Rustico: While I think that internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII is a black mark on America’s reputation, you also have to put it into context: The Japanese had just attacked Pearl Harbor (with the help of Japanese spies in the Hawaiian islands), they had been running rampant in the Pacific, China and Mongolia and were potentially a threat to the west coast of the US.
You might also remember that German-Americans and Italian-Americans were also being interned, mainly members of the Bund and the Italian-American Friendship Society.
I don’t see a huge backlash against Chinese-Americans, and I would caution those that see China reprising the role of Japan, Inc. during the 1980s to please remember how that turned out for Japan.
Lastly, the biggest threat to America’s supremacy is America itself. The mess we are in at present is entirely of our own creation. Hubris, ignorance and greed have landed us in the soup and we’ll see if this generation has the sand to knuckle down and get ourselves back on track.
