The following are the notes Dr. B. took at the Distinguished Lecture by Ronald Takaki six days after 9-11-01. His warnings were based upon a lifetime of scholarship and prescient. (5-26-04)

“Why Multiculturalism Matters to a Post-World Trade Center America”

Ronald Takaki Professor of Ethnic Studies University of California--Berkeley

2001-2002 Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities

Monday, September 17, 2001

The role of the university as the key institution in society dedicated to reason and understanding is made real by Dr. Takaki's work and the press of recent events.  Marshall Johnson University Honors Program.

1.	Our political leaders need to be asking what we are doing that creates so much hate against the United Sates.
	a.	The effects of the Persian Gulf War and U. S. military on Saudi Arabian soil (the sacred land of Mecca) and the propping up of a corrupt Saudi Arabian government.
	b.	The Bush government has not been focusing on solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
	c.	Hatred toward European colonialism. U. S. Support of Israel and is a remnant of the American colonialism. U. S. involvement in the Persian Gulf War is another example of American colonialism.
2.	The problem with the language used by our political leaders.
	a.	The use of the word "we" makes the others to be the "they." It dehumanizes them.
	b.	The President has called this a "war." That limits his options. Puts him in a "box."
	c.	The President used the term "hunt" down.
3.	Are we overconfident that we can win a war?
	a.	Pearl Harbor gives us a false sense of security. There was a stalemate in Korea and a lost war in Vietnam.
	b.	Pakistan has a significant Taliband population. Our pressure on Pakistan could destabilize that government. And Pakistan has the atomic bomb.
4.	Contradictions of the "good war."
	a.	There were contradictions in the "good war" (World War II).
	b.	Jim Crow military--Blacks could unload ships at Normandy, but could not fight.
	c.	Public sentiment opposed giving Jewish refugees asylum in the United States. Franklin Roosevelt acquiesced.
	d.	Internment of Japanese.
	e.	A higher proportion of Native Americans in the military that any other ethnic group.
	f.	250 race riots in 1943 (Jealous that Blacks has jobs in the war industry).
	g.	What is the price of victory? Truman decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Japan had agreed to a conditional surrender. The only condition they requested was to continue their Emperor. We bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki and when they still refused an unconditional surrender, we acquiesced and agreed to their conditional surrender. These are moral questions.
5.	Will this war (2001) be a good war or will it be a contradiction?
	a.	This government needs to be careful about racial profiling.
	b.	There are hate crimes now. For example, the murder of a Seek in Mesa, Arizona
	c.	What are our basic values, particularly the Declaration of Independence? The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan have a right to life, too.
6.	What can the United States do to reduce likelihood of the loss of innocent victims?
	a.	Conserve oil and take other actions that reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
	b.	Remove U. S. troops from Saudi Arabia.
	c.	Make peace with Iran and Iraq
	d.	Copy the peace movement of the 1960s. Do teach ins and symposia on the issues and scholarship.
Professor Takaki's lecture was informed by the scholarship for his two recent books:
Takaki, R. (2000). Double victory: A multicultural history of America in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Takaki, R. (1993). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.