A Neighborhood and a bit of history...

People tend to forget while visiting area's of San Francisco, or in fact any town, that a lot of areas where the tourists visit are actually neighborhoods.

I know that for some tourists, they see people of different ethnic groups or races and either think they are just an attraction or are foreigners living in a certain part of town.  Certainly there are immigrants who live in those areas but there are also Americans living there to.

During World War II, our country.... rounded up American Citizens just because they were of Japanese ancestry and forced them to sell of their belongings and carted them off to what we like to call "relocation" centers.  Let's tell the truth.... Concentration Camps.  Racists in our country, to this day,  will try to paint a different picture of history.

But the truth is.... Presidential Executive Order 9066 was a racist.  It took President Ford in 1976 to finally rescind the order.  President Carter to sign legislation to formally establish a commission to investigate Executive Order 9066 and President Reagan to sign the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which took the findings from the commission from the Carter Administration which concluded that Executive Order 9066 was indeed, "... based on racial prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership."

Japantown in San Francisco once was a vibrant area of about 30 square blocks.  Today, only about 8 blocks remain.  Recently two statues were placed that is attempting to educate people that this area is not only a tourist destination but a neighborhood and a historical area as well.

We are a unique country where Americans - the true meaning - are made up of people of many races and ethnic groups living together and proud to be an American.

So the next time you encounter someone different than yourself, don't think they are a foreigner, recent immigrant.... not really an "American".  Because chances are.... you too fall into the definition of the word - American.

Remember the words George Santayana (of Spain),"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it"