Inside and Outside
The “Letters” section of the December 2005 Columns points out the crying need for articles on the achievements of the academically qualified and outstanding diversity elements of the UW student body and faculty. Hidden in the replies of those critical of the “Blocked Out” project seems to be an assumption that the students involved are at the UW only because of their minority status and may not be qualified otherwise. Furthermore, I got the feeling that the students should be ashamed of their feelings of outsidedness and their attempts to educate and express those feelings artistically.

Here are some facts: First, the UW does not admit students who are not academically qualified to excel at the university level. In the early days of affirmative action, admissions policy did allow small numbers of less qualified students to enroll. Those practices were abandoned in the early 1980s.

Second, of the 4,893 UW freshmen who entered fall quarter of 2005, 118 are African American, 54 are Native American, 247 are Hispanic/Latino and 28 are Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. So the entire enrollment of under-represented minorities in this entering class is 447. What are the chances these students will see someone who looks like them when they enter a classroom or walk the campus? Couldn’t that maybe lead to a feeling of outsidedness?

Kudos for educating alumni on the achievements and challenges encountered by the changing face of the UW. I look forward to many more provocative and enlightening articles of this nature.

Tony Granillo, ’79
Seattle

Crying Racism
Just because it is not readily found in the mainstream media does not mean it did not happen. Dan Jolivet, in the September 2006 issue, cries racism before the facts are fully known. This is a common tactic of those who look for it in every corner of America. Thousands of Italian and German immigrants residing legally in this country were interned during World War II. Granted, it was not to the degree and extent of the Japanese living here, but they too lost years of their lives and property for which they were never remunerated. Racism is inconsistent with the American ideal, but crying racism before all of the facts are known cheapens the meaning of the word and degrades the argument.

Joseph Pellicano, ’73
Sammamish

A Knee-Jerk Reaction
Judging the past can be a knee-jerk reaction. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge American decision makers in the decision to intern Japanese Americans. This quick judgment seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the arguments raised by Chris Jolley in his editorial with regard to “The Stolen Years” articles [Dec. 2005 and March 2006]. It is often too easy to criticize these leaders for decisions which seem to lack merit in hindsight. The question raised by Dan Jolivet, “Why else were German Americans, Italian Americans and others allowed to remain free?” is very pertinent to today as well. I am not a history buff so call me ignorant if you must but I think that the Japanese fighters were a very different breed from the German and Italian fighters. This difference I believe also was due to cultural differences. The Japanese fighters were willing on many occasions to sacrifice themselves in a way that was very surprising to Americans. I speak of the Kamikaze fighter. Today we find that there are fanatic religious opinions that seem to motivate similar actions. This I think causes a higher decree of fear on the part of Americans. Am I wrong here? These are complex issues now and in the past. I say lets learn from the past but withhold judgment. Please don’t characterize my ideas as ‘pabulum’ if you disagree with them, just tell me where you think I have erred in judgment.

William Andersen, ’99
Milton, Vt.

No Home in Political History
In the letters appearing in the Sept. 2006 issue, reader Paul Nutkowitz declares he never read or heard of any “facts or evidence of Japanese American terrorist activities in the United States.” Perhaps he would be satisfied with a personal anecdote.

My father grew up in Bellingham. In 1941 he was 17 and for years had gone to school with the son of a local barber, who was Japanese. The family was well regarded. However, just prior to U.S. entry into the war, the father was arrested by the FBI for espionage. It turned out he was a lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Bellingham was an excellent location from which to collect intelligence on naval traffic into and out of Puget Sound. My father joined the Navy in the fall and never learned what happened to the barber or his family. Espionage does not sound as alarming as terrorism, but espionage is always the equivalent of sabotage, so far as it relates to the conduct of war. I regret I can add not further detail, my father having passed away years ago.

In the same issue, reader Dan Jolivet asks rhetorically why German and Italian Americans were allowed to remain free during World War II. He might recall that German Americans had quite vicious suspicion thrust upon them during World War I. Today, it is typical for any mention of German descent to include a reference to the Nazi party. As one who is a quarter German from first-generation immigrants, I am quite conscious of this.

In other letters, there was lively expression of umbrage by liberals against the rationale for internment. I find this ironic, in consideration of the fact that the program was initiated and executed by the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and administered by (later Supreme Court Justice) Earl Warren. If these men are not heroes of liberals, they have no home in political history.

Michael J. Dunn, ’72, ’73, ’74
Federal Way