Lighting the National Christmas Tree

At the beginning of December, hundreds of people gathered on the Ellipse of the White House to see the lighting of the National Christmas Tree by the First Family, an event I was fortunate enough to witness. The tree lighting has been an American tradition for more than 90 years.

Photo: thenationaltree.org

On December 24, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the first "White House community Christmas tree" in Washington, DC with just the touch of a button. While there had been other trees in DC, this tree was meant to be the National Christmas Tree, rather than a Washington, DC Christmas tree.  

Photo: whitehousehistory.org

The tradition continued until World War II. During America's participation in World War II, the National Christmas Tree was not lit until 1945. President Truman called the Christmas of 1945 one that "a war-weary world has prayed for through long and awful years. With peace comes joy and gladness. The gloom of the war years fades as once more we light the National Community Christmas Tree."

Photo: georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov

In 1963, the lighting of the Christmas tree was again the turning point from grief to joy. After the assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, the lighting of the tree was postponed until after the mandatory 30 days of mourning. President Johnson said, "Tonight we come to the end of the season of great national sorrow, and to the beginning of the season of great, eternal joy. We mourn our great president, John F. Kennedy, but he would have us go on. While our spirits cannot be light, our hearts need not be heavy."

Photo: transition.lbjlibrary.org

Through happy celebrations and sorrowful times, the lighting of the National Christmas Tree has signaled a moment to reflect and to celebrate joy. At this year's lighting ceremony, President Obama spoke about the families of the victims of the San Bernadino terrorist attack: "This is of course the most wonderful time of the year, but we would be remiss not to take a moment to remember our fellow Americans whose hearts are heavy tonight. Grieve for loved ones, especially in San Bernadino, California. Their loss is our loss too. For we are all one American family. We look out for each other, in good times and in bad. They should know that all of us care about them this holiday season. They are in our thoughts, they are in our prayers and we send them our love."

Photo: Hilary Grabowska

"The Only Thing We Have to Fear"

December 7th, 1941, is "a date which will live in infamy," the day "the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan", despite not being a combatant in World War II. It was the date that launched the US into the war, in both Pacific and European theaters.

Photo: worldwariifoundation.org

Prior to the attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Americans were by and large concerned with American affairs; the nation was in an era of isolationism after the horrors of World War I. With the surprise attack, however, public opinion changed and the country went to war. Views of Japanese-Americans also changed, and not for the better. 

Photo: ibiblio.org

Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US and Japan were in negotiations to remain at peace. The surprise attack on Hawaii was viewed as very subversive and many believed that Japanese in Hawaii helped with the attack. This belief turned Americans against their neighbors of Japanese descent and led to President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, issued on February 19th, 1942. 

Photo: warhistoryonline.com (Roosevelt signing EO 9066)

EO 9066 established military zones in which people of Japanese decent were not allowed. The entire west coast was declared a military zone and many Japanese-Americans were relocated to interior America or to internment camps. In Hawaii, Japanese-Americans were placed in an internment camp on Sand Island not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The fear was that these citizens supported Japan and had assisted with the attack, but there was no evidence to prove this. One incident in which a Japanese pilot crash landed on a remote Hawaiian island and was aided by Japanese immigrants helped to spur on the anti-Japanese hysteria and EO 9066.

General John DeWitt of the Western Defense Command was very vocal about placing Americans of Japanese descent in internment camps, without any military reason; simply put, he was prejudiced against Japanese "undesirables," suspecting--again, without any evidence or indication--that they would engage in sabotage.

Photo: npr.gov (Honouliuli Internment Camp)

On August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. This Act formally apologized to the Japanese-American community for their unjust incarceration during World War II and paid $20,000 to each of the survivors of the camps. When the Japanese-Americans were released from the internment camps, they wanted to put that very embarrassing part of their past behind them.

But with the Civil Rights Movement, the Japanese-American community began to seek an apology from the American government. They were not fueled by a desire for financial gain but rather to make life better for future generations of Japanese-Americans, in fulfillment of a Japanese family value: "Kodomo no tame ni," For the sake of the children.

Photo: internmentarchives.com

With the rise of DAESH (the Arabic name for ISIL or ISIS) and the recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, many Americans are succumbing to their fear of others and Islam in particular, which is resulting in calls for tracking all American Muslims, placing them in camps, refusing to allow refugees into the country and, most recently, even a call by a Christian university president to "end those Muslims."

The fear of Japanese-Americans during World War II was unfounded and caused a lot of people undue harm. Many Japanese-Americans enlisted in the military to fight against the Axis Powers. These people who were forced from their homes still fought for their country because they were loyal American citizens and the rest of the country had no reason to fear them. 

We must learn from our terrible mistake of unjust, forced internment of Japanese-Americans, German-Americans and Italian-Americans, and not give in to fear. By giving in to fear and discriminating against American Muslims, we assist DAESH in succeeding in its mission to spread terror and divisiveness.

As President Roosevelt so eloquently said in his inauguration speech: "...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He could have been talking about today's hysterical and unAmerican fear of American Muslims.

Photo: americanrhetoric.com