Last night’s forum exploring the connections between Japanese internment and post-Sept. 11 America, blended both artistic and intellectual elements, including dance and spoken word in addition to speakers.

“The suspension of civil rights does not only concern certain groups — it threatens all of us,” said Cindy Ng, director of the Asian American Activities Center. “The speakers raised important issues, and our hope is that this is just the beginning. We cannot be silent, but rather, we have to speak out and prevent these detentions from happening again.”

80 year-old Kiku Funabiki, labeled as an “ex-con” by the government during World War II because she was Japanese, said that she was inspired by the survivors of the war who spoke out in the 1980s.

“We survivors of World War II are quickly becoming an endangered species,” Funabiki said. “Stories such as ours need to be shared because these are things that cannot be found in textbooks.”

Funabiki told the tale of her grandfather being incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“The only evidence presented in the brief closed hearings was that he had contacts with Japanese naval vessels, that he socialized with Japanese naval officers and that he was an ardent Buddhist,” Funabiki said. “Even though they ruled that no information definitely connected him with sabotage, he was kept in custody for the duration of the war.”

She added, “He had big dreams to integrate into U.S. society, and all of a sudden he was shackled and herded to five different camps, and held for three years.”

Cultural and Social Anthropology Prof. Sylvia Yanagisako, who also spoke at the event, placed the Japanese incarcerations in the context of present-day discrimination against suspected terrorists following the World Trade Center attacks. She said that one-third of the world has been rendered suspect by U.S. authorities because “they just happen to be born in a criminal country.”

Narinder Singh, a founder of the Sikh Coalition, told the tragic tale of a Middle-Eastern family who lost two sons within the span of 11 months, but who continued to believe in the rights of Americans.

“One son contributed $75 towards a fund for victims of Sept. 11, not knowing that he would soon be one himself,” Singh said. “But to the family, the lights of freedom were so strong that it cut across the darkness of their own experience.”

Students and speakers alike said they found the event to be a positive, enlightening experience.

“As a Muslim and as a South Asian, I have seen people encounter hostility due to their appearance or their beliefs,” said freshman Sanal Parvez. “I think that the only way to end this is via awareness, and an event like this helps the cause because it brings together speakers working for solidarity and civil rights.”

Several students who were personally affected by Sept. 11 shared their perspectives.

“After 9/11, I was accused of betraying my country in my own hometown, right here in the Bay Area,” said freshman Vijay Vanchinathan. “Although I knew the attack was uneducated and unprovoked, I was helpless because I was facing a larger, more powerful organization bent on ‘purifying’ the nation.”

Banafsheh Akhlaghi, an activist attorney who spoke at the panel, said the event communicated a powerful message.

“There really is a time to start looking at unity as only occurring through diversity,” she said.