Community Groups Call for Accountability at National Archives

"Ugly" histories like JA incarceration are being whitewashed. Seattle-based Densho issued the following statement on Nov. 4:

"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is probably not a household name for most Americans. This federal agency oversees billions of documents, from the Declaration of Independence to electronic records covering more recent events, as well as a vast collection of historical photos.

"Among them are important records of Japanese American World War II incarceration: Dorothea Lange's iconic images of families reporting for forced removal, War Relocation Authority data on the people they imprisoned and where they went upon leaving the camps, and much more.

"Managing the National Archives, and its museum and adjacent education center on the National Mall, is a huge responsibility. But instead of educating the public about WWII incarceration and other dark chapters of American history, U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan has spent the last year quietly whitewashing that history.

"Shogan, who was confirmed in May 2023, instructed employees to erase references to Japanese American incarceration from educational materials, and ordered the removal of Lange's photos of WRA concentration camps from a planned exhibit at the National Archives Museum — claiming it was too negative and controversial.

"Also targeted for removal were photos of Martin Luther King Jr. and labor activist Dolores Huerta, and references to the displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples. According to employees, after a review of an exhibit on westward expansion, Shogan asked, 'Why is it so much about Indians?'

"NARA defended this exclusion by claiming 'it is imperative that the National Archives welcomes — and feels welcoming to — all Americans.' But let's be clear: erasing the experiences of people of color in this country is not welcoming. Excluding our stories from the National Archives excludes us from American history.

"This is a blatant dog whistle. When Shogan and her senior staff say 'average visitors' like 'Iowa farmers' should feel welcomed and not 'confronted' by the National Archives, they are prioritizing the comfort of white visitors over the inclusion of communities of color. When they say their exhibits must show American history in a positive light, they are keeping the wrongs done by and to our ancestors in the dark.

"Whitewashing the 'ugly' parts of our history because they might make viewers uncomfortable or anger certain politicians is an act of censorship. It also stands in stark contrast to NARA's stated mission 'to provide equitable public access' to government records 'by allowing all Americans of all backgrounds to claim their rights of citizenship, hold their government accountable, and understand their history so they can participate more effectively in their government.'

"If the stories of only some Americans are represented and uplifted in the National Archives, then only some are able to claim those rights — and none of us can fully understand and reckon with our history."

"It's the National Archives' responsibility to protect access to these records because they really belong to all of us," said Densho Archives Director Caitlin Oiye Coon. "It's only by confronting all parts of American history, the good and the bad, that we can learn from it and begin to heal."

In NARA's own words, "Leading a nonpartisan agency during an era of political polarization is not for the faint of heart."

"Let's hope that Shogan and her fellow leaders at the National Archives develop the courage to choose historical accuracy over censorship — or move out of the way for archivists who aren't afraid to tell the truth," Densho said.

JACL Statement

On the same day, the Japanese American Citizens League issued the following statement:

"A Wall Street Journal published Oct. 29, 2024, included several serious allegations that the National Archives, led and directed by Colleen Shogan, 'sought to de-emphasize negative parts of U.S. history. She has ordered the removal of prominent references to such landmark events as the government's displacement of indigenous tribes and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II from planned exhibits.' Also of note was requesting the removal of Holocaust materials from a planned exhibit.

"The elaborates that 'Shogan and her top advisers told employees to remove Dorothea Lange's photos of Japanese American incarceration camps from a planned exhibit because the images were too negative and controversial.'

"JACL expresses its concern that the National Archives is pursuing a policy of erasing Japanese American and other histories from the public record. The National Archives, of all places, has a profound responsibility to the unadulterated preservation of the full history of the United States of America.

"The Japanese American story, while representing one of the most reprehensible chapters in our history, is vital to recognize where a failure in leadership can lead to the trampling of the Constitution and abrogation of the rights of over 120,000 people simply because of their race, and despite their United States citizenship in most cases. Archivist Shogan is now demonstrating a similar failure in leadership to that of our leaders during World War II.

"The National Archives is a vital resource for members of the Japanese American community to better understand what our community experienced during WWII. The repository of records has aided countless former incarcerees, their children, and grandchildren in researching their family's information to facilitate the healing from years of trauma passed down through the generations.

"Archivist Shogan's directives are a betrayal to the Japanese Americans who have relied upon the National Archives. JACL has requested a meeting with Archivist Shogan to give her the opportunity to defend these allegations. Should these allegations prove true, there can be no other path than for her immediate resignation.

"The National Archives cannot be an institution with weak leadership that will bow to racist calls for the erasure of Japanese American history; otherwise, we will truly have learned nothing from the atrocities of WWII."

JANM Statement

The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles also issued a statement:

"The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) questions the National Archives and Record Administration's plan, as reported in The Wall Street Journal last week, to remove references to historical events — including Dorothea Lange's photographs of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, the federal government's displacement of indigenous tribes, and Martin Luther King Jr. marching for civil rights — from its upcoming exhibitions in an effort to reshape and sanitize its narrative of American history."

"In 1942 the federal government forcibly removed, dispossessed and incarcerated over 125,000 people of Japanese ancestry," said Ann Burroughs, JANM president and CEO. "The U.S. government's apology in 1988 for what was one of the gravest miscarriages of justice in this nation's history was also an act of atonement for a great wrong. In this climate of discrimination, hyper-partisanship and ideological divides, the lessons of this history are more relevant and urgent than they have ever been.

"We are destined to repeat history if we dim the light of its lessons. We cannot ignore what may be considered to be uncomfortable truths simply because they are 'too negative and controversial' and might cause discomfort for some, and as the repository of this nation's documented history, neither should the National Archives."