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CAPAC Condemns Support for Japanese American Internment Camps on Fox News

September 24, 2014

Washington, DC – Today, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) and CAPAC Chair Emeritus Rep. Mike Honda released the following statements condemning a recent panel discussion on Fox News’ Cashin’ In. During the discussion, regular contributor Jonathan Hoenig cited the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a positive example to be emulated in the use against Muslim Americans.

Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27), CAPAC Chair:

“These remarks are incredibly offensive and beyond the pale of American policy discussions. It is unacceptable that Fox News would give a regular platform to a guest who espouses a historic act so distasteful that it is one of only a handful for which Congress has officially apologized. The Japanese American internment was a shameful act, rooted in hysteria and racism. It was a blatant and tragic violation of civil rights, based on the accusation that there were spies amongst the Japanese Americans living in the United States, an accusation that was later proven untrue. The lesson of the Japanese American internment is a cautionary one, not one we should repeat.

“When the civil liberties of any group are violated, we all suffer. Profiling institutionalizes a culture of not only fear and mistrust, but also of hate. How can citizens trust or cooperate with law enforcement, if they are viewed as the enemy? How can we expect citizens to respect other races, religions, and cultures, if our own government does not? This hypocrisy and injustice simply cannot stand.

“CAPAC has been working with the Department of Justice to prevent the kind of post 9/11 profiling against the Muslim, South Asian, and Sikh communities discussed in this segment. Fox News should not be giving such dangerous voices a national audience.”

Congressman Mike Honda (CA-17), CAPAC Chair Emeritus:

“As a Japanese American who was incarcerated as a child, I am outraged by Joanthan Hoenig’s idiotic and insensitive statements on Fox News that Muslim Americans should be racially profiled, and that the illegal incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was justified. It is inexcusable that, after our government formally apologized and paid reparations to the 20,000 people who were unjustly incarcerated behind barbed wire because of hate, prejudice, and war time hysteria, there are still those who have not learned from our country’s past mistakes.

“After the attacks on 9/11, I was proud to speak out against the profiling and incarceration of Muslim Americans. I co-sponsored a House resolution prohibiting bigotry and violence against Sikh Americans that was included in the USA Patriot Act. Education is the key to combating stereotypes and discrimination. That’s why I have consistently fought for funding for the historic preservation of the Japanese American confinement sites. These sites provide a platform for education and dialogue across generations. I encourage Mr. Hoening to visit one of them to learn the lessons of history that he clearly does not know. Until Mr. Hoenig and Fox News offer a full and unequivocal apology to the Japanese American and Muslim American communities, he should not be allowed to appear on their network.”

Background:

During a September 20th Fox News segment, Hoenig stated: “We should have been profiling on September 12, 2001. Let's take a trip down memory lane here: The last war this country won, we put Japanese-Americans in internment camps, we dropped nuclear bombs on residential city centers. So, yes, profiling would be at least a good start. It's not on skin color, however, it's on ideology: Muslim, Islamists, jihadist. That's a good start but it's only a start. We need to stop giving Korans to Gitmo prisoners, we need to stop having Ramadan and Iftar celebrations in the White House. We need to stop saying the enemy is not Islamic. They are.”

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The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is comprised of Members of Congress of Asian and Pacific Islander descent and Members who have a strong dedication to promoting the well-being of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Currently chaired by Congresswoman Judy Chu, CAPAC has been addressing the needs of the AAPI community in all areas of American life since it was founded in 1994.