With the uptick in racist incidences in America during and after the pandemic, I wanted to share on racist incident I well never forget back in Virginia (VA).
Let us stand up to racism every day and share our experiences. The more we can share, the more people can understand. And the more we understand one another, the more empathy there will be.
Experiencing Racism In Abingdon, Virginia
In the summer of 1996, I got in my rusty Toyota Corolla hatchback and took off on a five and a half hour drive south from the suburbs of Washington DC to a sleepy town called Abingdon, Virginia. I wasn't sure if I'd make it because I had never driven my car more than 2.5 hours before.
After my transmission blew out six months after I bought it for $2,000, the mechanic got the gear ratio wrong so my car was always revving 2,000 RPM higher than it should. Constantly wondering whether the engine would explode was concerning.
I was back from a month-long internship at a Canon electronics distributor in Taipei and missed my girlfriend dearly. Sophomore year at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg was only a month a way, but I couldn't wait to see her.
Abingdon is a beautiful town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountain range. When I arrived, the first thing I did was give my girlfriend a big hug and go to a local greasy spoon restaurant right off the main strip.
She knew that I loved grilled cheese sandwiches with freshly sliced tomatoes wedged between the goodness. It was the perfect way to catch up after almost two months of being away.
No Minorities In Abingdon, Virginia
Despite the absence of minorities in sight, I never felt out of place in the serene town of Abingdon, Virginia. Southerners have a remarkable way of extending warmth and hospitality. After lunch, my girlfriend took me up a winding road to meet her dad and his girlfriend. They resided atop a small hill, surrounded by miles of uninhabited land. Meeting her dad made me nervous, as any boyfriend would be.
I greeted Mr. Brosnan with a firm handshake and the warmest “nice to meet you” I could muster. He was a psychiatrist at the local hospital, standing about six feet tall with a beard peppered with black and white bristles. When I pulled up in my modest car, he politely chuckled. He, being white, drove a green Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.
My girlfriend, Erika, was not white. Standing at about 5′ 8″ with straight black hair, she exuded an aura of fitness, being a vegetarian and an avid runner. Erika was of mixed heritage, her Chinese mother having passed away from cancer when she was only three. Although Virginia was her hometown, she had gained international experience through studying abroad in Spain.
Into The Evening, The KKK
If you ever venture into a remote camping spot, you'll be astounded by the brilliance of the stars. Each evening, we would sit out on the porch just off the kitchen and gaze upward.
With no streetlights for miles, the solar system unfolded before us in high definition. We counted no fewer than three shooting stars each night, prompting me to ponder what else we might overlook in our daily lives due to our fixation on money.
On the third day of our week-long visit, we received a flyer. It depicted four white-hooded figures and extended an invitation to join the KKK. Was this a relic of Virginia's past? The flyer included a telephone number but no address. We skimmed through the propaganda, dismissing it as insignificant. However, when we mentioned the flyer to Mr. Brosnan, we detected a hint of concern in his eyes.
He inquired, “Did anyone follow you home?” “Did you notice anyone in town observing you?” “Did you have any negative encounters?”
To our knowledge, no one had followed or watched us, and we had assumed the flyer was merely junk mail distributed to every household in town. It wasn't until we spoke with Mr. Brosnan that we entertained the idea of being targeted due to my presence. It seemed there was something more that Mr. Brosnan wasn't disclosing to us.
Feeling Fine Until The Threat
Perhaps it's because I've been through a lot of uncomfortable racial discrimination encounters that I wasn't really worried about a silly flier. As a minority, you get used to the jeers, the name calling, the stereotyping, the intimidation and the hate.
Because you're physically outnumbered, there's nothing you can really do but ignore and move on if you want to live. Instead, I learned self-defense, practiced using a butterfly knife, and focused on my studies in order to gain some future optionality.
The next day, Erika and I went down to get a milkshake after a three-mile jog and everything was as normal as could be. Then night fell and something strange happened.
While on the deck, instead of hearing the cicadas gently hum through the night like an ocean wave, we heard a truck rumble up the hill to the front of the house. Nobody came out of the truck. It just sat there with the engine left on, gurgling as if it was hungry.
