Isolation.
Fireman, Janet
A movie goddess declares, "I want to be alone"; a furry
kitty nurses her wounds for days in her own special hiding place; a
friend packs up a load of wilderness equipment, writes a note to his
family, and departs society for destinations unknown, seeking isolation.
Any one of us--worn out and dead tired--at times requires privacy and
solitude overnight or for a few days of rejuvenation and recharging.
Whatever the manifestation, isolation is frequently a cure, a
liberation, and a promise of a better future. Alternatively, isolation
is severe punishment within the punishment of prison; sequestration
marginalizes individuals for their crimes against society.
Two kinds of isolation are treated in this issue. Kenneth
Owens's "Far From Zion: The Frayed Ties between
California's Gold Rush Saints and LDS President Brigham Young"
relates Brigham Young's choice for establishing the Latter-day
Saints' home in the Utah desert instead of on the commercial shores
of San Francisco Bay. Eschewing the excitement of newly discovered gold,
as well as the broader promise of California, for the protection
afforded by remoteness and seclusion in the Great Basin, the church
president mandated isolation for his flock.
Charles Wollenberg's "'Dear Earl': The Fair
Play Committee, Earl Warren, and Japanese Internment" extricates
from obscurity the story of the founding and operation of a dedicated
group of distinguished and influential persons who opposed the brutal
isolation of innocent people of Japanese descent during World War Two.
Most were American citizens, suffering discrimination, forced removal
from their homes, incarceration in remote and shameful prison camps, and
opposition to re-establishing their lives after the war. That Earl
Warren, state attorney general and then governor of California, who once
had been distinguished by anti-bigotry sentiment and action, became
"the de facto leader" of the Japanese exclusion movement
exacerbated Japanese Americans' plight and, in fact, guaranteed
their banishment, exile, and ostracism.
In later years, Earl Warren regretted his actions; Brigham Young
had no reason to do so.
