Executive orders

Executive orders are powerful actions that can have catastrophic consequences. They merit thoughtful analysis and research prior to enactment.

EO 9066 interned US citizens and resulted in their loss of home, property, businesses, and years of their life. It was enacted 83 years ago this Tuesday. If you are a US citizen, I invite you to reflect on the recent EOs, and EOs in general.

It’s just an EO, no big deal. Wrong. EO 9066 was a huge deal and squandered the contributions of tens of thousands of US citizens. Their businesses, their homes, their livelihoods were taken by the stroke of a pen. They had no protection from this unilateral action from one person, the US President.

The courts can protect the citizens, just wait for it to play out there. Wrong. EO 9066 was tested in the courts multiple times, going to the Supreme Court multiple times, and the Supreme Court upheld the President’s order each time. The Courts did not rescue anyone.

It was never fixed. Even with apologies and redress, many families and communities never recovered. It was decades before a US President said, “We now know what we should have known then—not only was that evacuation wrong but Japanese Americans were and are loyal Americans. On the battlefield and at home the names of Japanese Americans have been and continue to be written in history for the sacrifices and the contributions they have made to the well-being and to the security of this, our common Nation.”

For the US citizens reading this, maybe there is a recent EO that you disagree with. I encourage you to stand up and take action. Contact your local representative. That should be a first step. Next, you can get more creative. Here are some suggestions.

There is no guarantee that things will settle down, or return to normalcy, or that cooler heads will prevail. There is no guarantee that this works out. It might not. If it does work out, it will only be because people fought for good, in some way, big or small. It will only be because people chose action over comfort. It will only be because people expended their capital for goodness, rigor, and compassion. Bob Emmett Fletcher worked to ensure security for his fellow Americans. George Carlisle worked to take care of his unjustly incarcerated neighbors. You can be a part of the resistance to EOs you object to.