History, memory and healing at Moses Lake museum

MOSES LAKE — Coping with the aftermath of historical injustice, and the lessons it can teach, are the subject of a lecture at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center Thursday.

Moses Lake native Clarence Moriwaki will talk about “History, Honor, Healing and Hope” at 7 p.m. at the museum, 401 S. Balsam St. Admission is free.

Moriwaki will talk about the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II, the subject of a recent exhibit at the museum. “My hope is that people will learn and reflect on this timeless and timely chapter in American history, when our nation allowed fear, prejudice, intolerance and a failure of political leadership to erase our constitutional rights and liberty, and be inspired to never let it happen again,” Moriwaki wrote.

In February 1942, soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government ordered the removal of about 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent as well as Japanese immigrants from parts of the West Coast. They were forced to leave behind their homes and move east of the Cascade Mountains.

The internees, about two-thirds of them American citizens, received neither the chance to contest the order nor compensation for their lost property.

The government’s action – which was, as Moriwaki wrote, unconstitutional – had its roots in the anxious years of the 1930s, and the fear of sabotage and saboteurs. The fear was everywhere, especially after 1936 and the claim of a Spanish Civil War general that saboteurs (the “Fifth Column” of his forces) were hiding in his opponents’ territory.

Fifth columnists showed up in movies, novels and comic books, but the concern went far beyond pop culture. Governments all around the world formulated top-secret plans to combat possible sabotage and subversion.

Americans of Japanese descent were among those who paid the price for what turned out to be a largely imaginary fear. It wasn’t true of Japanese-Americans, and it wasn’t true anywhere.

Moriwaki’s lecture traces the history of Japanese immigration, the history of Executive Order 9066 and “compares reaction (in) World War II with current events,” according to a press release from the museum.

Moriwaki is a 1974 graduate of Moses Lake High School and a former news reporter and producer with three Seattle radio stations. Currently he is the principal of Forest Edge Communication and president of the Bainbridge Island Japanese-American Community.

Moriwaki’s lecture is part of the museum’s Fall Speakers series.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.