Then the high beams flickered on and we decided to go inside. As we were heading inside, we saw Mr. Brosnan walk outside with his rifle. He calmly told us to stay put. Mr. Brosnan stood behind a wooden bear statue on his porch for protection, pointed his rifle at the truck and shouted, “Get the hell off my property!”
The standoff only lasted for a minute, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, the truck lowered its high beams. Inside we could see three white men in the truck drinking beer and throwing up some sort of hand signal before driving back down the hill. They littered a beer can and left another flier.
Wealth And Racism In Virginia
We'll never be certain if a member of the KKK spotted us in town and trailed us back to Mr. Brosnan's house. However, we did discover that the KKK had been attempting to recruit Mr. Brosnan for several years.
The per capita income for the town was $22,486, with approximately 7.3% of families and 10.1% of the population living below the poverty line. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Brosnan was a respected figure in the town of 8,200 inhabitants, and it's possible he unknowingly treated a member of the KKK.
Upon Dr. Brosnan's advice, he suggested I find lodging at a nearby motel instead. Consequently, I located an Econo Lodge in Marion, situated 30 miles north on H-81. I didn't want to put his family at risk. Initially, Erika objected, but eventually, she agreed to accompany me for a couple of nights before we both had to return to our respective homes.
What Happened To Progress?
I had completely forgotten about this chilling experience from my youth at 19 until the events unfolded in Charlottesville, Virginia, with the White Nationalist rally and torches. Millions lost their lives in World War II fighting against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Yet here we were, witnessing people at Emancipation Square and on the University of Virginia campus giving Nazi salutes and brandishing flags adorned with swastikas. They were accompanied by a group of men clad in camouflage gear, wielding semi-automatic rifles in support. Then came the horrifying incident of the car plowing through the crowd. What on earth is happening in Virginia and across other parts of America?
It's incredibly disheartening that even after 21 years, hate and bigotry still persist. Perhaps it never truly disappeared but remained hidden until now. As a personal finance writer and the author of Buy This, Not That, I can't help but ponder how financial constraints and lack of education contribute to racism.
No one is born with a hatred for others based on their skin color. Hate is learned from our upbringing, our social circles, and our surroundings. Yet, if hate can be taught, then surely love can be taught as well.
FinancialSamurai.com will always be a platform that welcomes everyone striving for financial freedom. I appreciate not focusing on people's appearances because it allows me to concentrate on their ideas and contributions. Despite occasionally encountering racist internet trolls, I remain committed to promoting acceptance.
I firmly believe that if more individuals attain financial security, there will be less room for hate in the world. When you feel financially stable or on the right path, you're more likely to extend a helping hand rather than tear others down.
Loading ...Final Thoughts On Hate
* If you're experiencing hate know that the person hating on you is going through some sort of misery that causes them to act out. Happy people don't hate on others, they are accepting and kind. Try to have a private conversation to work things through.
* Forgive. It may not be easy, but once you understand why they are the way they are, it becomes easier. You'll feel better forgiving and moving on, rather than letting the incident eat away at you.
* Be careful not to lump everyone in the same group. If you do, then you're practicing a similar brand of prejudice. Discover the individual.
* Don't assume that just because Asian Americans as a group do OK in terms of income and education, they don't consistently face racial discrimination in many facet of their lives. Further, there is no typical Asian since there are 48 Asian countries. Find the individual.
* If you're practicing hate, dig deep to find the root cause of your hatred. Now direct your energy towards addressing the issue instead of blaming some group of people for your misery.
* Let's teach our children early on about the importance of respecting each other. Our prejudices will spread to our children if we are not careful.
* The best way to prove your detractors wrong is to be successful in your craft. The best way to cure your hate towards others is to also become successful in your craft.
Related posts:
The One Key Ingredient Necessary For Achieving Financial Independence
Emotional Intelligence: A Key To An Easier Life
Why Are Asian Americans Ignored In The Media And By Politicians
Three White Tenants, One Asian Landlord
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Readers, what are your thoughts about what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia? Have you had any hateful encounters based on who you are that you'd like to share? What do you think are some solutions to creating more harmony in the world? Before attending The College of William & Mary, I attended high school in Northern Virginia. Virginia is a wonderful place that has a special place in my heart, despite all the growing pains I experienced.
