Adnana Mustedanagic: Talk of internment frightening and un-American

Vanessa Varin, author of “Talk of registering Muslims stirs echoes of an awful past,” (Opinion, Nov. 24) discusses how the Japanese Internment camps are a part of the Valley’s history we should learn from. Varin says president-elect Donald Trump’s adviser, Carl Higbie, has stated Japanese internment camps are a precedent for plans to track Muslims.

Coming from a Muslim family background, it is appalling to witness such a backwards movement. The Japanese internment camps brought no justice nor did they prevent future attacks. Individuals were subjected to cruel treatment due to only their ancestry and features.

Now we must bear the possibility that those who have made this country their home, aiming to make a better life, will be subject to poor treatment due only to their religious affiliations. Many Muslims all over the United States have committed good deeds and helped their neighbors, but are being reprimanded for actions of a few.

Blaming the entire population of American citizens for the attacks on Pearl Harbor, or stereotyping African Americans as violent, or associating all Muslims with terrorists for the acts committed by ISIS is only creating scapegoats – not justice.

The time for blame and targeting individuals needs to end. Then, and only then, will society be able to grow past the hatred that is being pushed onto us.

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Adnana Mustedanagic: Talk of internment frightening and un-American."