History repeats itself — almost

The Muslim-American community has experienced much injustice since the horrific attacks of September 11th. But it’s critical to remember that our experience is by no means without historical analogy — we have the advantage of historical hindsight, if we choose to employ it. We must find strength and wisdom from the struggles of those American minorities that suffered before us — or history will repeat itself.

The internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII is only one example, but a prescient one in light of recent experiences by the Muslim-American community in Los Angeles. Following a flurry of community activism initiated by Muslim Advocates, the ACLU and other Muslim-American and civil rights advocacy groups, the Los Angeles Police Department first “shelved” — and soon after renounced — proposed efforts to “map” Muslim communities in the L.A. area under the guise of counter-terrorism. The LAPD would have isolated whole communities for investigation, surveillance, and intelligence-gathering based on religion and national origin, raising urgent constitutional concerns — violating equal protection guarantees and chilling the free exercise of religion. To those that have studied the Japanese-American experience, this was a frightening proposition.

Many were deeply disturbed by L.A.P.D. counter-terrorism chief Michael Downing’s recent description of the mapping program as an effort “to identify and counter violent extremism,” and his public pronouncements that "we want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities.” The road to Manzanar War Relocation Camp was paved with similar “outreach” efforts initiated in the name of national security. Soon after the Pearl Harbor attack, then California Attorney General Earl Warren directed the mapping of all Japanese-owned land in California, moved to dispossess Japanese-American landowners, and publicly stated his belief that the Japanese-American presence created the conditions for another Pearl Harbor. Having set the stage for internment, he soon advocated for excluding all Japanese from within 200 miles of the coast.

The premise underlying the “mapping” proposal — that Muslim-Americans are more likely than other Americans to commit violent acts of terror — is flawed to say the least, but not without historical precedent. The many documented hate crimes directed at Muslim-Americans by their fellow Americans, not to mention the dearth of successful domestic terrorism prosecutions, show this premise to be fault. History demonstrates the danger of advancing such premises. Not long ago, it was falsely premised that all Japanese-Americans were inclined toward espionage.

The implications of such “mapping” would have been felt well beyond Los Angeles. Despite the success of the Muslim-American community in L.A., there is no guarantee that other towns and cities won’t attempt to adopt similar “counter-terrorism” measures. Likewise, there is no assurance that the local Muslim-American community will be able to resist the imposition of such measures.

The historical lessons of Japanese-American internment — beginning with mapping — taught our country that national security goals are not served by violating civil liberties. The L.A.P.D.’s proposed measures had threatened to drop these hard-learned lessons down the memory hole. As the broader Muslim community we must keep these lessons ever-present in the American consciousness — reminding others of them when necessary — so that we’re never forced to relearn them.

____________________ 

KHURSHID KHOJA is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers and the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California