Pearl Harbor Day

I just finished reading an editorial about the lesson that Pearl Harbor Day should teach us. The author's conclusion was that we can never forget that there is the possibility we will be attacked; he also made a point of mentioning the need for strong intelligence (presumably in the sense that uses spies as well as the one that uses gray matter).

While I agree that national security is extremely important, I can't help but remember another lesson that learning about Pearl Harbor taught me. Even a country that was founded on principles of justice and equality is capable of throwing civil rights out the window in a crisis. Being Japanese-American, learning about Pearl Harbor was always awkward for me (not just because boys in my class said rude things to me on those days), but because I knew that in the months that followed somewhere around 110,000 Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps. The tragedy of having their country attacked was topped with the insult of being told that it they didn't count as Americans anyway.

To be fair, my grandparents have never said a bitter word about this. But I grew up with an uneasy feeling that if it could happen so recently, what's to stop the government from doing something like that again? In the days after the 9/11 Attacks I mourned along with the rest of the country, but I also prayed that the rights of Arab-Americans would not be taken away. There have certainly been plenty of stories of hate crimes and wrongful imprisonment of Muslims and Arab-Americans since then. I am still sickened by the knowledge that inaccurate accusations that Barack Obama is an Arab and a Muslim were seen by many as legitimate concerns. As if we don't have millions of honest Arab and Muslim citizens in this country.

Interestingly enough, today it will be announced that Eric Shinseki will be the secretary of veteran affairs. On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, a Hawaiian born Japanese-American will be named as part of the Obama administration. I read today that he was the first Asian-American to be named a four-star general, which just shows you how slow our country has been to integrate even Asian-Americans into top ranks (and the Asians are generally considered "almost white" anyway). It seems fitting, although perhaps a little awkward.

I am hopeful, because we keep moving inch by inch toward racial and cultural equality, but this journey requires just as much constant vigilance as the endeavor to keep our country safe. And the two goals need not be mutally exclusive.

One Step Closer

I think someday I will tell my kids about tonight.

I grew up hearing about the civil rights movement of the 60's, about the fight for women's rights, and about the power of the people to change injustice. I grew up wanting to change the world, not so that I could say that I changed the world, but because there is so much injustice in this world that needs to be changed. I have been frustrated for years because I wanted to fight for justice and peace, and then when I started to find ways it didn't seem possible to make a difference. I was told that I could do anything, but still the leadership of this country and many other institutions (like the church) is white, male, and older. I became an adult during a time when I couldn't find any politicians who spoke for me (or to me).

But tonight, as I waited to hear Barack Obama speak, the weight this historic moment hit me. We might actually have a person of color become president. And he's a hapa (a half-white person)! This is a candidate who is reaching out to the young, and a democrat reaching out to progressive evangelicals. He is someone who says he wants a united and empowered American people. I'm not sure I can articulate what this means to me, but I do know that it is a very significant step toward real racial equality. This is the kind of progress that I have been yearning for. This doesn't mean that Barack Obama should be elected just because he's black, but it is cause for celebration.

I am grateful that I benefit from the strides made toward racial and gender equality, and tonight I am hopeful that I will see many more steps in the right direction.

Bad Words

The subject of slur language was in the news again this week, and I heard two different NPR programs discussing the use of words like N****r and F****t. Ann Coulter, a conservative columnist and professing Christian, said this week, "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards." Coulter claims that the F word has nothing to do with homosexuality, but is a "school yard taunt." Lovely.

Now for teenagers and young adults, the word "gay" has been generalized to cover anything that is annoying, weird, stupid, bad, etc. To most who use it, this is not a slur and usually has nothing to do with homosexuality. The underlying problem is that for the words "gay" and "faggot" to be reduced to blanket insults, we have to have some underlying agreement that the words had negative meanings to begin with. No one ever says, "You're so gay! Why don't you come sit with us." Rather, they say, "You're so gay, stop annoying me."

The word "retarded" is used in a similar way, and in middle school I tried to remove it from my vocabulary, realizing that many people who have mentally challenged family members might be hurt by its use. When I became a counselor at camp, and started spending a week each summer with campers who have special needs, I realized that my love for those amazing people was incompatible with my use of that word. Describing people with special needs as "retarded" is inaccurate and offensive, and using it as a blanket term to mean stupid is an insult to everyone.

There is a belief in the Ancient world that to name something was to define it, and make it real. To this day, many Orthodox Jews do not tell anyone the name of a baby until the baby has gone through the naming ceremony, because to know the name is to have power over it. Obviously, words have some kind of significance.

In Japan, the green traffic lights are called aoii (which means blue/green) as opposed to midori (green, like the liquor); color is defined by language. Our attitudes are also defined by the words we chose. Words are forged into slurs when the fire of hate is placed on them. When we use words like nigger, faggot, slut, retard, and Jap, we are placing that hate onto another person. Ann Coulter claims that the Liberal definition of Christianity is that "everyone has to be nice to each other," but she seems to be forgetting that, those who say "I love God" and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. (1 John 4:20)