Do Not Call This "Our Pearl Harbor" or "9/11 Moment"

And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.



Surgeon General Warns of 'Our Pearl Harbor Moment'
Forecasting the nation's struggle with COVID-19, the Surgeon General issued grave warnings to the American public, saying the coming week -- when the outbreak is expected to reach its peak in places like New York -- will be "our Pearl Harbor" or "our 9/11 moment." This is just more dangerous rhetoric to equate our country's situation to a foreign attack, and divert attention from this administration’s monumental public health response failure. The only similarities to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor are the everyday Americans who will be targeted and harmed in the racist fallout.

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Asian Americans Face Attacks During COVID-19 Pandemic
Some follow up on the jogger who was assaulted by two women in Naperville, Illinois last month... The original reporting left out the fact that the victim was Asian, and the attack was indeed a hate crime. According to WBEZ, a 60-year-old Chinese American was running along a trail when one of the women threw a log at him, accused him of being sick, told him to "go back to China," and spat at him.

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Nothing like a global crisis to bring out peoples true colors. There’s no excuse for the flagrant racism that Asian people have experienced in this pandemic. I don’t care where or when this guy served, he’s a piece of shit. pic.twitter.com/Y5msOyoQHS

— Maximilian Uriarte (@TLCplMax) April 5, 2020

"THANKS CHINKS"
Spotted on Twitter. Yes, he's wearing it inside out.

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"Due to the Chinese Communist Party FILTH VIRUS..."
This sign was spotted last week taped outside the doors of Real Estate Depot ("For all your Real Estate needs!") in Reno, Nevada. It reads: "To Tenants: Due to the Chinese Communist Party FILTH VIRUS we are trying to avoid close communication with our clients. Please knock on the door if the light is on...." Classy.

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Anick Jesdanun, Longtime AP Technology Writer, Dies at 51
Anick Jesdanun, deputy technology editor for The Associated Press, died in New York City on April 2 of coronavirus-related complications. He was 51. For two decades, he was a journalist who helped a generation of readers understand the emerging internet and its impact on the world.

This Is Who The FBI Came For After Pearl Harbor

Remember the lives lost and the lives forever changed.



Today, December 7, marks the 76th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Hours following the attack, the FBI began rounding up and detaining leaders in the Japanese American community from their homes without due process of law. Filmmaker Tad Nakamura's grandfather was one of those taken.

This one-minute video for the Nikkei Democracy Project, made with documentary footage from Something Strong Within (by Tad's parents, Bob Nakamura and Karen Ishizuka), is not only a reminder of lives lost in the attack, but the lives forever changed by fear and bigotry.

The Most Idiotic Way to Commemorate December 7

Erick Erickson's parents apparently never forgave the entire continent of Asia for Pearl Harbor.



December 7 marks the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the so-called "Day of Infamy" that led to the United States' entry into World War II. Conservative pundit Erick Erickson -- who most recently was in the news for shooting a front-page New York Times editorial calling for gun control -- to share a fond childhood recollection of how his family used to observe Pearl Harbor Day: with shameless racism and xenophobia.

Erickson tweeted:

Virginia mayor rejects Syrian refugees, because it worked so well when we locked up Japanese Americans

"It seems to me to be better safe than sorry."



This is troubling on a dozen levels. In Virginia, the mayor of Roanoke joined the growing chorus of intolerance, calling for the suspension of help in relocating Syrian refugees to the area. To make matters worse, he cited the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as historical precedent for his reasoning. Oh hell no.

Roanoke Mayor David Bowers: No Syrian refugees to Roanoke Valley until security assured

On Wednesday, Mayor David A. Bowers issued an unsolicited statement requesting area governments and nongovernmental agencies to suspend and delay any further Syrian refugee assistance "until normalcy is restored," warning of safety concerns in the wake of the apparent bombing of a Russian airliner, Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris and threats on Washington DC.

"I am convinced that it is presently imprudent to assist in the relocation of Syrian refugees to our part of Virginia," Bowers said his statement, which also vowed to "protect Roanokers from harm and danger from this present scourge upon the earth." Oh, but wait, it gets much worse.

Newspaper compares Japanese wrestling win to Pearl Harbor

"Japan has never had such an easy time of it since their surprise attack on Pearl Harbour..."



I'm sure this reporter thought he was being rather clever.

This week, The Cochrane Times, a weekly publication out of Alberta, Canada, ran a story about visitors from the Japanese National High School Wrestling Team defeating a local team. The best way to describe the match, of course, was to liken the Japanese wrestlers' win to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Cochrane Times compares Japanese wrestling win to Pearl Harbor

Seriously, it's been over seventy years, and that is the best you can do? The reporter, Patrick Price, invokes the Pearl Harbor reference in his very first paragraph. Couldn't wait to bust that one out:

On the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Twitter remembers "the damn japs"

Today marks the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because I just couldn't help myself, I took to Twitter and did a quick-and-dirty search to see if "observances" were taking the form of unhealthy anti-Japanese sentiment. Why the hell did I bother looking? Sometimes you already know what's coming: