My Nikkei community – do you remember your outrage, your parents or grandparents outrage when you were forced from your homes and shuttled off into deplorable living conditions or to war-ravaged Japan? Do you remember how you felt when your family was torn apart? When the uncertainty of their wellbeing kept you up at night? When you had no rights, no control over your own destiny? When the government turned its back on you, after all you’d given this country? I know you do. It is a part of who we are. Our memory gives us wisdom and strength. Perhaps on the very surface, Chief Spence’s seems like an extreme request. The same goes for others that ring similar but more recent. And perhaps, on the surface, it sounds too remote from Nikkei realities. But can we honestly say is it?
