Powerful PSA on internment asks: Is History Repeating Itself?

Executive produced by Katy Perry. Yes, that Katy Perry.



Amidst xenophobic rhetoric and disconcerting discussions of a Muslim registry, it's not hard to draw parallels between modern day Islamophobia and the fears that led to the incarceration of innocent Japanese Americans during World War II. This PSA, directed by Aya Tanimura and Tim Nackashi, and executive produced by Katy Perry(!), makes the case that registries are the first steps to history repeating itself.

This two and half minute clip features a brief interview with Haru Kuromiya, an 89-year-old American woman of Japanese heritage who grew up in Riverside, California. She recalls how her family was put on a registry and eventually taken off to an internment camp, where they were incarcerated for four years.

Then Haru stops talking and does something unexpected...

Man pleads no contest in hate crime against Sikh man

David Hook accused Balmeet Singh of "trying to blow up this country" before throwing a drink at him.



This week in Bakersfield, California, a man accused of yelling racial slurs, threatening violence and throwing a drink at a Sikh man back in September has pleaded no contest to hate crime charges.

Man accused in Sikh hate crime takes plea deal

40-year-old David Hook was accused of attacking Balmeet Singh outside a restaurant on September 30. Hook approached Singh and began cursing and yelling racial slurs at him. He told Singh, "You're trying to blow up this country. I should... kill you right now," before throwing a cup of soda on him.

Singh shared about the incident in a video posted to YouTube in October:

900+ Asian American Studies Scholars Issue Collective Statement Decrying Trump’s Proposed Muslim Registry

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate



Over 900 Asian American Studies scholars from across the United States issued a joint statement today decrying President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposal to create a national registry of Muslims and Muslim Americans.

Trump has repeatedly said that as president he would institute aggressive measures to limit immigration of Muslims into the country and to place Muslims currently within the United States’ borders under close scrutiny. He has promised to halt the entry of Syrian refugees and to also ban immigration from a number of countries -- including Pakistan and the Philippines -- with large Muslim populations. He is quoted as suggesting the creation of a national database of Muslim and Muslim Americans -- a proposal that is likely unconstitutional -- and he staffed his White House transition team with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of the highly controversial NSEERS registry system which was used to monitor the movement of Muslim immigrants under George W. Bush and the first half of the Obama administration.

Earlier this month, Trump surrogate Carl Higbie went on Fox News to defend Trump’s alarming proposals to register Muslims and Muslims Americans. In an appearance on The Kelly File, Higbie suggested that Trump’s proposal for a national Muslim registry has legal precedent: Japanese American incarceration during World War II (for a note on language, see JACL’s Power of Words handbook).

It should come as no surprise that Asian American Studies scholars have something to say about that dubious line of reasoning.

Hate letters to mosques threaten genocide against Muslims

"He's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews."



Dispatches from Trump America... In California, a hate letter threatening genocide against Muslims was sent to three mosques, warning that Donald Trump would "do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews."

Letters threatening genocide against Muslims and praising Trump sent to multiple California mosques

The same handwritten, photocopied letter, addressed to "the children of Satan," was sent last week to the Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose. The author promises, among other things, that Trump will "cleanse America and make it shine again."

Indian man sucker punched in hate crime attack

"Things are different now."



Dispatches from Trump America... This week in Pittsburgh, a man was arrested for assaulting an Indian man at a restaurant after calling him racial slurs and apparently mistaking him for what he called a "f*cking Muslim."

Man arrested on charges of ethnic intimidation, assault at South Hills Village mall

54-year-old Jeffrey Burgess allegedly told Ankur Mehta, who was sitting next to him at the bar at a Red Robin Restaurant, that "things are different now" and "I don't want you sitting next to me -- you people."

He then reportedly called Mehta a "sand n**ger" and a "f*cking Muslim" before launching an unprovoked attack, hitting him four or five more times in the face with his elbows and fists. Mehta, by the way, is not Muslim -- not that it matters, because this guy was clearly out to start some racist shit with "you people."

Man faces hate crime charge in attack on Sikh man

"You're trying to blow up this country. I should... kill you right now."



In Bakersfield, California, hate crime charges have been filed against a man who allegedly accosted a Sikh man outside a restaurant last month, threatening to kill him and accusing him of "trying to blow up this country."

Hate crime charge filed in attack on Sikh man outside Bakersfield restaurant

According to the Kern County District Attorney office, 40-year-old David Hook approached Balmeet Singh outside a restaurant on September 30 and began cursing and yelling racial slurs at him. He told Singh, "You're trying to blow up this country. I should... kill you right now," before throwing a cup of soda on him.

Singh shared about the incident in a video posted to YouTube earlier this month:

Man arrested in racist attack on Indian motel manager

Brandon Kilgore called Preet Moudgil a "terrorist," threatened him with a knife and broke into his home.



"All he saw was a brown man." In Washington state, a man was arrested after calling an Indian American motel owner and his family "terrorists," threatening them with a knife and breaking into their home.

Victim in Kettle Falls assault says family was targeted for their skin color

28-year-old Brandon Kilgore is accused of coming after Preet Moudgil and his family with a knife, breaking into their apartment in a racist rampage. Later, Kilgore told a police officer, "I was trained to kill people like them."