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I grew up in Ohio, but like so many of my peers, I decided to trace my family’s origin or “root”. This ancestral route led me to Abingdon – the home and birthplace to my m. grandmother and her siblings. I tried to interview the sisters (and a few of their friends, as well), but I always would hit a dead end. Why? Whatever transpired during their childhood effected their adult lives to the point of migrating up North during the fifties. When asked what happened, the only answer given was, the klan and Jim Crow ran us up outta there. I asked of the relatives that remained and was informed that anyone that didn’t “run”, died in Abingdon. When I tried to collaborate the information, there were no public documents indicating anything. I found a poor census record that barely confirmed my family’s existence and a newspaper article telling the account of an uncle that was hit by a car while playing as a child. I contacted the local newspaper only to discover that the Black publication of news no longer existed and that maybe the local Black church may have more information.
I’ve wanted to do research in Abingdon for years, but I have been deterred due to the imbrued racism that still continues to “pop out” either covertly or overtly through the establishment of the area. It’s easy to blame lack of education or economic depravity, however I have determined that the advancement of racism is to only convey a façade of superior value/worth over another. Even researching the area leaves a bittersweet taste. Most of the “famous” folks of the Abingdon area are Confederate military turned politicians…
Can someone say outlier to American systemic racism????
My bad, I know yaw won’t.
Thanks for stumbling upon my post. I had forgotten I had written it until your comment. How did you find it?
It is sad that there is still so much racism in America today. I don’t think it’ll ever go away. But I do see progress about creating more awareness, empathy, and acceptance of other people.
Sam, I see from the map that you grew up in McLean. I spent my last years of high school at Langley, and went to UVA (’85). Like you, I came here as an immigrant child. Great Falls, where our family lived, was very rural back then, and as we were the only Asian family in town, we stood out. We were the victim of occasional vandalism by local kids, but for the most part, it was not a bad place to live.
Student life in Charlottesville back in the ’80s was also good, even for the small group of us Asians that attended UVA. I never encountered any racial hostility, although there was the occasional stare from a local. Some of my closest classmates were from rural parts of Virginia like Marion, and they would often joke about their country upbringing and how related everyone was in town. We all got along well.
This is why that tiki torch march on our beloved UVA campus by those neo-Nazis was so shocking and revolting. It called to mind a notorious incident while I was a student there some three decades earlier. Wynton Marsalis, the great trumpet player, and his two band mates had just finished performing at our campus, when they were suddenly pulled over by Virginia state troopers along a rural highway. The cops claimed the trio fit the description of some Black criminals they were after. It was a reminder that it was still a dangerous time for African Americans to be traveling through the South.
I live in Southern California now with my family, and we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. All of us are minorities here, and I believe this diversity promotes greater tolerance and mutual understanding. That doesn’t mean racism is absent, as we have seen tensions erupt, even between Asian groups, and of course the recent attacks on Asians by people of different colors. We are as a nation having to confront a spike in racism now, but the history of Civil Rights in the U.S. has always been like the stock market; promising growth, with the occasional setback, projecting a long term trend of ever increasing tolerance.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and background!
I remember watching Wynton Marsalis at William & Mary! Amazing. I did not hear about the story. Thanks for sharing.
You may enjoy this post as well: Three White Tenants, One Asian Landlord: A Story About Opportunity Or Lack Thereof
Racism exists in every race, it gets worse when the the numbers of a particular race is more than another race. That’s why I like living in a diverse city, the racial attribute of human still exists but it’s reduced through interactions with others, forced to get work together, and with understanding of each other.
I might be hated for saying this but when people asked where I live..I say I live in Northern VA (NOVA)..not VA
Indeed. Diversity is why I’ve lived in San Francisco since 2001 and why I’m happy to raise my kids in San Francisco as well.
Post-pandemic, I’m actually getting more feedback about people migrating to California from the Midwest and South.
