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Schooled

Professional historian Victor Davis Hanson schools Tom Hanks. 

Much has been written of the recent Tom Hanks remarks to Douglas Brinkley in a Time magazine interview about his upcoming HBO series on World War II in the Pacific. Here is the explosive excerpt that is making the rounds today.

“Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

Hanks may not have been quoted correctly; and his remarks may have been impromptu and poorly expressed; and we should give due consideration to the tremendous support Hanks has given in the past both to veterans and to commemoration of World War II; and his new HBO series could well be a fine bookend to Band of Brothers.  All that said, Hanks’ comments were sadly infantile pop philosophizing offered by, well,  an ignoramus.

Posted by Owen at 1722 hrs
Culture + Military + Politics + Politics - General

1. I was struck by the same thought while watching Inglourious Basterds a couple of nights ago.  Just a few generations ago the Germans were the irredeemably evil “other,” but now attributing the actions of the Nazis to the entire nationality seems absurd. 

   I think the author you link to is too panicked by perceived accusations of racism to see Hanks’ point.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 12, 2010 at 1739 hrs
   
   
   

2. I think he sees Hanks’ point, and he sees that Hanks is basing his point on a version of history that is dead wrong.

   Posted by Jed on March 12, 2010 at 1934 hrs
   
   
   

3. The people who say the US should not have dropped the Atomic Bombs which ended the war have not read that the Government figured that US military casualties would be about 1,000,000 if they had to land forces on the Japanese islands.

   They also forecast-ed that the fight to the death by the Japanese, as exhibited on Iwo Jima, Saipan and Okinawa would have cost the Japanese Military and Civilians an even greater number of casualties.

   Therefore each of these people should look into their family tree and see where grandpa or Great Grandpa was in 1945.

   Then they may realize that if that person was killed in an invasion of Japan, then they would never have been born.

   End of story!

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 12, 2010 at 2316 hrs
   
   
   

4. Hanks is just another lefty revisionist historian.  I learned from my parents and grandparents who lived through WWII that There was no racism, or hatred for anything Japanese until after 12/07/1941.  Get a clue…

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 12, 2010 at 2320 hrs
   
   
   

5. Hanks is just another lefty revisionist historian

   Thanks for the overgeneralization so you can attack those you don’t agree with.

   learned from my parents and grandparents who lived through WWII that There was no racism, or hatred for anything Japanese until after 12/07/1941.  Get a clue…

   Right, and you’re singular knowledge from family sources is supposed to be authoritative?  Get a clue.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 12, 2010 at 2337 hrs
   
   
   

6. Right, and you’re singular knowledge from family sources is supposed to be authoritative?  Get a clue.

   Thats right, George wont be happy with your reply until it is quoted from the DailyKos or Huffpo….

   George do you ever have anything to say that actually brings something to the conversation, or must you always attack the people who are actually having a discussion on the topic?

   What is your opinion of what Hanks said… If it is true, why hasn’t the “slant eyed yellow” racism held through to today, on any level?

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 0822 hrs
   
   
   

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_propaganda_during_World_War_II

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 0837 hrs
   
   
   

8. The crisis that led to Pearl Harbor was not innately with the Japanese people per se…but with Japanese militarism and its creed of Bushido

   Another variant of “It’s All Bush’s Fault.”

   Posted by dad29 on March 13, 2010 at 0945 hrs
   
   
   

9. And all that propaganda from the Holy Democrat Tin God, Roosevelt, about the “Yellow Peril” and for that matter, about the Huns….

   That had nothing to do with fueling racial animosity, right?

   Posted by dad29 on March 13, 2010 at 0952 hrs
   
   
   

10. So, George, what you are saying is that some wartime propaganda advocating recycling, and depicting our enemies in a bad light are evidence of prejudice? I read something about the features of a monkey coming through in the depiction of the Japanese, but it IS wikipedia, credibility is not its strongest suit.

