1943 state resolution calling for the forfeiture of U.S. citizenship by residents who also were citizens of Japan.

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It also draws parallels to the present day and the current immigration policies of the U.S. government.

"Given recent national events," it states, "it is all the more important to learn from the mistakes of the past and to ensure that such an assault on freedom will never again happen to any community in the United States."

It's not the first time the state of California has attempted to acknowledge its role in the internment of Japanese-American citizens. For instance, the legislature in 1982 passed a law providing compensation to state employees who lost their jobs because of internment.

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Muratsuchi also sponsored another law signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 funding education about internment.

"In general, people in this country still don't understand how the fear-mongering, failure of politicians and racist rhetoric can result in American citizens being incarcerated," said Joshua Kaizuka, co-president of the Florin Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.