Mayor in Virginia feeds fear with foot in mouth

As soon as Roanake, Va., Mayor David Bowers said it, people nationwide immediately bristled at the ignorance of his statement.

Feeding the frenzy of fear to keep Syrian refugees out, Bowers on Wednesday invoked as justification — badly and wrongly — the mass internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

“I’m reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” said Bowers, a Democrat, “and it appears that the threat of harm to America from ISIS now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then.”

Amid criticism, outrage and calls for his resignation, Bowers apologized Friday for his “unwise and inappropriate” comments.

Whether he remains in office or not, Bowers seriously needs a history lesson: The U.S. government in 1988 formally apologized and paid reparations to Japanese-American internees and their heirs, for the wrong and harm done.