Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction. “The Audacity of Hope,” page 261 (paperback version)This is the actual quote, and I don't have a problem with it. What FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT (D) did to Japanese-American citizens was shameful.
I doubt you are old enough to actually know what might have happened immediately after Pearl Harbor. Millions of Patriots lined up to enlist on December 8th, they were not in a gracious mood. Germans were not nearly as recognizable, besides most of the Administration were not all that anti Nazi.