I am white and was raised in a part of the country where the KKK is very strong. Allegiance to their hate had little to do with economics. Not being a part made you a very distinctive outlier. I lived in a city of 1 m and was still followed home if I was clearly on an inter-racial date. This was post 2000.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m still traumatized by running for my life because strangers in my city did not like that I look like the queer woman I am. They did not visibly have firearms. Just outnumbered me. Thankfully I was a faster runner than them.
Yes, and just to be clear the evil is a two way street….no doubt this will go ignored like all other datapoints that don’t support the narrative that Europeans are uniquely evil…
I think it is quite apparent that the far left and the far right are causing the havoc and conflict that aren’t representative of the overall Democratic or Republican party.
The reason this country is fracturing is due to the inability of the majority of people to engage in critical thinking and let the data lead where it goes….ad hominem attacks, groupthink, the application of Occam’s Razor, and simplistic slogans on both the right and the left are the order of the day….this country can no longer deal in nuance or data-driven, hypothesis led trains of inquiry. I disagree that this is not representative since the middle is fraying and the ends are becoming more vocal/extreme, largely due to the proliferation of identity politics which has come from the left (Democratic party not a Republican party institution). In a country where some groups are able to advocate for their group interests, while blaming any failings of their group on other groups, all while increasing their relative share of the population, inevitably there will be a backlash and identity politics will be adopted by all groups since game theory indicates the groups who abstain from doing so will lose badly. And when all groups adopt identity politics and group advocacy, all hell will break loose, and it is….
My husband and I are Vietnamese and this post got us talking about racist experiences we’ve had. Luckily, we’ve each have only encountered racism once in our lives. My husband’s story happened 24 years ago while he was in college in Florida. My husband and three Asian friends were crossing the street back onto campus when they hear some guys sitting at a popular college hangout/outdoor restaurant yelling racist remarks at them. My husband and his friends looked at each other with pretty much the same thought: “hell no! they really want to mess with us?!” So they rush back across the street and start throwing punches at the guys. They were doing well when a couple of cop cars arrived to break up the fights. The crowd at the restaurant corroborated my husband’s story with some even saying what jerks those guys were for harassing my husband and his friends when all they were doing was walking down the street. The cops seemed to sympathize with my husband since no arrests were made. My husband and his friends threw the first physical punch so it might have been within the law to arrest them. I believe that this example goes to show that even though racism exists there are many more people in this world who are decent human beings who will do what is right.
Greetings to all from the original Abingdon, the most ancient town in England, and thanks for a fascinating discussion. Ours looks nothing like yours!
I’ve never posted on an FI blog before because most are, being US-based, more a foreshadowing of what we here should be considering than of direct and immediate relevance. Unfortunately one of the best features of the internet – its immediacy and ease of communication – has now resulted in everyone being able to be citizen journalists and both act and comment and rally flash mobs without stopping to think first, and this causes distortion which polarises opinion and hardens attitudes.
I’ve been fortunate to have travelled and lived the world over, and to me there are but two certainties in life: all parents want their kids to have a better life than they did themselves, and those who indulge in the seven deadly sins suffer most from them; however they may think their hatred, jealousy, greed etc are outwardly-directed, in fact they are inwardly utterly corrosive.
Out of ten near neighbours here, only one is a native Abingdonian. The rest of us are all different either by birth, upbringing, or working lives in other countries. The main problem between us seems to happen when someone new moves in not because of the colour of their skin or that they don’t speak our language well, but because they try to live exactly as they would in their own culture, and it can cause misunderstanding when that doesn’t marry up with the custom here. That initial discomfort gets magnified by irritation and then it becomes too difficult to deal with. Make friends early and do it often!
No one could fail to be appalled by what has been going on in your country, as in so many others, our own included. We used to think that we’d solved the problem of hate crime by only specially-trained policemen being allowed to carry guns (not all, as in many European countries) and only licence-holders such as farmers rather than the general public. Sadly there is now a lot more horrific knife crime, and more recently attacks using acid.
Any of you care to send answers on a postcard, please? Sorry if this appears to be off-topic, but I do suspect that access to education and thus relative financial comfort are key.
