To: Rita Takahashi [member, JAvoice.com]
From: National Park Service Director Robert Stanton
July 12, 2000
This is in response to your letter of June 22 to which you attached a resolution concerning the Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism during World War II which is under construction here in Washington, D.C.
We have taken the resolution very seriously and have reviewed all of the inscriptions proposed for the memorial as it requested. This review has resulted in revisions to the narrative which you and others have pointed out contains elements that are either insensitive or inaccurate. We have revised the number of people in the camps to reflect those in the official government records. We are including the official names of the camps at Poston (Colorado River), Amache (Granada) and Topaz (Central Utah). We have removed the sentence that said "No one was ever convicted of wrong doing." We have changed the number of days from 74 to 73 as the accurate time period from the Declaration of War to the issuance of Executive Order 966 [sic]. We have also placed the modifier "minimal" before the word "compensation" to ensure that visitors to the memorial do not get the impression that significant compensation was received by the internees. We thank you and others who have brought those points to our attention.
With regard to the eight quotations on the memorial, we believe that each of them contributes to the depiction of the story and emotion of the memorial. The quotations by Presidents Truman and Reagan represent respectively the statements of thank you to the soldiers who fought and the apology to those who were interned. The tanka is a moving verse about the tragic period in our history. The five quotations from the Japanese Americans who all participated in this event are important points of view which, in our judgment, contribute to the emotion of the memorial's message.
With regard to the inclusion of Mr. Mike Masaoka and a portion of the creed, we reconsidered this and have four points to make here. First, Mr. Masaoka was a key civil rights leader in this country for 50 years during which he successfully fought for the rights of Japanese Americans. Second, the Board of the Foundation, which is erecting this memorial and is composed of Japanese Americans, has considered this matter and voted on numerous occasions to include [end of page 1] Mr. Masaoka. We must respect their views. Third, the research about this period in our history is ongoing and it is possible that current historical thinking may change. However, this should only occur after the standards of scholarship have been applied to the research. Thus, although Mr. Masaoka has been charged with making some statements which are offensive, these must be the subject of further research and, in turn, must be judged in the context of his other achievements during his lifetime. Fourth, this is a complicated story and cannot be completely told in a memorial. Thus, we believe that pamphlets should be produced which will give more information to the visitor. Such a pamphlet can be changed over time if the scholarly research indicates a change in the traditional narrative of the story is required. For these reasons, we have determined that Mr. Masaoka and his quotation should be placed on the memorial.
While I am aware this is not the outcome which you desired, I trust that you will understand our rationale for proceeding in this fashion.
Sincerely,
Robert Stanton
Director