Mistakes: Can we correct, repent, offer reparations, and remember?

Today I explore whether we can and do forgive past leaders for their mistakes.

“The American administration made many mistakes against other peoples. Will every American citizen, every American soldier be asked: “Why were you with them? Why were you with them?” He will respond, saying that there was an administration, and there were inherent circumstances unique to this time and place that imposed on me to be here. Administrations are making bad decisions. The American people cannot all bear the responsibility.” Foreign Leader, 2021

What I think

Unfortunately, as individuals, communities, and nations, we make mistakes—only God is perfect. Sometimes, hopefully, we acknowledge them, learn from them, and take meaningful steps to repent, make amends, and remember. The alternative is to ignore and forget, to follow the ostrich policy. 

I don’t enjoy visiting the Washington State Fairgrounds. The venue proudly boasts on its website, “The Washington State Fair Events Center is the largest event center in the state. The event center produces five signature events annually, including the end-of-summer 20-day Washington State Fair, one of the largest in the country.”

But this site only reminds me of a terrible mistake in U.S. history. In 1942, during World War II, we forcibly interned over 7,000 American Japanese from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. This was part of the broader internment program authorized by President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 and reinforced by Congress through Public Law 503. After several months, these individuals were moved to camps in Idaho, where they remained for up to three years. 

In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the internment of American Japanese in Korematsu v. United States. The majority opinion argued that Executive Order 9066 was not based on racial prejudice but rather on a perceived strategic need to protect the U.S.—particularly the West Coast, the region closest to Japan—from the threat of invasion. Justice Frankfurter concurred, stating that the “martial necessity arising from the danger of espionage and sabotage” justified the military’s evacuation orders. (source: oyez.org).

I agree with the foreign leader quoted above; as an American citizen, I cannot bear personal responsibility for the mistakes of any current or past administration. This perspective aligns with the sentiment expressed by both Congress and the President in 1988, when they passed and enacted the Civil Liberties Act—44 years after the internments. 

The purposes of this Act are to— (1) acknowledge the fundamental injustice of the evacuation, relocation, and internment of United States citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry during World War II; (2) apologize on behalf of the people of the United States for the evacuation, relocation, and internment of such citizens and permanent resident aliens”, Public Law 100-383, Civil Liberties Act, August 10, 1988.

Congress took a significant step in publicly acknowledging the government’s grave mistake. The Civil Liberties Act also established a public education fund to ensure that future generations would learn about the internment. Additionally, it offered $20,000 in restitution to individuals of Japanese ancestry who were interned.

When signing the bill, President Reagan emphasized its historical importance, stating, “Here we admit a wrong; here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under the law.” Two years later, President George H.W. Bush, in sending reparations payments and letters of apology to survivors, reiterated this sentiment, recognizing that nothing could fully compensate for past mistakes:

"A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories; neither can they fully convey our resolve to rectify injustice and uphold the rights of individuals. We can only hope that in some small way, this redress will underscore our commitment to liberty and justice for all."

Today, a permanent exhibition can be found at the Washington State Fairgrounds. 

During the same period, the U.S. also interned Italian American and German American, though fewer in number and less well known. In 2000, the U.S. apologized to Italian American when President Clinton signed the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act. Unfortunately, German American, have yet to receive a similar acknowledgement or apology.

Why should you care:

When we confront our past mistakes, we must either acknowledge, correct, repent, provide reparations, remember or ignore and forget. Let me know what you think we have done in each of the following cases: 

American Japanese, Italian, and German WWII internments, American Indian boarding school policy, Slavery, Abu Ghraib, U.S. missile attack of an Iranian Air passenger plane in 1988 that killed 280 passengers; invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, or the Philippines?

The quote I opened with is from Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who led the surprise revolution that toppled former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Let us see what and how he responds to his own past mistakes as he attempts to facilitate Syria's recovery. 

References:

• Opening quote from a foreign leader in 2021 is from Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, Leader, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of Syria in a February 2021 interview with Frontline (PBS).  https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/abu-mohammad-al-jolani/ 

• Washington State Fairgrounds, https://www.thefair.com/ 

• Executive Order 9066. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066 

• Civil Liberties Act 1988. https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/442/text 

• Senate Resolution, April 27, 2005, quoting President Reagan, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-109sres126ats/html/BILLS-109sres126ats.htm 

• “In 1988, a US Navy warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane in the heat of battle”, CNN, 2020 https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk/index.html 

• Korematsu v. United States, December 18, 1944. https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/323us214 

• Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act, 2000. PL 106-451. https://www.congress.gov/bill/106th-congress/house-bill/2442/text