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Articles on Japanese Americans

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In a 1949 photograph, Mori works in his family’s nursery in San Leandro, Calif. Courtesy of Steven Y. Mori

Toshio Mori endured internment camps and overcame discrimination to become the first Japanese American to publish a book of fiction

On Dec. 2, 1941, a publication date was set for Mori’s first book. Five days later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, upending the writer’s life and throwing the book’s publication into doubt.
On Sept. 17, 2001, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, left, met with President George W. Bush and others. Greg Mathieson/Mai/Getty Images

How memories of Japanese American imprisonment during WWII guided the US response to 9/11

In the wake of 9/11, some called for rounding up whole groups of people viewed as potential threats to the nation. But Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta knew the U.S. had done that before.
Slavery is not so far removed. Anderson and Minerva Edwards met in the 1860s as enslaved laborers in Texas, had 16 children and lived into their 90s in a cabin a few miles from the plantations they once worked. They are photographed here in 1937. U.S. Library of Congress

If Germany atoned for the Holocaust, the US can pay reparations for slavery

Old injustices don’t simply disappear with time – they tear a nation apart.
Demonstrating in Washington state, November 2015. David Ryder/Reuters

Syrian refugees: will American hearts and minds change?

Many groups have been labeled ‘enemy’ in the American past. A literary scholar looks at the role literature and philosophy have played in dispelling fears and shifting public attitudes.
Arriving in Lesbos, Greece from Syria. Dimitris Michalakis/Reuters

Is it time America finally took a chance on Syria’s refugees?

Afghan, Syrian and Eritrean refugees keep arriving on Europe’s shores, reputedly at an increasing rate. They attempt to traverse the Mediterranean by land and sea, presumably hastened by Putin’s bombing…

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