Week 8: The Ethnic Cover-Up

Joshua Rivera

Asian-American Studies 2 – A01

Week/Blog #8

In the article, “Ethnic Cover: Inquiry into Norman Yoshio Mineta and Post-Racial Profiling”, Hamamoto discusses the life and rise of a Japanese-American who elevated himself through the intelligence hierarchy. As he elevated from a small time business man to Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation, the government saw the opportunity that arose from having a Japanese American be a part of the intelligence circle that was kept secret from civilian society. I argue that because of his participation to be a part of this circle for personal and government benefit, he is unintentionally causing this problem of post-racial profiling to perpetuate in a vicious cycle by showing minority communities that what the government is doing is okay due to the co-ethnic support that they have. In 2001 and in subsequent years, Mineta became an advocate for the war on terrorism which made it seem like that the government was doing the right thing since their political decision to invade Middle Eastern countries in an effort to find Osama Bin Laden was supported from a diverse group of individuals. This, coupled with the false portrayal of Middle Easterners by the media helped to instill propaganda within the civilian subconscious, eliminated their ability to think freely about whether or not the government is doing the right thing. Mineta’s words with regards to the events of September 11 was not only an effort by the government to support the war on terrorism but it was also a way for the government to garner support from all ethnicities for future actions since it made it seem like one of their own (a minority individual) was an advocate for the government’s decisions.

Question: How can civilians help prevent the government and media from effectively lying to the public with regards to political decisions?