I read with dismay Carl Doerner’s column suggesting that Roosevelt was blameless regarding the incarceration of Japanese Americans [“Don’t blame Roosevelt for incarcertaion of Japanese Americans,” Recorder, July 14]. I usually like the writer’s columns a lot but this one was both misleading and Trumpian.
In essence he said it wasn’t FDR’s fault, let’s blame Lt. General John DeWitt! Oh please. Rumor was that FDR was “commander and chief,” not DeWitt. Roosevelt could have issued orders insuring the rights of the incarcerated, and treating them as sacrificing patriots rather than suspected traitors whose property, jobs, and reputations were ruined.
The one-sentence paragraph starting with “The president’s order is humane …” is duplicitous. And I thought he was following in the footsteps of the great Howard Zinn. Regrettably, not so.
Tom Tolg
Greenfield