HOMELAND INSECURITY

A Recent Communication ...

2011-10-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr Fox, 

My mother was born in the Crystal City internment camp to Costa Rican parents of German descent. I am trying to find out more about the camp and my mom's and grandparents' journey. My grandparents never liked to talk about it much and have since passed away, but my mother has found and kept some documents and tickets which we have recently been going over. I also had an uncle was on the Graff Spee, which of course sank.  He apparently swam to shore with some friends and made his way back to Costa Rica.

I just started reading American Gulag -- just today -- and I'm hoping to learn more about the experiences of my family and so many others in your book.  I am also trying to research my family's experience on my own and would be hugely grateful if you could offer any advice. I am also looking for photos of the Crystal City camp, and information on the Gripsholm, which is the ship that took them back to Germany.  I am also trying to find some kind  of documentation of their being processed and passaged to Germany. I'm not quite sure if that exists or where to start looking.  Any advice?

Regards,

"A"

Freedom of Information or Subtle Surveillance by Big Government?

2011-01-30T17:38:00.000-08:00

Rep. Issa says he wants to increase the efficiency of the FOI process, to require that agencies make quicker responses. But to do this he (the government) wants to know who is making the requests. I'm not persuaded that this isn't a means of intimidating those who want the information, to which they are legally entitled. And why is this staunch Republican trying the expand the role of government when the Republican mantra is that government is the problem? How much will this cost, Rep, Issa?

I made hundreds of FOI requests for this book in the 1990s. At that time, requests to the FBI were only answered 4-6 years later, and in some cases, only partially. So I am supportive of any requirement that the agencies respond promptly, but I have serious reservations about tracking those making the requests, and I have to chuckle at the hypocrisy of people like Issa who claim to like smaller government but have no reluctance in encouraging and permitting governmental invasion of privacy, be it the bedroom or elsewhere.

Opinion on the New York verdict

2010-11-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

A couple of New York Times readers voice opinions on the recent trial and conviction of a Guantánamo detainee. (See previous entry re military commissions v. civilian courts.)

Military commissions or civilian courts?

2010-11-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

This opinion piece was of particular interest to me, as one of my chapters deals with the controversy during World War II. You'll have to read the book to know how it turned out. :)

To regret or not to regret

2010-11-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

Regret is one of history's hard knock lessons. A lesson unlearned in some quarters.

Sources and Notes for "Homeland Insecurity"

2010-11-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

I have added a link (just click on the title of this post or look just below the "Slideshow" on the left) to my sources and notes for Homeland Insecurity. I know there are people out there who don't trust the accuracy of claims made on the Net. So, rest assured, the book is based on A LOT of research.

Steve's News & Information

2010-10-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

For some years I've maintained a collection of genealogy, news, information, and utility sites. I invite you to sample from the links and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Press Release

2010-10-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

A consumer review

2010-10-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Your book arrived in the aftn mail. I knocked-out the first three chapters this eve...(before the rack-monster go me). Seems to me that you have done a masterful job in putting a 'face' on this bit of American History...that seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of the major head-lines of the day. I particularly appreciate the mini-bios and time-lines of the players involved....and the narratives flow well. We were just kids when all of this stuff went down. Wrt the internment camps, etc, I seem to recall my Mother saying...'Boys, this is just not right'...or words to that effect. While we don't have many of German heritage in our area, we do have loads of Italians...and prejudice often prevailed back then...but none of it was inculcated or tolerated at home. Well, Steve, you can deduce that I'm hooked on your book...and hope to finish it before college football grabs center stage again this week-end. Thanks again, Jim

FBI Misbehavior: Same old, same old...

2010-09-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Be sure to read this story from the New York Times. I wish I had a nickel for each time this has happened!

Ft. Lincoln Planning Conference - May 30-June 2, 2010

2010-06-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Several dozen former German and Japanese internees, internment and relocation scholars, and Native Americans gathered at the site of the former alien enemy internment camp, which is now the United Tribes Technical College just outside Bismarck North Dakota. Prior to its use as an internment facility from 1941-46, the site was an Army post, and, as can be seen in the photos below, many of the original brick buildings reflect the classic style of its original purpose.

The college staff was most welcoming, and they generated much enthusiasm for the conference and its goal. The planning group, consisting of representatives of the German and Japanese American communities, provided us with an efficient and well-conceived agenda. Consequently, we made productive use of every second of our time at Ft. Lincoln.

