The narrative I’ve heard is that the Japanese internment was done solely due to racism. Yet, in the first incident where Japanese American citizens are confronted with the option of helping Japan or helping America, both Japanese Americans side with Japan.

This incident is suppressed as it doesn’t fit with the narrative that the internment was done solely due to racism. The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles has a fantastic display on the internment camps, and yet doesn’t once mention the Nihau incident. However the museum spends many sections explaining how the internment was driven due to racist farmers wanting Japanese American farm land.

The plane from the incident was donated to a museum, and it appears that the late Senator Inouye prevented it from being displayed.

Yes the internment was a horrible event in American history, and we should all try to keep it from happening again. But I’m disappointed when I repeatedly see evidence of the Niihau incident attempting to be erased from history because it doesn’t fit a narrative.