Ah, there is an ORIGINAL Abingdon! Wonderful. I’ll have to look it up on the internet. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for sharing your story. I live in Richmond, VA, which as you know is about an hour from Charlottesville. The events in Charlottesville were painful to watch and hear about.
I can relate a little to your story as my wife and I have two fabulous Asian kids, by adoption. We and they have experienced bias, but thankfully nothing overt and threatening. We have talked about hatred toward minorities (since they a minority, unlike their parents) and the various reasons for it – similar to what you describe. I keep reminding them to be proud of who they are, ignore what they see and hear when directed at them, talk about it, and keep striving. The vast majority of people they will encounter are not like those who marched in Charlottesville. We remind them of that too.
Racism is alive and well in the workplace – it is THE reason I am keenly interested in early retirement. Twenty years ago, negative attitudes were overt towards women and minorities ( my profession and domain area is heavily skewed toward male, white, and young). The trend now is for folks to watch very carefully what they say. Racism is expressed not in what people say, but more what they DONT say, the cold shoulder, the exclusionary measures, lack of social niceties expressed to others just not to you, the isolationism. Nothing anyone could ever quote, much less complain about.
So I put my blinders on, work 50% more to ensure my work top notch, dress well, professional and friendly to all. I hold my head up high.
But boy, is it ever exhausting
Thanks for sharing a personal, timely experience with valuable – and financially relevant – lessons. It is today’s challenge to empathize with ‘the other person’ and their circumstance, then act to put into practice a range of policies and programs that measurable help life people up and away from fear and poverty to a life of love, caring & fulfillment.
The labels [left, right, black, white, etc.] that the press and most writers use often are polarizing words which inhibit and confound our understanding and truth.
My wish is that at least one news show or newspaper start a display of leadership by showing ways of communicating without using words that convey bias. Rather than “a black man shot a white man,” report “a man shot another man.”
Simple ideas like this are not really simple. There would be lots of push back from those doing the reporting to point out that racial differentiation is needed because “in this particular case, race was a factor,” or words to this effect. As soon as as reporter says something like this, then the reporter has become a judge, and not a reporter. And that, my friends, is the essence of the problem. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Very, very insightful post overall, Sam.
I think there are some people just need someone to point to that they think of as being lower than themselves. Maybe they’re dealing with some personal misery as you suggest. But maybe you’re giving some of them too much credit – I also think some of them are just very small people, insecure, and hating on someone perceived as “lower” helps them hide that insecurity from themselves.
I am a white mutt, so to speak (Western Europe on one side, Polish/Estonian/Latvian on the other). Grew up in a small, rural, all-white town, in the poorer (by comparison) North end of town. Those who needed someone to hate upon called us “North end Hunkies” (Hungarians), and snubbed us, looked down on us, etc. Nothing like being refused service at a diner, mind you – just an example of how some people are.
When I was in the Army I had a month’s training in Fort Knox, KY. On the drive down there I stopped at a quick mart to grab a soda in a small town near the fort. The man told me, “We don’t server your kind in here”. He was so virulently racist that the entire notion of the Army being integrated bothered him enough that he refused to serve soldiers (this was in the late `80s).
As a young man meeting his girlfriend’s father, in the deep South, I was nervous as you mention. I held out my hand hoping to give him a firm handshake and greeted him with the warmest “nice to meet you, Sir” I could muster.
He looked at my hand, asked, “You a Yankee, boy?”. I said grew up in the Midwest. He asked if I was a good Yankee or a bad Yankee. When I said I wasn’t sure of the difference, he explained, “A bad Yankee’s one that don’t go back where he belongs”.
He turned around and left me standing there with my hand out, unshaken. I spent that 3-day weekend in his house and he never said one word more to me.
I don’t know if he was in the KKK or not, but that’s the sort of person who just “needs” to have someone who’s different than them, to hate on.
Great post with a great personal story and a multitude of lessons within. Thank you for sharing it, Sam!
Great post. It is such a sad state of affairs. I am a middle aged white guy who lives in Pa. I was blessed with a family who taught me that everyone is equal. Plus, being college educated, I was able to interact with a diverse group of students while at university. There is no logical reason for this hate other than ignorance.
