I’ve lived in California all of my life, save for a brief time when I lived in England (Hey Farnbrough, I miss you). I love this state for its incredible diversity of biomes, for the many technological contributions this place has made for the world and for access to the cultures of all the people of the world who have migrated here — what a true gift.
I recently started flying the Breckenridge to Mariposa Yosemite California/Nevada bush trip and, to my delight, it starts off flying through a favorite stomping ground of mine — the area we Californians call “The Eastern Sierras”. This place is just stunningly beautiful in the spring when there is still snow in the higher elevations and the landscape is green. I’m thrilled to share this part of my state with all the people throughout the globe who will fly this bush trip.
However, I experienced something yesterday on the trip that troubled me deeply and I’ve been brewing over it all night and it needs to be brought to attention.
We end Leg 3 of the trip by landing at Manzanar.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, immediately, that very evening, the United States set about rounding up Japanese non-citizens and Japanese-American citizens — two thirds of which were born on American soil — and placing them in Concentration Camps. These men, women and children were stripped of their possessions, homes, businesses, rights, freedom and dignity and placed in 1 of 10 different “Relocation Centers” throughout the states. This was solely due to their racial background and not because they had done anything to warrant incarceration. Manzanar, in California, was the first one of those Relocation Centers and it has been preserved as a hallowed ground to remember this dark moment in the history of the United States of America.
I have been there, several times, and it is a place that brings out some heavy and intense emotional feelings about, what I see as, a great shame on my country.
I am struggling here with the notion that all the virtual tourists flying this bush trip land their bright yellow Zlin Aviation Savage Cub at the defunct military airstrip located directly across Highway 395 from the Relocation Center and there is nary a mention of what Manzanar is in the Navlog and most, if not all, will go on their merry way not knowing anything of the history here.
I do not feel this is right and I do not feel it respects what this place is and what it stood for and what it stands for today. I wouldn’t expect to casually land at other world locations that have a darker history without a mention. We should not be doing this here.
I would request that this bush trip be revisited by the developers and either Manzanar be recognized in the Navlog for what it stands for, or the leg be ended at the nearby airstrip just a short distance northward in Independence — an ironically named town given its proximity to Manzanar.
I am well aware of the code of conduct regarding politics, however this sim models our real world, which has real history and this is about honoring the people who suffered at this very location chosen as a destination spot for our entertainment. We should not take this lightly.
