Equality And Justices

It has long been my belief that the greatness of America has arisen in large part out of the diversity of her peoples. Before the war, peoples of Japanese ancestry were a small but valuable element in our population. Their record of law-abiding, industrious citizenship was surpassed by no other group. Their contributions to the arts, agriculture and science were indisputable evidence that the majority of them believed in America and were growing with America. Then war came with the nation of their parental origin. The ensuing two and a half years have brought heartache: to many in our population. Among the casualties of war has been America's Japanese minority. lt is my hope that the wounds which it has received in the great uprooting will heal. lt is my prayer that other Americana will fully realize that to condone the whittling away of the rights of any one minority group is to pave the way for us all to lose the guarantees of the Constitution. As the President has said "Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart: Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry." This truth is eloquently illustrated by the photographs on the following pages. Harold L. Ickes Secretary of the Interior July, 1944