Moudgil, who manages the Kettle Falls Inn, says that Kilgore came into the motel lobby on Saturday asking for a shower seat. He then asked Moudgil if he knew about Guantanamo Bay and made other racist comments.

Oh hell, you can probably guess where this was going.

Video: Japanese American Internees Read "Letters From Camp" with Muslim Kids

Young Muslim Americans read letters written by incarcerated Japanese American during World War II.



During World War II, the United States government forcibly and unjustly incarcerated more than 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans without due process. Half of them were children.

In this short film by Frank Chi, produced for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, young Muslim Americans read letters written by Japanese Americans while incarcerated in camps during World War II.

Although these two groups are separated by generations, it's a powerful reminder of the parallels -- of prejudice, persecution and perseverance -- between these two communities, and our tenuous relationship with the past, which is constantly on the brink of only a few simple, dark turns from repeating itself.

"It's just not an option for us to throw another community under the bus."

The Daily's Show's Hasan Minhaj talks to Sikhs about how Islamophobia is affecting their community.



Since 9/11, the rise of Islamophobia has targeted groups indiscriminately with hate speech and violence. Sikhs, who wear a turban as an article of faith, have often been mistaken for Muslims. But as this Daily Show segment demonstrates, you won't find the Sikh community throwing Muslims under the bus.

Hasan Minhaj -- aka "Brown Ryan Seacrest" -- recently sat down with designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia and other Sikhs to find out how Islamophobia is affecting their community. Despite Hasan's urging to Sikhs to attempt to blend in, deflect and declare "We're not Muslim!" the group of individuals gathered here says they won't compromise their values -- as Sikhs and as Americans.

2016 Los Angeles Community Day of Remembrance

Saturday, February 20 at the Japanese American National Museum



If you are in Southern California, the Japanese American National Museum invites you to join them for the 2016 Los Angeles Community Day of Remembrance, the annual commemoration of President Franklin Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forcible removal and incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II.

In light of recent events, this year's Day of Remembrance program will focus on Islamophobia and the backlash Muslim Americans have faced following terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, exploring parallels between the experiences of those groups and that of Japanese Americans during World War II.

It's happening Saturday, February 20 at the Japanese American National Museum. Here are more details:

Bronx man attacked by suspects who shouted "ISIS!"

NYPD investigating the assault on Mujibur Rahman as an anti-Muslim hate crime.



On Friday in the Bronx, a Muslim man wearing traditional South Asian clothing was attacked by two suspects who shouted "ISIS! ISIS!" while they assaulted him. NYPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Assailants Yell 'ISIS! ISIS!' During Attack on Man in Bronx, Police Say

43-year-old Mujibur Rahman was dressed in a shalwar kameez and walking his 9-year-old niece home from school early Friday evening when two suspects approached them from behind and attacked him.

The suspects, who are believed to be teenagers, shouted, "ISIS! ISIS!"

'Allegiance' has been saving a seat for Donald Trump

George Takei calls on Trump to denounce racial/religious profiling and invites him to his Broadway musical.



Donald Trump has a standing open invitation to attend a performance of the Broadway musical Allegiance, issued by star George Takei himself. They've even been saving a seat for him at every performance.

Last week, Takei issued a video response to Trump's recent comments regarding both the Muslim community and Japanese American internment camps. The Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. and could not definitively say whether or not he would have supported the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. His supporters seem to think it was a good idea.

Man attacks restaurant workers in anti-Muslim tirade

26-year-old Robert Murino arrested on hate crime charges.



There have been so many of these incidents lately, it's hard to keep them straight. In New York, a man was arrested on hate crime charges for assaulting South Asian restaurant workers and throwing chairs into a glass partition after demanding to know if the employees were Muslim.

'Muslim motherf*cker': NY man launches glass-smashing attack on cafe staffers

The incident occurred last week at the Salt & Pepper restaurant in Herald Square, where 26-year-old Robert Murino ordered a slice of pizza then began questioning workers -- who hail from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh -- about their religion and opinions of ISIS, and called an employee a "Muslim motherfucker."

Part of the incident was caught on camera. Murino can be seen reaching across the counter and slapping an employee in the face. Later, he is seen picking up chairs and smashing them into glass partitions.

Robber calls store clerk 'terrorist,' shoots him in the face

Police are investigating the robbery as a hate crime.



What the hell is going on, America? This shit is out of control. In Michigan, a robber called an Indian convenience store clerk a "terrorist" and accused him of being in ISIS before shooting him the face. Police say they are investigating the robbery as a hate crime.

Robber called store clerk 'terrorist' before shooting him in face, worker says

Thankfully, the victim survived and is expected to recover.

On Saturday night, an armed robber entered Bottlenecks Food and Drink Shop in Grand Rapids and demanded money from the 34-year-old store worker, who is of Indian descent. Then the robber led him to a back storage room where he put the barrel of a long gun into the worker's mouth.

Sikh temple vandalized with anti-Muslim hate graffiti

A truck parked at an Orange County Sikh temple was tagged with "Fuck ISIS."



In Buena Park, California, a Sikh temple was vandalized with anti-Muslim profanity just days after the mass shooting in San Bernadino. Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Hate Crime Inquiry Opened Into Vandalism of Sikh Temple in California

On Sunday morning, community members discovered graffiti on the exterior of the Gurdwara Singh Sabha. Someone had also spray-painted gang tags and "FUCK ISIS" on a tractor-trailer in the temple's parking lot.