An Interview With Chuck Yeager

Snidely wrote:
We were absolutely justified in locking up Japanese during the war, to
suggest otherwise is retarded.

Interning enemy aliens is fairly standard, and generally thought to be a
good idea, sure.

We were not, however, justified in locking up American citizens, born in
the United States, who happened to have parents of Japanese descent
(often also American citizens, but naturalized rather than native-born).

Nor did they see a need to do this in (for example) Hawaii, where you
might think there was an even better argument for it.

And there was *certainly* no justification in confiscating and not
returning their property into the bargain.

The whole thing was barbaric, and a major national embarrassment.

The Rape of Nanking was barbaric, but it tells us nothing about the
ethical or practical considerations involved in herding a bunch of
American citizens into concentration camps. To think that it does is
the very essence of racism.