@Spendulus: We may disagree here, but I think that if I hadn't invoked the spectre of Trump, then we might more or less have the same conclusion: an apology is not sufficient; the best form of reparation would be to step up the fight against endemic racism and xenophobia. I may believe that Trump is part of the problem, but I will concede that he is at least partly a symptom as well as a cause.
it's highly relevant that 1/3 of the count were Japanese citizens. What should have been done with them? Deport them? Let them do whatever they wanted?
You do raise an important point here. A line must be drawn, but where? Let the Japanese citizens do whatever they want. Okay, but what about those Japanese citizens who have no children and no roots in the US? Those who are in the US temporarily, perhaps on holiday, and had zero intention of staying? What about Japanese holidaymakers who are also Japanese army officers? What about those who are Japanese military intelligence officers? Those who are influential figures in Japanese industry and society?
My point I suppose is that with each increase in potential threat, we reduce the numbers dramatically: most Japanese citizens who are also US citizens....
As I understand what happened, for the first generation immigrants (about 1/3 of the 120k) none of them were. Of the 2nd generation, those would have citizenship by way of the abused "born in the USA, you an instant citizen" old rule. Of those, procedures vary as to whether they were instantly a citizen of the parents' country. Some countries it is instant, others there is an application procedure.
So you've got 40,000 Japanese citizens in the US and Japan started a war with us.
Welcome to the nasty, dirty, unfair real world. Whatever you do, you're fucked, and they are fucked.