When Buddhists Were a "National Security Threat"

[Major Nikon]

Religious discrimination stoked the fear behind the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans as much as racism did, explains scholar and Zen priest Duncan Ryuken Williams.

Duncan Ryuken Williams

On February 19th, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued an executive order designating military zones along the West Coast and laying the groundwork for US authorities to remove citizens of Japanese descent from their homes and imprison them in camps. While it is widely acknowledged that racism was central to this shameful chapter of American history, the role of religious discrimination cannot be overlooked, says scholar and Soto Zen priest Duncan Ryuken Williams.

“There was a time in our country’s history when Buddhism was considered not only un-American but . . . anti-American,” explains Williams, the director of the Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture at the University of Southern California. “Buddhist priests, Shinto priests—they were designated as national security threats.”

https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/japanese-buddhism-internment/

It's important to remember that German and Italian immigrants and their descendants weren't imprisoned during WWII, almost certainly since they were predominantly Christian.