Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order Live community event: Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order
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Dec 30, 2025 In a compelling live discussion, Satsuki Ina, a psychotherapist and activist born in a prison camp, Frank Abe, a journalist and filmmaker, and Lori Benink, legal expert and author, dive into the painful history of Japanese American incarceration during WWII. They explore striking parallels with current migrant detention practices, emphasizing the importance of solidarity and community resistance. Their insights on legal discrimination, the need for accountability, and teaching accurate history highlight the enduring impact of past injustices on today’s activism.
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State-Sanctioned Racial Removal Is Moral Clarity
- The U.S. military removed Japanese Americans without warrants, hearings, or probable cause and imprisoned them for years.
- Rachel Maddow frames the policy as an act of racialized state power with moral clarity that persists today.
Modern Detention Mirrors Past Sites
- Fort Bliss is used historically and recently as a black-box detention site for immigrants operated off public scrutiny.
- The episode ties WWII camps and today's tent detention at Fort Bliss as a repeated pattern of secrecy and control.
A Neighbor Who Guarded Community Property
- Julius Goldwater, a non-Japanese Buddhist minister, stayed behind and safeguarded possessions for incarcerated neighbors.
- Rachel Maddow highlights him as one of very few non-Japanese allies who stepped up during the roundup.
