What is America's most shameful act in its history?

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

Compared to Auschwitz or Dachau, the Japanese internment camps had much better conditions. Like I said, there was a big difference between the two.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

Agreed.

Originally posted by: iamme

Originally posted by: LAUST
One of my fathers's best friends is a native American named Red Hawk. He is an artist and made a painting called "Trail of Broken treaties" it's a painting of an Indian made of of all the lies and treaties the US gov agreed with the Indians on then broke.

The list is much longer then most people today think.

i think the treatment of Native Americans is right up there (if not the worst), along with African-American slavery and the Japanese camps.

Strongly agreed.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Virtual genocide of American Indians.

Absolutely worse than slavery IMO. Just read what was done to Indians before our country was founded(think Spain) and then to them after we settled this land. I'd say that, or LOLyourFace's birth. His birth was a very shameful act.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

I think he's protesting the fact that you're comparing them to the extermination of people. Both were horrendous, but the Japanese weren't exterminated.

While it may be true that they weren't executed or subject to any medical experiments, they were NOT fed well, NOT sheltered well (an issue especially in the Northern part of the country), and were undoubtedly beat by racist guards.

 

[Dragnov]

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

Clam down man. I knew concetration camps didn't sound right but I was going blank and I took it off of bradruth's post. Of course Japanese-Americans definitely go through the same experiences as the Jewish, but taking away all thier property and forcefully sending them to the middle of nowhere. I mean geez this wasn't the colonial times now, but modern America.

 

[Tinkerhell]

The killing of the Native Americans and taking their land.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

I think he's protesting the fact that you're comparing them to the extermination of people. Both were horrendous, but the Japanese weren't exterminated.

While it may be true that they weren't executed or subject to any medical experiments, they were NOT fed well, NOT sheltered well (an issue especially in the Northern part of the country), and were undoubtedly beat by racist guards.

Yeah, I agree.

This may be unpopular, but I think the Guantanamo Bay thing is shameful, too.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

Compared to Auschwitz or Dachau, the Japanese internment camps had much better conditions. Like I said, there was a big difference between the two.

I don't want to discount what the Jews went through, since it was obviously worse. I'm just saying that what the Japanese-Americans went through was no picnic either.

 

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

Compared to Auschwitz or Dachau, the Japanese internment camps had much better conditions. Like I said, there was a big difference between the two.

I don't want to discount what the Jews went through, since it was obviously worse. I'm just saying that what the Japanese-Americans went through was no picnic either.

Agreed. And in America, no less.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Tinkerhell
The killing of the Native Americans and taking their land.

yeap i have to agree with this. oh and the Fedral tax system! heh

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

it's still nothing compared to concentration camps

 

[gopunk]

i view slavery and treatment of native americans as the two most shameful acts

 

[Spencer278]

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: bradruth

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
I'd say the Japanese concetration camps. While we're claiming to protect the rights of all humans and saying what the Germans did during WWII was horrendous, here we were doing the same thing on a smaller level albiet not as cruel. THis is in modern times where we definitely should have known better.

They were DEFINITELY NOT CONCENTRATION CAMPS. They were INTERNMENT CAMPS. The Japanese-Americans were not forced to do work, were fed well, and did not face any sort of cruel medical experiments or other deadly experiences when they were interned. Please don't confuse concentration camps with internment camps. :|

You're making the camps sound like a summer resort. The conditions were horrendous and there is no excuse for rounding up AMERICAN CITIZENS like cattle and detaining them.

I think he's protesting the fact that you're comparing them to the extermination of people. Both were horrendous, but the Japanese weren't exterminated.

While it may be true that they weren't executed or subject to any medical experiments, they were NOT fed well, NOT sheltered well (an issue especially in the Northern part of the country), and were undoubtedly beat by racist guards.

How long were they in the camps? I think about 5 years compare that to centruries of slavory. I think what was done to native americian was the worse followed by slavory then the other sh!t that happened to blacks.

