June 30, 2025 and on this day eighty-one years ago in 1944, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ article, “Our Japanese Problem, was published in the Hawaii magazine. Burroughs. Burroughs was an unapologetic patriot and one might have expected a diatribe against the Japanese. It that’s what people expected they were disappointed. The article totally supported Japanese Americans, especially Japanese American soldiers. Burroughs condemned those who didn’t accept their contributions to America and the war effort. To quote, “I cannot forget that there are thousands of [Japanese] in Italy, fighting and dying at the side of other Americans; and I cannot conceive of America repaying them by disenfranchisement and deportation. There must be found a better way, a more American way."
For an example of Japanese Americans fighting with the United States, I’m going to reference a second generation Japanese American from Gallup, New Mexico, the Medal of Honor winner, Hiroshi Miyamura who fought during the Korean War. We are honored by his service.
America was struggling about what to do about Japanese Americans once the war ended. Proposals ranged from realistic to ridiculous, from assimilation to deportation, a subject very much in today’s headlines. Burroughs encouraged Americans to find a “More American Way” to deal with the perceived problem.
The drabble for today, “Perception or Reality,” is excerpted from the article and slightly edit to be exactly 100 words in length.
"How many Japanese Americans here are loyal citizens not even they themselves know, but that they have been law-abiding citizens is beyond question. Look at their record. Statistics showing the average annual number of convictions for murder, manslaughter, robbery, burglary, fraud, embezzlement, forgery, and for all sex crimes during two six-year periods, demonstrate convincingly that the Japanese have been law-abiding.
"And as to their asserted resistance to assimilation, which I assume refers to social intercourse and inter-marriage. That cannot be justly charged against them without first proving that they have resisted assimilation more than we have, which is rather doubtful."
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