It is thought by some that the exaggerated stress caused by war is the catalyst for creation of exceptional art. I absolutely don’t agree with that thought. What is saved never makes up for what was lost.
The passing of a recent law in Arizona that clearly targets a specific group of people based on how they look, talk or dress and the timely exhibit of work by Miné Okubo, at the Oakland Museum of Art, brings attention to how we allow fear to trump reason.
I think it is ironic that Roosevelt’s most famous quote “The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” is forgotten by him within ten years, during the stress of war and leads to something less then exceptional, Executive Order 9066.
“The Japanese American Internment”, “Slavery” or “Indian removal (Trail of Tears)” are as American as Apple Pie and to prove it, Governor Jan Brewer summoned up all of her own fear and signed into law SB 1070. One more case of history not repeating itself but rather our choosing to repeat history.