Ferguson Fights Labeling War Internment as Racist

Igniting an acrimonious debate, Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) on Thursday attacked a resolution calling for California schoolchildren to be taught that the Japanese internment during World War II was a violation of human rights, not an act of military necessity.

Ferguson, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and veteran of three wars, touched a nerve among his colleagues when he stood during a full Assembly session and shouted his objections to a resolution that blamed the internment on “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”

“I don’t mind you saying that it was a failure of political leadership for Franklin Roosevelt,” he said in a slap at the Democrats, “but what you’re saying is that the brave men and women of this country--your fathers and mothers and your grandfathers--were a bunch of racists. And that’s why they did this.

“Of course they made a bad decision. It was a terrible thing to do. But 50 years (later), sitting in this chamber, when the biggest risk in your lives is getting reelected or safe sex, what right do you have to question the motives of your fathers and mothers and your grandfathers and uncles?”

Ferguson’s diatribe touched off an unusually emotional verbal skirmish, during which fellow lawmakers ganged up on the Orange County conservative and accused him of trying to whitewash history.

The strongest condemnation came from Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento), whose wife was placed in a Japanese internment camp when she was 4 years old.

“I hesitate to say that your opinion is contemptible, and I will not,” Isenberg said in a tight voice. “I will say this: It is deeply offensive to every single piece of what this country is about, and you should be ashamed.”

The fight was over a non-binding resolution, sponsored by Assemblywoman Jackie Speier (D-S. San Francisco), that calls on school officials and textbook manufacturers to revise accounts of the internment by describing it as a mass violation of human rights.

Traditional Excuses

Such an “accurate and objective” account of how the government imprisoned 110,000 Japanese should drop the traditional excuse of national security, the resolution says.

Before Thursday, the Speier resolution had moved quietly through both houses of the Legislature with nary a negative vote.

But when it came back to the 80-member Assembly for final approval of amendments made by the Senate, many Republicans abstained. Even with most Democrats supporting the measure, it passed by a single-vote majority, 41-10.

In addition to Ferguson, three members of the Orange County delegation voted against the resolution: Dennis Brown (R-Los Alamitos), Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach) and Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove).

Present but not voting were Doris Allen (R-Cypress), Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad), Ross Johnson (R-La Habra) and John R. Lewis (R-Orange).

As the debate opened, Ferguson--famous for his attempts to have former anti-Vietnam War demonstrator Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) declared a traitor and ousted from the Assembly--stood up to ask for a one-week postponement so he could rally veterans groups against the resolution.

Ferguson said he was “sick of this liberal trashing of America” and fumed at what he said was the ungrateful second-guessing of his younger peers.

“Perhaps all of the 17- and 18-year-old kids who joined and fought for you, that was the dumbest decision we ever made, maybe,” said Ferguson, who fought during World War II. “Maybe by now you’d all be speaking Japanese or maybe you’d all be speaking German by now.

“Yes, we did make some dumb decisions, but who are you to sit here and call your parents racist because they made a decision that they thought was important and needed at the time?

“Now, many of them regret it, but they don’t want their grandchildren ordered to be taught by this Assembly and this Legislature . . . that their grandparents were racist, that their grandparents wanted to . . . deny the human rights of people.

“How in the world would you know that it was a military necessity or not? Many of you were just a gleam in the eye of your parents who were making those decisions.”

Assemblyman Pete Chacon (D-San Diego) took exception to Ferguson’s remarks and said the debate over the resolution came down to one question: “Are we going to be honest or not?

“We have said over and over again that countries like Soviet Russia rewrite history to suit their attitudes and ideas,” Chacon continued. “This is what Mr. Ferguson would like to do. He would like the truth not be told to our children in the schools.”

Speier parried Ferguson’s objections by pointing out that her resolution was “carefully worded” to reflect the findings of a special federal commission convened by former President Reagan to study the Japanese internment.

“What we’re saying to our young people is, ‘Yes, we do make mistakes,’ Mr. Ferguson,” Speier said. “ ‘We have made mistakes in many wars. We make mistakes every single day of our lives, and we can’t be ashamed of that fact.’

“There is racism that exists in this country today. We can’t apologize for that fact, but we have to do our level best to make sure our young people are raised in an environment where they do not tolerate racism.”

Audrey Yamagata-Noji, a Santa Ana Unified School District trustee and former member of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, reacted with outrage when she learned of Ferguson’s floor debate. Her parents were among the thousands sent to internment camps during the war.

“I heard the comments that Mr. Ferguson made,” Yamagata-Noji said, “and I think it just demonstrates his racist attitudes and ill will toward Japanese-Americans. When you consider the fact that over 60% of those interned were American citizens and that around 33,000 Japanese-Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, it’s really disgusting that we would continue to be harassed over 40 years later.”

Here is the roll call by which the Assembly voted final passage of the resolution:

Democrats for (39): Bane, Bates, W. Brown, Burton, Calderon, R. Campbell, Chacon, Condit, Connelly, Cortese, Costa, Eastin, Eaves, Epple, Farr, Floyd, Friedman, Hannigan, Harris, Hauser, Hayden, Hughes, Isenberg, Johnston, Katz, Killea, Klehs, Lempert, Moore, Murray, O’Connell, Peace, Roybal-Allard, Sher, Speier, Tanner, Tucker, M. Waters, N. Waters.

Republicans for (2): Chandler, Woodruff.

Democrats against (1): Clute.

Republicans against (9): Baker, D. Brown, Ferguson, Frizzelle, Harvey, Mountjoy, Pringle, Seastrand, Wyman.

Not voting or absent (29): Allen, Areias, Bader, Bentley, Bronzan, Elder, Felando, Filante, Frazee, Hansen, Hill, Johnson, Jones, Kelley, La Follette, Lancaster, Leslie, Lewis, Margolin, McClintock, Mojonnier, Nolan, Polanco, Quackenbush, Roos, Statham, Vasconcellos, Wright.