Everyone knows about how poorly the Japanese in the US were treated but not nearly as many people knew about this. The California state senator who proposed this legislation has made a good point about applying the lesson to today. LA Times:
Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) sponsored a bill based on Campanella's idea.
"I was wholly unaware of the circumstances he described," Simitian said. "Somehow this story had passed me by."
Simitian, an attorney and former Palo Alto mayor, said he saw "contemporary importance" in the effort: "We're at war on the other side of the world, and I think it's important to remember that there are millions of Americans who are ethnic Arabs or Muslim by faith, and that they're good Americans."