Some of these comments have really devolved from when the article was first written. Hate has no place in our society.
I also struggle with the lack of a national uproar with the Portland murders that recently happened in which twice as many people were killed by a white supremacist who verbally attacked the Muslim girls ( 1 black and 1 mid eastern). Those guys who stood up and sacrificied their lives and the president took almost 3 days to respond. Why was Heathers death so polarizing, was it the klan & nazi rally?
I agree Sam. Virginia is a wonderful place. I grew up in Charles City, between Richmond and Williamsburg, during the 80’s and part of the 90’s. I don’t remember any such activity, but then again, where I grew up is more diverse than the western part of the state.
Do you even understand my comment? What is ridiculous about it? I simply indicated that Communism is horrible and any special snowflake kids wearing communist hammer and sickle flags should be treated similar to Nazis due to this similar level of hate/evil. I said nothing about the USA’s role in either (admittedly so with both fascism and communism, both funded by various elements in the US at critical points in time) which is irrelevant to my point.
I think its interesting that the Charlottesville story gets so much media attention for being a racist attack… while when the BLM riots and attacks against white Americans due to the color of their skin got swept under the rug. These men women and children were singled out due to the color of their skin (white) and mercilessly beaten. The Charlottesville incident is filthy and disgusting but we can’t ignore or forget the racist, bigotted attacks against white Americans either.
TO CHAMP:
I agree that it’d be ideal if whites were not singled out due to the color of their skin. However, this unfortunate retaliation is merely a by-product of “Minority’s being singled out and killed/brutally murdered with no justice based on the color of their skin”. If you’re white, your defense is simple. All you need to claim is that he had a gun, right? Or maybe he “Looks” threatening, because we’ve seen that no weapon + a brown tan = a guilty man. Maybe it gets swept under the rug because it’s origin lies in the hand of its Creator?
You ever thing that BLM (an injustice based group), was actually created/caused by those other than Blacks (i.e. racist whites and brutal police officers)?
W/o the brutal, innocent and excessive force based murders of the minorities….maybe you wouldn’t have some whites singled out? I guess they are just a casualty of their own creation, maybe?
No doubt Nazism / Fascism is 100% evil and therefore its supporters should of course not be tolerated.
However so is Communism. Shockingly Communism was responsible for more deaths than Fascism in the 20th Century, driven primarily by Mao in China – see respective death bubble sizes:
https://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/20th-century-death/
So hopefully one would also agree people running around with Communist flags must also not be tolerated, or is the implication one values a Chinese life less than others? If anything, since north Asians – Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese – consistently score the highest on tests of cognitive ability and earn more than other Americans in the USA despite aforementioned discrimination one could argue from a pure economic value / production basis they are more valuable.
Moreover, any statue or memorial related to FDR or Lincoln should likewise be torn down as well in the interests of logical consistency. The evidence is below:
Abraham Lincoln Quote
“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”
by:
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) 16th US President
Source:
Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858
(The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, pp. 145-146.)
FDR
Executive Order No. 9066
The President
Executive Order
Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas
Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);
Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas.
I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area hereinabove authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies.
I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services.
This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way the authority heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing regulations for the conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House,
February 19, 1942.
[F.R. Doc. 42–1563; Filed, February 21, 1942; 12:51 p.m.]
Source: Executive Order No. 9066, February 19, 1942.
I come from an ex-communist country. Let me tell you, we don’t have communist flags, we don’t have communist statues, we tore them down in the first months after 1989. We changed the names of the streets and the school manuals in the first year. Anyone marching with the photos of our communist dictators would be run out of town the second they stepped foot on the street.
Cherry picked declarations are not equal to the years of oppresion the Nazis or the communists inflicted. Lincoln was an aggent of change for the better in an imperfect world, the others were the aggents of oppresion. We, in my country, are very clear about the distinction.
Of course this is cherry picking (hence the sarcasm latent but regretfully unclear in my comment) but that is what is going on. People are increasingly held responsible for a single misdeed or act of wrong think and are crucified for it ex post in the US. So if people want to do that then it should be applied consistency to heroes of both the “left” and “right”.
