Rights must not be suspended in war

Matsuda is the technology coordinator for the UCLA School
Management Program.

By Gann Matsuda

In her submission “Suspension
of civil liberties necessary in crucial periods,“
(Viewpoint, Jan. 23), Anna S. Perez states our nation can and
should take whatever actions may be necessary to protect its
citizens. From reading her article, it was clear that she believes
civil liberties must take a back seat to our national security.

Unfortunately, our nation’s history has proven this notion
to be faulty logic, at best.

Perez justifies any current (alleged) or future violation of
civil rights as a result of the war on terrorism. She asserts the
priority of national security over civil rights, and says,
“it’s a matter of perspective and only future
generations who can take an objective stance can really make the
call on it.”

To illustrate, Perez cites the case of the unjust imprisonment
of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry by the United States
during World War II. To her credit, Perez states that this was a
“despicable event.”

But she goes astray when she writes that if we were to put
ourselves in the shoes of most Americans of that era, we too would
be afraid of an attack on the West Coast by the Empire of
Japan.

Perez fails to understand the fear of an attack on the West
Coast by Japan, along with all fears of sabotage or espionage by
Japanese “spies,” were unfounded and based entirely on
racism, wartime hysteria and economic greed. Other contributing
factors included the complete failure of political leadership,
which involved documented government misconduct at the highest
levels, and a plethora of false reports by racist media
outlets.

Perez correctly states that the American populace was afraid of
what might happen on the West Coast at the hands of Japan. But she
neglects to point out those fears were caused by lies made by the
United States government, who went so far as to suppress and
falsify evidence before the U.S. Supreme Court. Responsibility for
this went all the way to the Oval Office and then-President
Franklin D. Roosevelt.

As it turns out, the American people thought the internment of
Japanese Americans was necessary only because of racism and false
fears perpetrated by our own government.

The Japanese American community has always hoped our nation
would learn from the internment and realize our civil rights are
fragile and must always be fought for. The rights afforded us by
the U.S. Constitution apply to everyone, citizen and non-citizen
alike, and are not something that can be ignored when they become
inconvenient.

During World War II, this is exactly what most people believed
““ that constitutional rights could be tossed out because we
were fighting a war. Unfortunately, that’s not what our
Constitution allows. In fact, the Constitution is the supreme law
of the land at all times, not just when we feel like abiding by
it.

Even during these difficult times, we must strive as a nation to
find a balance between competing concerns, especially between
national security and our civil rights. To do otherwise would only
cede victory to those who attack us.

Indeed, history has shown us that if we allow our civil rights
to be sacrificed, they will be trampled upon. Let’s learn
from history for a change instead of repeating it. Our nation will
be stronger for it.