Anti-Asian sentiment, present on the west coast since the arrival of the Chinese in the 1840s, was fueled by both the economic success of the Japanese Americans and the Japanese military expansion of the 1930s and was actively promoted by groups such as the Native Sons of the Golden West, led by California governor Earl Warren. After a thoughtful study of the legislative intent underlying the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, University of Hawai’i law professor Chris Iijima cautions us that the ultimate effect of Japanese American redress may not be to repair the harm caused by the internment. The interpretation of Japanese American reparations - the rewarding of acquiescence rather than the righting of wrongs - seems to accurately capture not only Congress’ intent in passing the Civil Liberties Act, but also the reason why the mainstream narrative is so readily accepted. Rather than alarming people about the dangers lurking in our political and judicial structures.