There is cherry picking, for example ignoring any positive characteristics of someone like Robert E Lee, who even Ulysses Grant and other Union military contemporaries of the time admired as one of the greatest Generals ever produced by the USA and actually played a key role in ensuring that the South did not pursue a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the North by a) surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia en masse at Appomattox vs. disbanding them and asking them to head for the hills to continue fighting for their cause and b) joining with a black parishioner for communion in his Richmond Episcopal church as an act of healing and good faith. Note many historians believe such a guerrilla war would have destroyed the possibility of ever reunifying the two sides into a coherent country and could have lead to eventual subsequent secession attempts and more economic value destruction.
Instead, it is much easier for US public school system to just label someone evil and erase them from history, but where does it end? Why don’t we eliminate Jefferson, Washington, etc. for owning slaves too? This is ISIS and Taliban-like in that they too strive to erase history they don’t like….
As Orwell said “‘How do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?’”
In addition, if these statues are being torn down because of support from people, i.e. the neo-Confederate or Nazi like people, then what statue would be retained if that is the threshold requirement for erasure.
Note that my family was a bunch of poor German / Irish hardscrabble farmer immigrants (no dogs or Irish need apply and dirty kraut a common refrain so no white privilege there!) who fresh off the boat were handed a rifle and fought and and in multiple cases died for the Union cause just to be clear where my loyalties actually lie – not sure how many on this board can point to similar levels of familial sacrifice against the likes of Robert E Lee and the Confederacy. That being said, I can still be judicious and fair to the other side and judge them in empathetic manner and according to the moral and cultural views of the time period (and isn’t that just cultural relativism applied to a different domain?)…
Lee might have been a fine general. But he fought his war to preserve slavery. He fought his war to deny other human beings the right to their own bodies, the right to their own fates and to their own voices. That’s not “a single misdeed or act of wrong think”. That is his lasting legacy.
My country own dictator was a family man, and a nationalist who said he wanted great things for his country, but his lasting legacy is that he imprisoned and killed countless people.
Bad things are not done only by bad men, but they are bad, nevertheless. And people which do those bad things should not be put on a pedestal.
Frankly, I find this comment ridiculous. America has a sordid racial past involving slavery, Jim Crow and the KK. America’s history with communism has been essentially as a counterweight throughout the 20th Century. Are you familiar with Senator McCarthy?
Look, I understand that people who hate are not happy people. But that does not mean that we should tolerate their hate.
Nazis are bad. The world fought a war in which 60 million people died in order to be able, once and for all, to say this: Nazis are bad. 3% of the world’s population died and we had 4 years of war and 2 atomic bombs to be able to say it: Nazis are bad!
We don’t need to try to understand the people running around with Nazi flags, doing the Hitler salute. We need to make sure that they are not allowed in society! Because that’s exactly how it started the last time. They were tolerated at first, then resisted, then feared. People who run with Nazi flags should be reviled now, before it’s too late.
A scary, prescient viewpoint from a very intelligent man, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew:
“Why should I be against democracy? The British came here, never gave me democracy, except when they were about to leave. But I cannot run my system based on their rules. I have to amend it to fit my people’s position. In multiracial societies, you don’t vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion. Supposing I’d run their system here, Malays would vote for Muslims, Indians would vote for Indians, Chinese would vote for Chinese. I would have a constant clash in my Parliament which cannot be resolved because the Chinese majority would always overrule them. So I found a formula that changes that…”
https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/spiegel-interview-with-singapore-s-lee-kuan-yew-it-s-stupid-to-be-afraid-a-369128.html
Perhaps America is an exception, but perhaps not….we will certainly find out in time. I will
be hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.
I love Singapore but the government is a bit authoritarian for my taste. It’s scary because he is right. Many people still act and vote tribally which can undermine the democratic process in a multicultural society.
You bring up an excellent point, tribalism. Everyone is looking for the group that they fit in. I think, political parties have replaced ethnic tribes. Anyone not in that “tribe” is an outsider.
