Roanoke Mayor Apologizes for Japanese Internment Camp Statement

The Democratic mayor of Roanoke, Virginia retracted his earlier statement about Japanese internment camps and apologized to anyone who was offended by the viral remarks.

According to WSET reporter Annie Andersen, David Bowers told those attending a special city council meeting that he “didn’t expect his statement to go viral.”

.@City_of_Roanoke mayor Bowers said he didn’t expect his statement to go viral & he apologized to everybody offended pic.twitter.com/pSlyuajNA5

— Annie Andersen (@Annie_Andersen) November 20, 2015

Even so, Bowers apologized for his statement, the harm it caused the city of Roanoke, and the offense it engendered in Japanese-Americans across the country. However, Bowers maintained that he would not be resigning despite calls for him to stand down as Roanoke’s mayor.

Most of the city council members present accepted Bowers’ apology, including William Bespitch. Yet Bespitch spoke out against Bowers’ comments, saying he didn’t think the mayor understood the controversy.

According to Anderson, Bowers said that 24 members of the community had signed up to deliver remarks at the public meeting.

On Wednesday, Bowers positively cited the WWII-era practice of rounding up and placing Japanese-American families in internment camps across the United States in a statement on Syrian refugees. The comments ignited a media firestorm, prompting prominent Japanese-American actor and activist George Takei to speak out on social media.

[h/t The Daily Beast]
[Image via Twitter]

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