Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an order that led to the forced relocation of Japanese Americans in the tens of thousands. People looking back on the period hear its language and lessons echoing today, NBC News reported.
"This single act set into motion the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, which caused personal hardships and significant economic losses," said Clement Hanami, vice president of operations and art director at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. "There are incredible lessons that can be learned from this shameful chapter of American history, especially in light of the current divisions we see growing in American society today."
The museum is putting on a special exhibit marking the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which required residents from Italy, Germany, and Japan to register with the Department of Justice — one of several such exhibitions planned around the country for February.
"The language that currently surrounds us, from the building of walls to Islamophobia, is eerily similar to the rhetoric that existed during the start of World War II," Hanami said.
