Never Again
Kudos on a well-written article about an often forgotten subject that remains a dark page in U.S. history and was devastating for the local Asian American community. I am reminded of the outstanding slide presentations on the Minidoka internment camp that later became a video and a book, This Was Minidoka, by former internees Jack and Dorothy Yamaguchi. … It amazes me that it took the government until 1976, more than 30 years after the war, to finally atone for its mistake and formally revoke Executive Order 9066. In the face of growing concerns of domestic terrorism, let us hope that the government never again makes the same mistake of stripping its citizens of their civil liberties.

Shawn Morse, ’91
Snohomish

Good Men, Bad Decisions
My parents—Warren Smith, ’43, and Jean Laughlin Smith, ’43—were students at the UW when the internments occurred. My mother had a particular friend, Lillian Kubota. She remembers that “the police came to the dorm, dragged her out of her room,” and she never saw her again. Kubota was from Metaline Falls, Idaho, and as my mother, a lifelong Republican, sneers, “However possibly could she have been a spy in Metaline?!”

… My parents decided to try by all means to instill a deep respect for other cultures and a total loathing of racism. … I grew up to go to the UW in the wonderful ’60s, fell for Jack Dull’s incredible introduction to Asian history and graduated in 1969 with a B.A. in Chinese language and literature. (Yes, I sat next to Ted Bundy in class; yes, he was a jerk.) In Chinese language classes I met my children’s father, a 1969 graduate too—Arlucius Q. Stephens III. He and his friends made us ill because they had studied Chinese at Yale while in the Air Force and had brilliant language skills. He also happened to have brown eyes and curly hair—very curly hair. My parents’ reaction to their daughter’s marriage to an African American in 1968 was typical. They were just ecstatic to have a son-in-law with a college degree.

When our daughter, Cinnamon, graduated from Williams College in 1991, I heard a brilliant man give a brilliant speech. He told us four simple tales, and one was of the Supreme Court decision to uphold the internments. To paraphrase, he said, “Good men make bad decisions … for what they think at the time are good reasons.” My parents had to endure the loss of their Japanese American friends, forever. What they decided to do was raise us without the concept of racism, and virtually no distinction based on religion or culture. It was priceless. You could say that those horrible times taught at least two young Americans, early in their lives, that good people can be terribly abused by well-meaning, but terribly wrong, “patriotic” actions. Perhaps if either President Bush or Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld had been at the UW at that time, tens of thousands of young Iraqi citizens might still be alive.

Susan Smith Stephens, ’69
Seattle

A Better World
The [internment] articles [“The Stolen Years,” Dec. 2004 and March 2005] are excellent and reveal many things that I was not aware of—especially the effort by the University to exempt Nisei students from the relocation and then to help them enroll at other universities. The “Letters to the Editor” (printed in the March issue) were understanding and favorable. It appears that students on campus at that time still have excellent memories and had close relationships with the Nisei.

Although the relocation years were “stolen” from us, I feel that all of us—friend or foe—faced the same predicament and I feel sad for those who did not survive. From my perspective, the relocation opened a new world to me, which I may not have experienced had it not occurred.

I returned from military service with a deep desire to complete my education and to assume my rightful place in society. I am proud of the way in which my fellow Nisei conducted themselves during these troubled times.

We live in a much better society today as a result of this experience.

Roy Inui, ’48
Sammamish

Editor’s Note: Inui was a UW student in 1942. With the help of UW officials and activist Floyd Schmoe, he avoided internment by transferring to Guilford College in North Carolina prior to the order to report to the camps. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

A Human Face on Tragedy
The March Columns arrived today. You have put such a human face on this. In describing the personal experiences of the students, some of their parents and certain of the staff, you’ve shown us so much more about these times and the nuances of the internments. This story you have put together needs a wider audience. People to whom I gave my copy of Columns and “The Stolen Years, Part One” were amazed to get the insights. They will feel even more informed by Part Two. … You have vastly exceeded my expectations with these two pieces. Congratulations.

Larry G. Nault, ’59
Basking Ridge, N.J.