Our task was to generate ideas for a permanent memorial on the UTTC campus, representative of the nationwide system of internment camps during World War II, as well as reflective of the treatment of Native Americans.

Most of our time was devoted to small group discussions of memorial themes and design ideas, which were in turn reported out to the assemblage for further consideration.

As the sun set our final evening, conferees gathered on the old parade grounds (athletic fields during internment years), where a Lakota medicine man performed a traditional ceremony appropriately called "Wiping the Tears." All of us found it relevant to our purpose that weekend and quite moving. Thank you UTTC!

I offered some "Thoughts on Enemy Alien Internment" the last night of the conference. Apparently I had a good time doing it!

And signed some books at Barnes & Noble...

Links to news stories about the conference:

http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=40496

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/article_72d54f7c-6ece-11df-b875-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=580993

Photos from our walking tour led by author/Ft. Lincoln expert John Christgau (left). Listen here: http://tinyurl.com/24pgsdc

Is racial profiling ever an appropriate solution?

2010-05-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I received this e-mail from an old friend. Made my day:

Steve,

In moving our personal effects from MI to AZ etc., I ran across your book "The Unknown Internment" (personally autographed by the author I might add) and started reading it again. There are so many parallels with AZ that it is uncanny; 70+ years have passed but the situation is pretty much the same save for the cast of characters and without the world war. I am all for allowing immigrants to come to our country to escape persecution or to find a better life for their family but.......

How to handle those that were born in the U.S. does not pose a problem when it comes to legal status; how to handle the illegals that have been in our country for years poses a lot of problems that need a lot of thought and consideration. Rounding them all up and putting them in confinement or shipping them back would be too harsh and very expensive. There are humane ways to give them temporary legal status until they are able to earn full legal status (must be done within a specified period of time, too). In spite of the solutions considered so far I don't see our politicos in D.C. moving to solve the problem. Unless the law change in AZ moves them to act I don't see any permanent solutions any time soon.

Time for you to go to Washington, testify using your wealth of knowledge on the subject and give them the game plan on getting AZ and the rest of the nation out of this mess. Or, you could write another book except looking into the future and make it the business plan solving the current problem. (I would get my normal commission of 10% of course....)

This was just my time to weigh in. Thanks for listening.

Liberals are making the wrong case against racial profiling

2010-05-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Since the issue of racial profiling leads off my book, and it seems to be dominating current debate and punditry in the United States, I thought readers might find this article useful. I'll give you a link to the entire piece, but here, briefly, is the author's conclusion:

"Of course, sometimes racial profiling is simply baseless or counterproductive, and critics shouldn't hesitate to say so. But a key lesson of the recent debate over the Arizona law — a debate the law's critics are losing — is that profiling opponents can't win the larger argument without taking a more principled stand. Racial profiling is wrong because whatever good it does is inadequate to justify the harm it causes. At the same time, it's just not true that it's inevitably ineffective or that it's always grounded in racist falsehoods. By conceding that much, we could shift the discussion away from whether profiles are accurate and toward the real damage they do to American values and innocent people.

Kindle Edition Live!

2010-05-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Homeland Insecurity is now available in a Kindle edition from Amazon.com. $5.99. A steal. :-)

Read "Homeland Insecurity" on portable devices

2010-04-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

"Books on Board" now makes it possible to read Homeland Insecurity on the following portable devices (although desktop models are not so "portable"):

PCs & Macs
iPhone/iTouch
Astak
Bookeen
SONY Reader

The book should be available soon in a Kindle ed. at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Bismarck (Ft. Lincoln) Conference, May 31 - June 2

2010-04-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

Press release:

http://american-gulag.com/Bismarck+media.pdf

Host's press release:

http://www.uttc.edu/news/story/051210_01.asp

"Homeland Insecurity" redux

2010-03-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

There's a new book out titled Homeland Insecurity by Louise Cainkar. But the subject is different than mine ... sort of: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11.

It appears (I haven't read her book yet) that Cainkar completes the chain of events (policies toward the "other"), at least to 2010, described in my book. She answers my plaintive cry: "Can ... Will it happen again?"

I append the description of Cainkar's book from her Amazon.com page:

"In the aftermath of 9/11, many Arab and Muslim Americans came under intense scrutiny by federal and local authorities, as well as their own neighbors, on the chance that they might know, support, or actually be terrorists. As Louise Cainkar observes, even U.S.-born Arabs and Muslims were portrayed as outsiders, an image that was amplified in the months after the attacks. She argues that 9/11 did not create anti-Arab and anti-Muslim suspicion; rather, their socially constructed images and social and political exclusion long before these attacks created an environment in which misunderstanding and hostility could thrive and the government could defend its use of profiling. Combining analysis and ethnography, Homeland Insecurity provides an intimate view of what it means to be an Arab or a Muslim in a country set on edge by the worst terrorist attack in its history.

