In Defense of Internment
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| In Defense of Internment | |
|---|---|
 Book cover |
|
| Author | Michelle Malkin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject(s) | Racial profiling in law enforcement--United States--Case studies. Law enforcement--United States--Case studies. Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945. War on Terrorism, 2001- |
| Publisher | Regnery Publishing |
| Publication date | 2004 |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 0-89526-051-4 |
| OCLC Number | 55672102 |
| Dewey Decimal | 940.53/1773 22 |
| LC Classification | HV8141 .M245 2004 |
In Defense of Internment: The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror (ISBN 0-89526-051-4) is a 2004 book written by conservative American political commentator Michelle Malkin. Malkin tries to justify the United States government's internment of Japanese Americans in relocation camps during World War II and extend that logic to justifying racial profiling of Arabs during the post-2001 War on Terror. The book's message has been condemned by Japanese American groups and civil rights proponents.[1][2] Its scholarship has been criticized by academics.[3][4]
Contents |
[edit] Writing of the book
On her website, Malkin wrote:[5]
I was compelled to write this book after watching ethnic activists, historians, and politicians repeatedly play the World War II internment card after the September 11 attacks. The Bush Administration’s critics have equated every reasonable measure to interrogate, track, detain, and deport potential terrorists with the "racist" and "unjustified” World War II internment policies of President Roosevelt. To make amends for this "shameful blot" on our history, both Japanese-American and Arab/Muslim-American activists argue against any and all uses of race, ethnicity, nationality, and religion in shaping current homeland security policies. Misguided guilt about the past continues to hamper our ability to prevent future terrorist attacks.
[edit] Response to In Defense of Internment
The book proved to be highly controversial when published, with Asian-American groups in particular being highly critical. John Tateishi, the Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League issued a media release on August 24, 2004 stating "Michelle Malkin's book In Defense of Internment: The Case for Racial Profiling in World War II and the War on Terror is a desperate attempt to impugn the loyalty of Japanese Americans during World War II to justify harsher governmental policies today in the treatment of Arab and Muslim Americans."
The organization Historians' Committee for Fairness condemned the book as "a blatant violation of professional standards of objectivity and fairness".[6]
There was considerable media interest in the book especially on the West Coast of the U.S. and Hawaii, where the impact of internment in World War II was greatest. As a result of the interest in the book, it made the New York Times Best Seller list in September 2004.
[edit] See also
- Japanese American internment
- Italian American internment
- Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Executive Order 9066
- September 11, 2001 attacks
- Racial profiling
- Niihau Incident
- Kanao Inouye
- Fifth column
[edit] References
- ^ Forman, David (2004), "Another View of Internment", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/08/09/editorial/commentary.html
- ^ Ibish, Hussein (2004), "Michelle Malkin's book seems to urge discrimination in US against Arabs, Muslims", Daily Star, http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2316
- ^ Robinson, Greg (2004), A Critique of Michelle Malkin's "In Defense of Internment, http://www.modelminority.com/article849.html
- ^ Muller, Eric (2004), Muller and Robinson on Malkin, http://www.isthatlegal.org/Muller_and_Robinson_on_Malkin.html
- ^ michellemalkin.com, page date 6 Feb 2006, retrieved from archive.org's Wayback Machine
- ^ "Why the Media Should Stop Paying Attention to the New Book that Defends Japanese Internment". Greg Robinson. http://hnn.us/articles/7092.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
[edit] External links
- In Defense of Internment Web Site
- "The Turncoats on Niihau Island", Complete Chapter 1 of In Defense of Internment
- "The Internment Taboo", review by John Leo
- "The New Revisionism: Michelle Malkin’s Legitimisation of American Racialism", review from Model Minority
- "Michelle Malkin defended WWII internment, racial profiling today", review from Media Matters
- Michelle Malkin Book Buzz page including statement from John Tateishi and claim of bestseller status
|
||||||||||
