A Member Of Trumpâs Cabinet Actually Said âKonnichiwaâ When Asked About Japanese Internment Camps
When asked whether the US would keep giving grants for preserving the history of Japanese-American confinement, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded with a Japanese greeting, âKonnichiwa.â
The internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans is no laughing matter, @SecretaryZinke. What you thought was a clever response to @RepHanabusa was flippant & juvenile. https://t.co/8pTkmqBeQb
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded in Japanese to a Hawaii lawmakerâs question about grants to preserve the history of Japanese-American confinement in World War II.
The awkward exchange occurred during a House budget hearing for the Interior Department. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a Democrat from Hawaii, asked Zinke about the fate of a program called the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant, which was funded in 2017 and president has proposed to cut in 2018.
âI did not find out about the fact that my grandfather was interned on Oahu for a lot of the wartime until he was eightysomething years old because they didnât speak about it,â she said, noting that these grants are used to spread awareness and education about this history.
âSo Mr. Secretary ... even with the president zeroing it out, are you committed to continue the grants program?â she asked. âWill we see it funded again in 2018?â
He replied with a Japanese greeting, saying âKonnichiwa,â meaning âgood afternoon.â
âI think itâs still âOhayo gozaimasu,â but thatâs okay,â Hanabusa replied, referring to the Japanese phrase for âgood morning.â Zinke then agreed to look into the budget in question.
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono criticized Zinkeâs comments on Twitter. âThe internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans is no laughing matter, @SecretaryZinke. What you thought was a clever response to @RepHanabusa was flippant & juvenile,â she tweeted.
She wasnât alone. âI was outraged,â said Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, which has been funded by the grant program in question, âfirst by Secretary Zinkeâs disrespect to Rep. Hanabusa and second to his ignorance to teaching the lessons of American history.â
Hanabusaâs office and the Interior Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Zahra Hirji is a science reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC
Contact Zahra Hirji at zahra.hirji@buzzfeed.com.
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