"Focusing on the metropolitan Chicago area, Cainkar conducted more than a hundred research interviews and five in-depth oral histories. In this, the most comprehensive ethnographic study of the post-9/11 period for American Arabs and Muslims, native-born and immigrant Palestinians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Iraqis, Yemenis, Sudanese, Jordanians, and others speak candidly about their lives as well as their experiences with government, public mistrust, discrimination, and harassment after 9/11. The book reveals that Arab Muslims were more likely to be attacked in certain spatial contexts than others and that Muslim women wearing the hijab were more vulnerable to assault than men, as their head scarves were interpreted by some as a rejection of American culture. Even as the 9/11 Commission never found any evidence that members of Arab- or Muslim-American communities were involved in the attacks, respondents discuss their feelings of insecurity--a heightened sense of physical vulnerability and exclusion from the guarantees of citizenship afforded other Americans.

"Yet the vast majority of those interviewed for Homeland Insecurity report feeling optimistic about the future of Arab and Muslim life in the United States. Most of the respondents talked about their increased interest in the teachings of Islam, whether to counter anti-Muslim slurs or to better educate themselves. Governmental and popular hostility proved to be a springboard for heightened social and civic engagement. Immigrant organizations, religious leaders, civil rights advocates, community organizers, and others defended Arabs and Muslims and built networks with their organizations. Local roundtables between Arab and Muslim leaders, law enforcement, and homeland security agencies developed better understanding of Arab and Muslim communities. These post-9/11 changes have given way to stronger ties and greater inclusion in American social and political life.

"Will the United States extend its values of freedom and inclusion beyond the politics of "us" and "them" stirred up after 9/11? The answer is still not clear. Homeland Insecurity is keenly observed and adds Arab and Muslim American voices to this still-unfolding period in American history."

About the Author

LOUISE A. CAINKAR is assistant professor of sociology and social justice at Marquette University.

Friday with the Rotarians

2010-03-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

Assignment: How to put a book together. Origin, research, writing, publication. I tried to cover all these topics, but invariably I got sidetracked and ran overtime. Don't seem able to avoid that.

It was a tough act to follow (the Rotarians themselves, who clearly enjoy their time together), but a great audience. Perceptive questions. Good interaction after the event. Met some fascinating people with stories of their own.

Thanks, Jerry, for inviting me to this event. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'd love to do it again!

Is "Homeland Insecurity" a conspiracy book?

2010-03-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

Definitely not, although from questions asked of me, some believe it might be.

Don't look to Homeland Insecurity for some cockeyed new theory about how FDR dragged us into war at Pearl Harbor. On the negative side, this book is about the government's prejudice, negligence, incompetence, and its lack of accountability. But it is also about the immigrant's dilemma (misunderstood by the government) and the heroism of those who stood up against unjust authority in the midst of what some have called "The Good War."

Today's book signing

2010-03-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

A thoroughly enjoyable experience, from the moment I walked in until I left. Not only did I sell a few books, I sat between some fascinating folks. One was a lady selling beautiful quilts, although they were so exquisite as to not appear to be quilts at all. And the other a group of a half-dozen authors of a famous local organic food and recipe book, Locally Delicious. Lucky me! We talked and laughed together the whole time.

(Photo: I'm the guy in the light-colored sweater on the left.)

Many thanks to everyone at the HSU bookstore, especially Diane, who made the event happen.

"Arbitrary Detention, Sentencing and Release"

2010-03-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

"Déjà vu all over again..." From The New York Times, March 4, 2010:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/us/politics/04commissions.html

From an experienced admirer...

2010-02-27T08:40:00.001-08:00

"Hi Steve,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book, Homeland Insecurity. I lived through those years and remember them well. Really, there were no surprises. I worked for the US Government for 35 years. Warm regards..."

Upcoming talk...

2010-02-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

I've been invited to speak at the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka on March 5. They'd like me to discuss how a book gets from inception to publication. As usual, I'll have to figure out an emphasis (research or publishing) and condense like mad. New topic for me. Should be challenging.

