Repeating the Past
I was going to title this blog post “Anger.” Ultimately, I decided that it was just too negative a title and didn’t quite capture my thoughts. To be clear, I am angry and this portion of the trip heightened that anger even more. But the reason for that added anger came from a stop on the trip and the fact that it did cause additional anger just shows that we, I say we but I mean America, have learned nothing over the past 80 years.
As the Spanish philosopher George Santayana put it, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Winston Churchill reframed the statement, adding an even more relevant twist, “Those that fail to learn form history are doomed to repeat it.” That statement aptly describes our current administration and its supporters.
To put it simply. I cannot believe what my country is doing. I cannot understand my fellow Americans. How could they have found this person tolerable for any elected office, nonetheless the most important elected office in the land? How can our elected officials from one party allow this person and his henchmen to do what they do without exercising their own Constitutional responsibilities to act as a check or balance? Responsibilities they took an oath to uphold. What does that mean for us as a country and for every one of those people as individuals?
These people are destroying an America that took over a century to build and was founded on principles grounded in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. An America that saw unprecedented growth in everyone’s lifespan and a standard of living that is the envy of most of the world, even in those countries that opt for alternative democratic ways of life that ultimately offer greater equality and happiness for their citizens. These people are destroying an international world order that the United States was responsible for creating. An international order that, despite its continued shortcomings, has improved living conditions for billions of people world wide while spreading democracy and promoting our values. In other words, we are destroying the house we created.
Nothing these people are saying is new. We, again the America we, have seen it all before. And every time it has been tried, it has led to abject failure for America and the world. America First isn’t new. Tariffs aren’t new. Racism and sexism aren’t new. They will not offer a better life, more economic opportunity or more freedom than what is being destroyed by this administration.
These are not the principles embodied in the Constitution. These are not the principles I joined the military to defend. These are not the principles I promoted when I represented this country in post-war countries. These are not the principles I, as a lawyer, am obligated to uphold.
Yes, I am angry.
All that (and more) was on my mind as we were driving south on our trip from Oregon to Arizona. As Ann and I were doing trip planning, Ann mentioned that she wanted to stop at Manzanar, just north of Lone Pine, California. We’ve driven by it on several occasions, but Ann always has hesitant to stop, so we didn’t. This time was different. Manzanar, now a National Historic Site, was one of ten WWII Relocation Center where the US Government incarcerated Japanese immigrants and US citizens. It’s the type of history that those who are in power want to eliminate from textbooks. It’s the type of history those in power want to implement again, but just don’t want people to talk about. It’s the type of history that, rightly, we should be ashamed of. It’s the type of history that every American should know so that we do not let it happen again, just like every German should learn about the Holocaust in school.
And for those who don’t know, Ansel Adams photographed Manzanar. Yes, he was a landscape photographer, but he found out about Manzanar because he photographed the Sierra Mountains and the area Manzanar was located. His photographs were included in books - first by another author, and then his own. His book was published in the latter stages of the war, to inform the public about what was done. Ansel’s approach was to tell the story of individuals and to let the world know, it’s “The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans.” It has recently been republished, and we bought a copy.
Preceding the forward to the original book is a passage from the Constitution and an Abraham Lincoln quote.
Amendment Fourteen
Constitution of the United States of America
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside.
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
“. . . . As a nation we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.” When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty . . . . where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base allow of hipocrisy.”
Other passages include quotes from US Government officials acknowledging the policy errors and prejudices the camps represented. Statements made before the war was even over.
Yet it is as if the American people - through their ignorance (simply lack of knowledge), willful ignorance (intentional lack of knowledge), prejudices or immorality - have forgotten the lessons of our own history.
And as we drove around the Manzanar site, I had to pull out the camera when we came to the site’s cemetery.
It was as if the souls of Manzanar residents continue to rise to the heavens. A lasting legacy of what we as humans can and will do if we do not learn, do not remember, or intentionally choose to forget. In this regard, America is not exceptional, and now we no longer continue to even try to be.
Yes, I am angry.