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May 2003
Statement by Gary Orfield
The loss of civil rights often begins with the
reduction of rights in a time of crisis, for a minority that
has become the scapegoat for a problem facing the nation. The
situation can become particularly explosive in a time of national
tragedy or war. But when civil rights for one group of Americans
are threatened and the disappearance of those rights are accepted,
it becomes a potential threat to many others. In the past we
have had terrible examples, such as the betrayal of treaties
with American Indian tribes, the expulsion of American citizens
and legal residents to Mexico during the Depression and “Operation
Wetback”, and the removal of Japanese Americans from their
homes to internment camps during World War II. These policies
are now seen as disgraceful episodes in the history of American
rights. The elimination of basic rights of Southern blacks and
the institutionalization of rigid apartheid laws in seventeen
states for sixty years after the courts gutted the Reconstruction
laws was, of course, one of the civil rights catastrophes of
our history, taking two-thirds of a century to reverse. Rights
can never be taken for granted. In a nation that rightly proclaims
its commitment to freedom across the world, our freedoms at home
are our most precious asset and any threat to them undermines
our credibility everywhere in an age of instant global communication. Even in times of crisis Americans have often fiercely
defended their liberties. In July 1798 the Congress enacted the
infamous Alien and Sedition Acts drastically increasing the power
of the federal government. The United States then was a precarious,
new, small, rural country, threatened by great power conflicts.
Yet, Americans were so outraged against these restrictions of
liberty that the uproar threatened the Union and help produce
the rise of Thomas Jefferson’s party and the dissolution
of the Federalist party. Part of the language of the Alien Enemies
Act provided for treating entire nationalities of residents in
the U.S. as enemies who could be expelled arbitrarily from the
country:
That whenever there shall be a declared war between
the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any
invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted,
or threatened against the territory of the United States, by
any foreign nation or government, and the President of the United
States shall make public proclamation of the event, all natives,
citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government,
being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall
be within the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall
be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed,
as alien enemies.
In a nation of immigrants assumptions about disloyalty
of entire groups are always suspect and have, of course, never
been shown to be justified. Yet, in a society with a fundamental
tendency toward prejudice based on appearance, when there is
a visibly distinct group, there is always a risk of discrimination
and a heavy responsibility on public leaders to resist any popular
desire to scapegoat an entire group...
To view the COMPLETE STATEMENT by
Prof. Gary Orfield:
One
Nation Indivisible, under God, with Liberty and Justice for
All:
Civil Rights for Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians (in
PDF Format) 
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