Exploring the theme, “When Loyalty is Questioned…From Tule Lake to Guantanamo, the 2005 Day of Remembrance brought together the events and people from the concentration camps with Muslims and South Asians whose loyalty was being questioned in 2005.  Speakers, such as Hank Naito, answered “no” to questions #27 and #28 on the so-called loyalty questionnaire. 

           Question 27: “Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?”

           Question 28: “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and foreswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor, or any other foreign government, power, or organization?”

Viewed as disloyal they were segregated and sent to Tule Lake, labeled as “no, no boys”.  Many became known as “renunciants” for denying loyalty to the country that stripped them of their homes, property, dignity and constitutional rights. They chose the option of going to Japan.

Reiko Nimura, a minor, shared how her family traveled on the Gripsolm to Goa where they were exchanged with American prisoners of war after her father had reluctantly agreed to repatriate to Japan.  Many who “repatriated” felt pressured by family, many were angry about the injustice of the camps and many, like the minors, had no choice.  Yet all were somehow seen as disloyal. 

After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the government’s treatment of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians was reminiscent of the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  Salam Al-Marayati of the Muslim Public Affairs Council and Hamid Khan of the South Asian Network talked about the racial profiling of their communities, the abuses at Guantanamo, and the need to speak out against these violations of civil liberties.  Resistance in the past and speaking out today can also be a way to express one’s loyalty to this country and the Constitution.