An Apology

We live in a country where  the First Amendment guarantees Americans protection from discrimination for their religion or ideological beliefs. But the record reflects differently. With the landing at Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims imported scapegoating from Great Britain in 1620, and during the centuries, it has been refined to an art form. Since that time, witch-hunting (even witch-burning) has become a major part of the American political lexicon. And while pyres and stakes have since been traded for printing presses, the parallel between the eras is unsettling: The witch burnings at Salem in 1692 and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II share too many similarities.