Local bookstores now have signed copies

2010-02-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Local readers can now find signed copies of my book at the HSU Bookstore, Northtown Books in Arcata, and Blake's Books in McKinleyville.

On March 4, I will be signing more books at the HSU Bookstore as part of their book fair. Hope to see you there!

A 5-star review

2010-02-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

I found this on Amazon.com (Midwest Book Review):

"When you look and talk like the enemy, few embrace you as countrymen. Homeland Insecurity: Aliens, Citizens, and the Challenge to American Civil Liberties in World War II looks at the racism that was abound during World War II, focusing on the challenges German and Italian Americans faced during this time. This racism was not only at the social level, and in many cases it was government mandated in fear of spies, stretching the constitution to its limit and in many cases, breaking it. Homeland Insecurity is a fascinating read of the darker side of America at war."

"Enemies of the People"

2010-02-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a terrific new book by Kati Marton, Enemies of the People. Marton discovers her life as a little girl - and her parents' ordeal - in the files of the Hungarian secret police, the AVO. It demonstrates, should that still be necessary, the universality of what Hanna Arendt so aptly described as the "banality of evil." Highly recommended.

Get an autographed copy from the author

2010-01-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

If you have a PayPal account and you'd like an autographed copy of my book, use the "Buy Now" button below to purchase directly from me. Or, if you prefer, send a personal check in advance. Contact me for pricing.

High praise from an unbiased source - my cousin!

2010-01-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

I read the review and commentary of your swell new book, Homeland Insecurity. This one sounds like a best seller, Steve. You are so smart, together, and talented.

"Guilty until proven forgotten about" - Stephen Colbert

2010-01-02T07:39:00.000-08:00

I use the Colbert quote (above) in my book to illustrate (with humor) one of the evils of indefinite detention in the United States during World War II. Then along comes Glenn Grenwald in Salon.com, who writes of current events (1/2/10):

"Virtually all of the 90 Yemeni detainees currently at Guantanamo have been imprisoned for years despite never having been charged with any crime. Roughly half of them have been officially "cleared for release" -- meaning even the U.S. Government believes they did nothing wrong or pose no danger to the U.S. Two weeks ago, the Obama administration, to its credit, released 6 Yemeni detainees -- after years in captivity -- because a federal court was about to grant their habeas petition on the ground that there is no evidence to justify their detention. In response, people like John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Dianne Feinstein are demanding with a monarchical wave of the hand that all Yemenis be kept imprisoned anyway and not released, and according to this morning's New York Times, the Obama administration now plans to hold the rest of them indefinitely."

"Failure to Communicate"

2009-12-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

If, as it appears, the intelligence community failed to share what individual agencies knew about the purported Christmas Day 2009 bomber BEFORE he boarded the plane, it is an eerie echo of events described in my Chapter Two. In the latter, the FBI had under surveillance for several months a German couple whose apprehension and interrogation would have revealed - prior to December 7 - the intent of the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor.

John Christgau writes:

2009-12-27T08:24:00.001-08:00

"HOMELANDINSECURITY is a gem of a book, on about six levels, from engaginganecdote to personal narrative to sweeping history, and best of all,the connections between yesterday and today."

Emeritus Faculty Luncheon

2009-12-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

Gave my book talk at the luncheon yesterday. Turnout very gratifying. I got some questions that I did a lousy job of answering. Most of theaudience knew nothing about European relocation and internment.

Enjoyed talking with old colleagues.

My thanks to Jae for arranging everything.

The book is live!

2009-11-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

My new book is now "live" and available to order. Check with your local bookstore, or order online from iUniverse (softcover, hardcover, e-book). Also available at a discount from Amazon.com.

Radio interview

2009-11-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

I just finished an interview with iUniverse Radio that will be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 14. I have posted a podcast (mp3) of the interview. Click on the link below:

RADIO BROADCAST

Additional editorial comments

2009-06-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

"Compelling reading, putting humanity into the statistics that we know exist.... A beautifully executed, provocative book."

From the publisher's editorial evaluation...

2009-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

"A very interesting and beautifully-written book. It was a pleasure to read."

Chapters: "Homeland Insecurity"

2009-03-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

Introduction

1 Profiling

2 The FBI, Spies, & Military Commissions

3 Secret Arrests, Due Process, & Habeas Corpus

4 Changing Standards of Dangerousness

5 Arbitrary Detention, Sentencing, & Release

6 Punishment, Not Security

7 Repatriation & Deportation

8 Extraordinary Rendition

9 Second-Class Citizenship

Conclusion