JAPANESE AMERICAN MEMORIAL ERRORS
Letter to editor signed by Rita Takahashi, Kelly Kuwayama and Francis Sogi.
This appeared in the Nikkei vernacular in April 2000
On 21 March 2000, John G. Parsons of the National Park Service (NPS) issued a letter approving the proposed inscriptions for the Japanese American National Memorial in Washington, D.C. Despite his knowledge that errors remain in the text, he signed off and gave his stamp of approval.
Many persons wrote to Mr. Parsons, advising him of the errors and calling attention to inscription problems because historical accuracy is the NPS’s responsibility. Unfortunately, despite repeated contacts and communications to both the NPS and the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation’s (NJAMF) board chairman and executive director, many errors were not corrected.
Among the errors and problems remaining on the memorial include:
--Inaccurate names or types attributed to the camps (e.g., incorrectly calling Crystal City an isolation camp)
--Distortion of facts: The presently-worded text is misleading. It does not clearly state that 10,000 men who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team during WW II were from Hawaii. The conscripts who formed the 100th Infantry Battalion were also from Hawaii.
--Misquote of a quotation; changed wording in a so-called quotation
--Omission of content, such as leaving out names of important camps (e.g., Santa Fe Internment Camp), ignoring experiences outside of incarceration, and demonstrating gender inequality
--Inclusion of a quotation by a controversial private individual, which served to splinter rather than unify the community
A small group of NJAMF board members have been clamoring for historical accuracy and demanding that changes be made. Despite repeated and ongoing attempts to make these and other changes, those with the authority to make changes and responsibility to ensure accuracy failed to follow through.
Looking at this issue from the surface, one might wonder why this small group of board members cannot accept the will of the "majority" and just go along. The reason is that this group firmly believes it is wrong to ignore these problems when each of us are on notice that they exist. It is also wrong to ignore improper and unfair procedures and processes that were used in carefully controlled decision-making maneuvers. By no means can one say that the processes were fair, just, and equitable. What information was given to the board, when, and by whom were carefully orchestrated. Many very important decisions were made by administrative fiat.
To level the playing field and to bring the debate into a more impartial, objective, and unbiased arena, some board members considered filing a lawsuit. This action was proposed to rectify problem areas and to promote accuracy and inclusiveness, certainly not to obstruct or delay construction. It is this group’s desire to see that construction continues on schedule, and to ensure that changes be made for historical accuracy, appropriateness, and inclusiveness. All our past and future actions are singularly aimed toward this goal.
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