>>> JUST OVER 40 YEARS BEFORE WORLD WAR II SPAIN COINED THE
PHRASE IN SPANISH THAT WE
TRANSLATED TO "CONCENTRATION
CAMPS" TO DESCRIBE THE PLACES
WHERE SPANISH GENERALS LOCKED UP
CUBAN CIVILIANS DURING THE CUBAN
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
LAST NIGHT ON CHRIS HAYES’S SHOW
ANDREA PITTSER, THE AUTHOR OF
"ONE LONG NIGHT: A GLOBAL
HISTORY OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS"
SAID THIS.
SAID THIS. >> I WOULD SAY THAT FOR 40 YEARS
BEFORE AUSCHWITZ WE HAD
CONCENTRATION CAMPS, THINGS THAT
WERE CALLED CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
WHAT WE’RE DOING NOW SITS VERY
CLEANLY INSIDE THAT TRADITION.
AT THE SAME TIME THE DEATH CAMPS
WHICH WERE ON TOP OF THE
EXISTING CONCENTRATION CAMP
SYSTEM INCLUDING ASH WITTS AND A
SERIES OF OTHER CAMPS IN WHICH
YOU HAD GAS CHAMBERS, MASS
KILLINGS, THAT IS A SINGULAR
MOMENT IN HISTORY.
AND FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO
RESPECT THAT I THINK THAT’S FINE
AND THAT’S IMPORTANT.
IF WE WANT TO CALL IT IRREGULAR
DETENTION, IF WE WANT TO CALL IT
EXTRAJUDICIAL DETENTION, I DON’T
THINK WE HAVE TO GET STUCK ON
THAT TERM.
THAT TERM. I WROTE A HISTORY OF THE TERM.
I HAD TO USE THAT TERM.
AND WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE
PEOPLE TO KNOW IS THE SAME THING
IS HAPPENING HERE NOW.
>> SHE BELIEVES THE USE OF THE
TERM "CONCENTRATION CAMP" IS
APPROPRIATE TO DESCRIBE THE
PLACES WHERE THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION HAS LOCKED UP
BABIES, TODDLERS, ADOLESCENTS,
TEENAGERS, AND ADULTS OF ALL
AGES.
AGES. AND IN MAKING THAT POINT LAST
NIGHT ANDREA PITZER WAS VERY
CAREFUL, VERY CAREFUL TO MAKE
THE CRUCIAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN
DEATH CAMPS LIKE AUSCHWITZ AND
OTHER CONCENTRATION CAMPS THAT
WERE NOT DEATH CAMPS THAT WERE
BEING USED AT THE VERY SAME TIME
IN NAZI GERMANY AND OTHER
COUNTRIES DURING WORLD WAR II
INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES.
THE AMERICAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS
WERE NOT DEATH CAMPS.
THEY WERE THE PLACES WE USED TO
IMPRISON JAPANESE AMERICANS
DURING WORLD WAR II.
GEORGE TAKEI WAS 5 YEARS OLD
WHEN THE GOVERNMENT LOCKED HIM
UP WITH HIS FAMILY IN ONE OF
THOSE CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
YESTERDAY GEORGE TAKEI TWEETED,
"I KNOW WHAT CONCENTRATION CAMPS
ARE.
ARE. I WAS INSIDE TWO OF THEM, IN
AMERICA.
AMERICA. AND YES, WE ARE OPERATING SUCH
CAMPS AGAIN."
CAMPS AGAIN." THE GOVERNMENT DIDN’T CALL THE
PLACES THEY SENT GEORGE TAKEI
CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THE GOVERNMENT CALLED THEM
RELOCATION CENTERS.
RELOCATION CENTERS. THE NAZIS CALLED THEIR
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND THEIR
DEATH CAMPS LABOR CAMPS.
CHINA CALLED THEIR CONCENTRATION
CAMPS REEDUCATION CAMPS.
GOVERNMENTS NEVER CALL THESE
PLACES WHAT THEY REALLY ARE.
BUT THE PRISONERS DO.
FORT SILL IS AN ARMY BASE IN
LAWTON, OKLAHOMA THAT WAS USED
AS A CONCENTRATION CAMP FOR
JAPANESE-AMERICANS DURING WORLD
WAR II.
WAR II. AND NOW THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
IS PLANNING TO LOCK UP 1,400
CHILDREN AT FORT SILL BECAUSE
THEY CROSSED OUR SOUTHERN
BORDER.
BORDER. THE UNIFYING CHARACTERISTIC OF
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AROUND THE
WORLD IS THEY ARE USED TO LOCK
UP MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN OF
ALL AGES WHO POSE NO THREAT TO
THE PEOPLE WHO LOCK THEM UP.
1,400 CHILDREN WILL BE LOCKED UP
EXACTLY WHERE WE LOCKED UP
JAPANESE-AMERICANS DURING WORLD
WAR II, A PLACE THAT THOSE
JAPANESE-AMERICANS CALLED
JAPANESE-AMERICANS CALLED CONCENTRATION CAMP.
CONCENTRATION CAMP. SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CALL IT
NOW?
NOW? EVEN IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS THAT
ARE NOT DELIBERATELY DESIGNED AS
DEATH CAMPS PEOPLE DIE.
SOME OF THE CHILDREN WE HAVE
LOCKED UP AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER
HAVE DIED BECAUSE ONE OF THE
OTHER UNIFYING CHARACTERISTICS
OF CONCENTRATION CAMPS
EVERYWHERE IS THAT THE PRISONERS
ARE NOT TREATED WITH DIGNITY AND
RESPECT AND CARE, THE PEOPLE
RUNNING CONCENTRATION CAMPS ARE
NOT THE PEOPLE YOU WANT IN
CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH CARE OR
YOUR NUTRITION.
YOUR NUTRITION. AND SO PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS DIE IN
CONCENTRATION CAMPS.
CONCENTRATION CAMPS. WHEN FORT SILL ACTUALLY LOCKS UP
1,400 CHILDREN AS PLANNED NEXT
MONTH, HOW MANY OF THEM MIGHT
DIE THERE?
DIE THERE? WE DON’T KNOW.
WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT IT IS
ZERO.
ZERO. FORT SILL WAS FIRST USED AS A
CONCENTRATION CAMP DURING WHAT
AMERICAN HISTORY BOOKS CALL THE
INDIAN WARS.
INDIAN WARS. NATIVE AMERICANS HAD BEEN LOCKED
UP AT FORT SILL FOR DECADES BY
THE TIME THE GREAT APACHE LEADER
GERONIMO WAS BROUGHT TO FORT
SILL WITH 341 OTHER APACHE
PRISONERS IN 1894.
GERONIMO TRIED TO ESCAPE ONCE
BUT WAS CAPTURED THE NEXT DAY.
GERONIMO DIED AT FORT SILL IN
1909, WHEN HE WAS 79 YEARS OLD.
WILL THE NEXT PRISONER TO DIE AT
FORT SILL BE A CHILD?
WE HOPE NOT.
YEARS FROM NOW THE CHILDREN WHO
DONALD TRUMP LOCKS UP IN THE
VERY SAME PLACE WHERE THIS
GOVERNMENT LOCKED UP APACHES AND
JAPANESE-AMERICANS WILL GET THE
LAST WORD ON WHAT HISTORY CALLS