At first I thought it was just over here, in my backwards uneducated hellhole that people thought that way about political parties. But watching the whole Dem. vs Rep. elections in a first world country like the U.S. really showed me that at their core, people all over the world have similar “tribalistic” instincts.
Lately I’ve been thinking that perhaps in societies that are relatively backwards in terms of education, etc. an authoritarian figure is needed to reign people in. There’s so much chaos in the world. The trouble is, to find such a leader who isn’t a megalomaniac and only has the country and its people’s best interest at heart.
It also occurred to me that these KKK people are very much like muslim extremists. They band together to feel safe and bully others. They’re mostly young impressionable males who feel dis-empowered and are looking for a path to follow.
Adding to this Sam has mentioned in the past that his well connected friends stated that the plan is to keep populations dumbed down to keep the current structure in power.
I dont recall the exact quote as it was years ago.
Sadly it will get worse. Humanity is but an animal, and a territorial one at that. Multiculturalism ignores that and the end result will be tragedy I am afraid…history shows this over and over again….
Thank you for the story.
I’ve dealt with misogyny, but learning to handle racism has had quite the learning curve. Yes, I’m white and grew up in the northern midwest, but my children aren’t caucasian. My oldest has had to deal with a slew of racial slurs and bullying even at a school where only about 1/2 of the students are white. Youngest starts there this year. It is depressing knowing you have to teach your kids how to act when approached by an officer. I’ve even had to teach them a few of the slurs so they know why I give someone the stink-eye or why someone called them ____.
Something tells me it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Sam, I’ve been following you for 5+ years but this is only the second time I’ve posted a response. Keep up the great work and congratulations on your newest member of the family!!
Unfortunately I have been on the receiving end of some “hard” stares from people in many different areas of the country except for Hawaii (I wonder why???). I’m third generation Japanese American born and raised in Los Angeles and my wife is Iranian (born in D.C and raised in Great Falls, VA) so I suppose it’s something people are not used to seeing every day. Also, my father and his five brothers, who were all WW II U.S. Army veterans (two were in the 442nd RCT) experienced similar (but worse) racial prejudice. While they fought for our country in Europe and Japan, their family was “relocated” to an internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas.
While shopping in a supermarket at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta VA (this was about two weeks before a local television news reporter and her cameraman were shot during a live broadcast) I was standing in the condiments section looking for two different kinds of mustard when a man in his mid 40’s stood beside me and said, “I don’t know why ya all taking so long to figure out what kind of mustard to get. It ain’t too hard if you can read”. I turned towards him and the look of hatred in his eyes and menacing scowl took me by surprise. About ten feet away, his two kids approximately 6 and 10 years of age were also staring at me like they had never seen an Asian before. Well, maybe they have never seen a six foot tall 196 pound Asian with a shaved head ;)
I didn’t respond to the man’s comment and was going to walk away, but became concerned when he moved his right hand towards his hip and held it underneath his shirt as if he was preparing to draw a gun. Fortunately, my 26 years of experience as a police officer helped me to diffuse a potentially deadly situation. And I mean deadly for my well being, not his because even though I can legally carry a concealed handgun in 50 states I didn’t have one with me because I was on vacation. I sternly told him, “Where I come from I’ve arrested people just like you, and the last thing you want to do is to get in a shootout with your kids standing right behind you.” I guess the guy was shocked that I spoke English without an accent because he mumbled a few words then turned around and told his kids to get the shopping cart and go.
So far, this experience has been at the top of my list when it comes to racial bias. I travel to Northern VA about once a year to visit my in laws and the vast majority of people I’ve met are absolutely wonderful. Over here in Los Angeles…..well that’s another story :)
Thanks for sharing your story. The more examples I read about racial discrimination, the more annoyed I’m getting that we have to WASTE OUR ENERGY having to constantly defend ourselves from things that shouldn’t be happening.
Now that you bring up your story at the checkout line, I remember the time I was at a gas station and had a similar encounter implying I couldn’t speak English or read. I confronted him as well.
If I were you, I think I might have turned to the kids after speaking to the guy and say something simple like, “Please grow up to accept everyone for their differences. The world is a wonderful place if you let it.”