Not true. A very small # of Germans (an Italians) were also interned during WWII, just nothing on the scale of the Japanese. But they were primarily nationals that had drawn some scrutiny. Very few citizens of German or Italian descent were interned.
Is Trump Right? or Trumps Dumb Muslim Plan
- Thread starter abradley
- Start date
Actually, we did put Germans in internment camps. Get your facts straight before you try to accuse the US of only detaining a certain segment because of their skin color.
The real reason Germans weren't interned at the scale the Japanese were had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with politics. Many German Americans had a lot of financial and political connections and influence and were able to use those connections and influence to avoid the mass internment that Japanese Americans faced.
Zkribbler
Deity
No, he can't.
First, the quota system re: immigration to the U.S. has been repealed.
Second, even if it were still in effect, it applies by nations, not by religions.
Third, even if it attempted to apply by religions, it would be unenforceable because it would run afoul of the First Amendment's Freedom of Religion clause.
schlaufuchs
Break My Heart
(which is a form of racism)
Yes, as noted in the post preceding yours.
100% disagree.
The reason is 2-fold.
1. Simple demographics. There are (and were then) millions of German-Americans. You'd be imprisoning 20? 30%? of the population.
2. Racism. Japanese were targeted to a much greater extent than the Germans. There is also historical context that backs this up. In 1924, Japanese were specifically barred from immigration.
The history of immigration legislation from 1880 (starting w/ Chinese exclusion) onward makes it very easy to see the biases and racial prejudices of America at the time.
edit: I will correct myself. The racism in immigration law goes back to 1790.
Zkribbler
Deity
The Japanese nationals and Japanese-Americans were interned because they were located within the West Coast Exclusion Zone, which stretched as far east as Texas.
There was no similar East Coast Exclusion Zone for Germans and Italians.
Not really. It was really just a simple numbers game. There were many more Americans of German decent at the time than there were of Japanese decent. So it would only make sense they would have much more political and economic influence at their disposal to protect themselves from the backlash of being at war with their mother country.
Had the Japanese been in the US in larger numbers at the time, they would have been able to do the same thing.
schlaufuchs
Break My Heart
(or if more avenues were available to them to accumulate wealth and influence)
Oerdin
Deity
We should have a general tightening of immigration quotas prioritizing educated people with skills our economy needs and people with money to invest plus we should try to focus on people from cultures who are most likely to integrate and do well in the wider American culture. Do that and you will solve many of the problems Trump supporters are worried about without having to resort to an outright ban.
There were more German Americans because of racist policies that banned Japanese immigration... just in case you're interested in the irony of your argument.
I was still writing my post and checking my facts when you made your post. It seems to be the same with this post as well.
We should have learned our lesson in regards to low-quality immigrants with the Irish,
Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that large scale Japanese internment and small scale German internment wasn't a matter of "intern them because they don't look like us" as sherbz was trying to imply.
It was more "intern them because we can get away with it, but leave that other group alone because they can hurt us politically and economically"
Well, that and that heavy German immigration started 200 years earlier.
One final fun fact on this whole internment thing: During World War I, the US required all Germans over the age of 14 to be registered and carry their registration card at all times. They also had to report any change of address or employment to the government. All-in-all, the government arrested over 6,000 Germans and ended up detaining around 2,000 of them for the duration of the war.
Also, J. Edgar Hoover was in charge of the US's Enemy Alien Registration Program that ran the internment camps during World War I. He wasn't even 23 years old yet when he was placed in charge of the program.
Also, J. Edgar Hoover was in charge of the US's Enemy Alien Registration Program that ran the internment camps during World War I. He wasn't even 23 years old yet when he was placed in charge of the program.
Ryika
Lazy Wannabe Artista
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- 9,395
I still assume that statement was just a tactical move by Trump. By saying that he wants to keep Islam out of the USA he basically forces the rest of the right to basically defend Islam, which is what will most certainly lose them a lot of votes if they're not careful.
Trump is really the only one who could pull such a move as people have shown that him saying ridiculous stuff does not make people change their minds, so... don't know. I think it will take some time for us to really see if it was a good move or whether that one backfired.
Trump is really the only one who could pull such a move as people have shown that him saying ridiculous stuff does not make people change their minds, so... don't know. I think it will take some time for us to really see if it was a good move or whether that one backfired.
Berzerker
Deity
mistreating Muslims will shake the fence and produce more jihadists
internment doesn't violate the Constitution, wars allow for the suspension of rights and privileges
internment doesn't violate the Constitution, wars allow for the suspension of rights and privileges
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
George Takei is a natural born citizen of the US and he was interned as a child, so it is definitely a fact that at least some Japanese Americans were interned.
Didn't Hitler himself say that his concentration camps for Jews (et al.) were inspired by the camps that Woodrow Wilson's regime used for German-Americans?
Didn't Hitler himself say that his concentration camps for Jews (et al.) were inspired by the camps that Woodrow Wilson's regime used for German-Americans?
I think it was the reservations we made for the Native Americans that Hitler was inspired by.
longtimelurker0
Chieftain
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- May 19, 2015
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The most ironic part is that the far right tries to piggy back off the legacy of Martin Luther King and Lincoln by claiming how the GOP abolished slavery and advanced the civil rights act (which was true), but conveniently forget that the parties gradually switched ideologies in the past few decades. They absurdly claim that the left are "true racists" while spewing hateful xenophobic bigotry themselves.