    Naturally during wartime there is going to be suspicion leveled against those of the nationality with which you are at war. That is not only natural, but to be expected.

    The idea that you would counter somebody’s personal experience with a page from wikipedia is just so fitting…. :rolleyes:

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 0956 hrs
    
    
    

11. Racial prejudice against the japanese died decades ago, probably around the time that they started importing vastly superior automobiles into America.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 1001 hrs
    
    
    

12. George - before you come to the defense of or feel sympathy for the Japanese in WWII, you should try to grow up, wise up, and learn a little something about history. You might be interested to know that the Japanese, unlike most of the other combatant nations, never signed the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of enemy prisoners of war. I had a great uncle in the Bataan Death March (look it up, and try to use a more credible source than Wikipedia). He survived, but according to those who know him well, was never the same (no kidding!). Pity the American soldier who was taken prisoner. Since the Japanese military culture regarded surrender as a huge dishonor, they viewed any solder who did surrender as less than worthy of respect, and treated American POWs in ways that would make the Commander of Auschwitz jealous.

    The Japanese atrocities in China were so vile that even the Nazis complained. The “Rape of Nanking”, where thousands of civilians were murdered by Japanese soldiers. In some instances, people (men, women and children) were herded into huge pits and buried alive. And that’s only one example.
    After the war, there were a few War Crimes trials (ala Nuremberg), but by then the world was sick of war and didn’t care. Very few Japanese war criminals were brought to justice as a result.

    So before you start whining about American racial sensibilities during a time of war, you might take time and consider the realities of the era. And don’t forget the involvement of FDR in the rounding up of Japanese-American citizens and moving them into internment centers. Fine example of the tolerance of the Democrats, huh?

    Oh, wait, George Bush Sr. was a Navy pilot during WWII! A Bush was involved! Therefore, it’s BUSH’s fault!

    For the most part, America left its Japanese bigotry behind decades ago, to the point where Japanese cars may outsell those produced by American companies. I myself drive a Toyota and in spite of the Government and media witchhunts, have more confidence in it than I’ve had in any of the Fords I’ve owned since 1981.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 1123 hrs
    
    
    

13. The ignorance of some of these people that would lecture the rest of us is astounding.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 1141 hrs
    
    
    

14. George, linking Wikipedia articles is never a good way to prove a point, and if that resource is the origin of your beliefs, then you have my deepest sympathy. You do understand that I can go, right now, and change or add as many wiki “facts” as I’d like. It is far from reliable.

    I will also step up to George’s defense. While he IS sadly mistaken in his beliefs, it’s quite possible that George is a product of a public school system that glossed over any actual facts of the war while focusing on the evil nature or our disreputable nation. Perhaps all George learned was that there was racism toward Japanese, and the military was rife with racial segregation… then the war ended and the civil rights movement began. Now poor George is stuck with Wikipedia and his only historical anchor. I pity the fool…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 13, 2010 at 2226 hrs
    
    
    

15. We demonize our enemies in war.

    Thats what the quote is saying.

    We demonize our enemies in war.

    The statement is true.

    In the word’s of my favorite fictional president-jeb bartlett

    “whats next?”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 14, 2010 at 1040 hrs
    
    
    

16. If that is what he was trying to say, Mark, then it was most ham handed statement I have ever read. I believe he was quite clear in his remarks:

    We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different.

    He just doesn’t get it. Maybe Tom is a victim of Hollywood Stockholm Syndrome… maybe he was being an idiot that day. I’ve no clue, but what I DO know is that the Japanese attacked us first… and in a most deceitful fashion. The Japanese were murdering Chinese by the hundreds of thousands too. It was hardly some racial hatred or a matter of them being “different”. If that was the case, why did we support China and shed our blood to aid the “different” people in that nation? No, while Hanks has done much to support the greatest generation, his statement were foolish and filled with baseless stereotypical liberal America bashing. It’s sad that he marred a stellar reputation with such baseless ignorance.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 14, 2010 at 1109 hrs
    
    
    

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