I gotta give it to Michelle Malkin. Taking the subject of Japanese internment onto College campuses takes guts.
IN DEFENSE OF INTERNMENT BOOK TOUR
By malkin
Last night's speech at U.C. Berkeley is covered here. It was a remarkable event. Many thanks to the Berkeley College Republicans and those who came, and heartfelt apologies to the hundreds of supporters who could not get in to the lecture hall due to the limited number of seats. Pre-event news coverage and op-eds can be viewed here, here, and here.
Today, I'm flying to Los Angeles to speak at USC Law School. Friday, I'll be signing books at Borders Books in Puyallup, Wash.
My American University speech, which was scheduled for Monday, September 13, has been cancelled. My host, the AU College Republicans, informed me yesterday that "because of the issue of Japanese internment, our club is taking a lot of flack from the Administration here at American University. In so many words or less, our future funding is in serious jeapordy (sic)." In a subsequent e-mail sent early this morning, my host stated that "Staff members for the Bush campaign itself have frowned on us for having an event centered on the internment of Japanese Americans." I offered to change the event from a speech to a debate, but apparently some folks at AU and/or the Bush campaign share Danny Westneat's view that internment ought not even be debated, let alone defended in a stand-alone speech.
As far as I know, my Johns Hopkins speech, scheduled for Wednesday September 15th, is still on. The event is slated to begin at 8 pm at Shriver Auditorium. For more information, contact Eric Wolkoff at edw@jhu.edu.
I'll have more to say about the Berkeley speech, the news coverage of it, and the AU cancellation in the days to come. In the meantime, here is the Daily Cal's picture of me. (As usual, I am not tall enough to reach the microphone.)
michellemalkin.com
Michelle Malkin Defends Racial Profiling in Speech
Roughly 75 Protesters Interrupt Speech With Chants of ‘Shame’
BY Andrea V. Hernandez
Contribution Writer
Thursday, September 9, 2004
Drawing more than 250 people to Dwinelle Hall last night, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin took an unconventional stance in her speech as she justified America’s Japanese internment policy and post-Sept.11 racial profiling practices.
Calling these policies necessary for national security during wartime, Malkin, an author and Fox News Channel commentator, said “civil libertarians” use the “internment card” too much, drawing on Japanese internment to counter current racial profiling practices.
“Misguided guilt about the past continues to hamper our ability to prevent future terrorist attacks,” she said.
Drawing on her research of government documents, exhibits and textbooks, Malkin said that nearly half of World War II internees were European, which she said is glossed over in textbooks.
Malkin also said there was a serious threat of Japanese invasion, pointing to intercepted intelligence messages describing Japanese government officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu monitoring military shipments into West Coast.
Malkin tries to fill in what she said is left out of school books in her controversial new book, “In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror.”
Malkin was met with nearly 75 students and activists gathered in front of Dwinelle Hall holding fliers and picket signs, some not only protesting her visit but also the Bush administration and budget cuts.
“It’s harmful to spread this type of ideology, to justify racial profiling,” said Evonne Lai, co-chair of the Asian Pacific Council, who was protesting Malkin’s book.
Some students were skeptical of the facts presented in her book.
“The thesis of Malkin’s book is not only factually incorrect but dangerous —dangerous in our current political situation and incredibly insensitive to the victims of this denial of justice,” said junior Matt Tokeshi.
Dozens hoping to hear Malkin speak, including many demonstrators, were shut out of the full auditorium.
With chants of “shame” seeping in from outside of the room and protesters banging on the door, Malkin had to stop her speech periodically to be heard.
“The real shame is that people are too close-minded to consider the evidence I have,” Malkin said, adding they “don’t understand what a liberal education truly is.”
Malkin emphasized she did not advocate “rounding up all Arabs and Muslims and tossing them into camps.”
The inconveniences of profiling should not be any reason to hinder national security, she said. Inconveniences are preferable to being “incinerated at an office desk by a flaming, hijacked plane,” she said, which elicited cheers from the audience.
“Wartime profiling has nothing to do with prejudice,” she said. “It’s a matter of life and death.”
Malkin also said she should not be classified as a “right-wing pundit,” adding she is critical of the Bush administration's profiling measures.
“There are profiling measures already built into our laws ... that were not being implemented,” she said. “I think the Bush administration bears responsibility for these failures.”
Some students from Berkeley College Republicans, which sponsored the event, said Malkin presented enough evidence to back up her claims.
“I do agree with her point on racial profiling,” said Amaury Gallais, president of BCR. “It’s a very important practice that we need to put in place in order to improve our national security.”
Contact Andrea V. Hernandez at newsdesk@dailycal.org.
(c) 2003 The Daily Californian
Berkeley, CA
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