 

[Vic]

Amendment XVI
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

 

[PHiuR]

shameful...

japanese camps, native americans, slavery (but it was happening all over the world) (still shamefull tho), Iraq, and lastly...Iraq.

 

[SuperMachoMan]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I doubt it's the things we did in the past that cause a lot of the world to hate us. Look at Germany and the holocaust. That is WAY worse than ANYTHING anyone else has done and people don't hate Germany the way they hate America.

Not to discount the severity of the Holocaust, but "only" several million Jews died as a result. Over 100 million natives were essentially wiped off the face of the Earth by European settlers. The extermination of the native American population ranks as perhaps the most heinous act in the history of mankind.

 

[GonzoCircus]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
Virtual genocide of American Indians.

 

[jst0ney]

Originally posted by: MrBond
I doubt it's the things we did in the past that cause a lot of the world to hate us. Look at Germany and the holocaust. That is WAY worse than ANYTHING anyone else has done and people don't hate Germany the way they hate America.

There are so many wrongs that the US has made and continues to make. They don't hate Germany because it is a different govenrment while here in the US we have the same government that has done all of the things listed in this thread.

My vote goes for the treatment of the Native Americans. There are no excuses for the way the US Calvery treated them.

 

[Atrail]

Goes back before the "American People" exisited but, stealing land from native American Indians. Then slaughtering them and their food supply.

 

[Tinkerhell]

I don't think we should be comparing which disaster was the "worse". They are all horrible and they should not be looked upon as "Oh this isn't as horrible as this"

 

[CubicZirconia]

Putting American citizens into internment camps during WWII. Not to mention seizing their land and property, it was never returned nor reimbursed, was it?

Some people who were held in camps were later paid $20,000 in reperations.

Also, the constitution was essentially a pro-slavery document. Slavery was definitely a position taken by the government.

Edit: I'll try to find some links

2nd Edit: Further information

"In response to the report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, on 10 August 1988, Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The act requested the president to issue pardons to those convicted of violating curfew, exclusion, and relocation orders; authorized restitution in the amount of $20,000 to every person expelled, interned or relocated; and set up a fund to finance educational programs to inform the public about the explusion and relocation "so as to prevent the recurrence of any similar event." " Taken from U.S. Statues at Large, vol. 102, 1988 (1990), 903-4

 

[mtn26bkr]

i'd have to agree with the destruction of the Native Americans... im currently in AP US Hist. and I've really been surprised by what was done to the Natives (we nearly eradicated them just through the diseases we brought to the country- small pox)

i was surprised the environment wasn't included. America is the number one polluter and user of energy. we've turned the oceans to crap and overharvested them as well. We've destroyed a good portion of our natural forests within the US. We've also supported the destruction of much more land around the world, the amazon, etc. (through lenient policies, economic finance, and people's desire for goods). We've destroyed people's opportunity in their "environment " through sweat shops that produce American clothes and other goods. What about all tobacco products? America makes a good deal of tobacco and houses the major companies, and then we allow them to be sold and used not only in America and other first-world nations(where people at least know of the effects), but many third-world nations where people don't know. What about our illegal drug market? We've ruined more land that could've been used for growing vegetables or fruits, but now is used to grow opium, marijuana, etc. There's many more examples of how our economic needs and political actions have ruined the environments around the world.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Yes! There were things that have happened in our history that were wrong.
In total I will embrace our history for it stands tall and proud compared to Japan's,
China's, Russia's, French, etc. Look to Iceland or New Zealand for the maybe moral
high ground.

A shame that stands out in current history(last 100 years), is not charging Japan
for war crimes for what went on at Camp731. We let them off the hook in exchange
for the research that they did on human beings. That is a fact.......:disgust:
We sold out on that one!

 

[nutxo]

nuclear tests on American soldiers

 

[novon]

Hiroshima