Michelle Malkin’s “Self-Hatred”
09/25/2004
I see that critics of Michelle Malkin’s new book on internment are accusing her of being a “self-hating” Asian American.
I've always felt that anyone accused of being self-hating for refusing to toe the left-wing line (Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly) should simply look the critics in the eye and say, “I don’t hate me. I hate you.”
But there are two other points:
- Michelle is an American. Her defense of America's actions in World War II show her to be a non “self-hating” American. Some people call this “loyalty.” You could look it up.
- Michelle’s family comes from the Philippines, not Japan. It may have escaped your notice, but while Japanese-American internees were safe at home, Japan invaded and occupied the Philippines, with horrible cruelty, until American forces liberated the islands. Malkin’s uncle fought in the resistance. I would say that more American schoolchildren today could identify Manzanar than Bataan. Given the differences between Japanese-run camps and American-run camps, it’s not surprising Michelle is unsympathetic.