Warren’s testimony to the Tolan committee is an extended accusation that Japanese residents, including American citizens, were effectively guilty of betraying and deceiving America. That would have avoided the stain that the episode indelibly places on America’s moral standing. Indeed, it’s conceivable that without his support, the incarceration might never have taken place. My colleagues on the Times Editorial Board cited it in passing in a recent piece about the Statuary Hall issue.īut such mentions fail to communicate the flavor of Warren’s testimony or the importance of his role. Warren’s support for the Japanese incarceration isn’t a secret. Pope Francis canonized Serra in 2015 as “evangelizer of the West,” even though reconsideration of the Serra legend had already become part of America’s confrontation with its historical racism.Ĭolumn: The roots of anti-Asian violence can be found in California historyĬalifornia turned anti-Chinese and anti-Japanese sentiment into a national movement. In recent years, scholars have pointed to the abuse and effective enslavement of Native Americans at the missions he founded. (The other Californian in the hall, to which every state contributes two statues, is Ronald Reagan.) The law allows the statues to be replaced once a decade.Ī Franciscan missionary from Spain, Serra was long lionized as a pioneering missionary spreading the Catholic faith during the Spanish colonization of the West Coast in the 18th century. Serra’s reputation has plummeted since his statue was installed at the Capitol in 1931. Reading Warren’s testimony today, as I did while researching my forthcoming book, a history of California, will be a shattering experience for anyone accustomed to thinking of him as a hero of the campaign for equal protection under the law.īefore delving into the details, some background about the Statuary Hall issue. 21, 1942, testimony, before a congressional committee chaired in San Francisco by U.S.
0 kommentar(er)
