Hanabusa's Statement on Zinke Exchange, Funding to Preserve Japanese American Confinement Sites

Statement

"The real issue here is that the administration ignored one of the most racially motivated periods in American history by defunding the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program. Last year 23 organizations in seven states received JACS funding totaling $2,869,500 to create curriculum, build infrastructure and finance programs, some at former internment sites like Honouliuli and Sante Fe, New Mexico. These programs tell the horrific stories of 120,000 Japanese American men, women and children, including my grandfathers, who were arrested and imprisoned during World War II."

"When Secretary Zinke chose to address me in Japanese (when no one else was greeted in their ancestral language), I understood "this is precisely why Japanese Americans were treated as they were more than 75 years ago. It is racial stereotyping. How ironic that the most decorated unit in military history, the 100th battalion, 442 Regimental Combat Team, fought for a country that considered them enemy aliens. We must never forget our voices or the fact that we must fight so all can remember the injustice. Remember so it is never repeated. I call upon you to join in the fight to ensure this country never forgets that it imprisoned its people because of their ancestry, not because they committed a crime."

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