Monday, October 26, 2009
Results of an Effective Apollogy
By acknowledging the Japanese internment, fully explaining the situation, showing appropriate emotion towards the situation and giving reparations the American government was able to successfully provide redress for a horrible and dark point in American history. Now that a successfully redress has been made, all Americans, of Japanese descent or not, can move past the event, even though many will never forget. Several internment camps still stand today as national monuments, and the stories of the internees have been written into the history books. These memories and monuments about the internment stand as testaments to future Americans. They remind the American people to never make the same mistake again. The apology towards Japanese Americans reaffirms, in President Reagan's words, "the ideal of liberty and justice for all is still the American way"
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As you pointed out, Reagan's apology was very effective. The apology covered all of the points of a genuine apology as defined by Lazare, such as acknowledging the offense, expressing shame, explaining the cause, and offering reparations. That's pretty much all that could have been done by the government in order to apologize for the internment. I don't really think there's much else it can do to make up for its actions.
ReplyDeleteIt is good that a formal, appropriate apology was given so that the relationship between the American government and the Japanese can be repaired. Furthermore, the apology made by the American government demonstrates to citizens that the government is truly remorseful and will not commit similar acts of injustice in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs you explained, the apology was appropriate in this situation and it accomplished exactly what it intended to. However, could the US had gone even farther in terms of what they offered the Japanese? This may have been something to keep in mind. Perhaps the apology fulfilled all of the requirements as defined by Lazare, but did not do it fully.
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