San Francisco’s annual commemoration of the Day of Remembrance will be held later today at 2 p.m., at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco Japantown, with a reception to follow at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.
Sixty-seven years ago on February 19, the path of our community was drastically altered by the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For the Japanese American community, February 19th, 1942 would be the day that lived on in infamy, as 120,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and relocated to internment camps in the Western United States. About two-thirds of the internees were American citizens but that did not protect them from being stripped of many of the rights afforded to them by the Constitution. The authoritative force behind the internment, General John DeWitt, is quoted saying “A Jap is a Jap. It makes no difference whether the Jap is a citizen or not.” The Supreme Court case of Fred Korematsu in 1944 failed to provide for the Constitutional rights of American citizens by endowing broad and considerable rights of the government to strip citizens of individual liberties in the name of national security. Although Korematsu’s case was eventually redressed and overturned in a U.S District Court in 1983, the internment was officially declared unjustified, and the president apologized to those who suffered, the injustice that the Japanese American community underwent cannot be forgotten. Japanese Latin Americans have yet to receive redress as they were excluded at the time of reparations. Though the issue may seem outdated since these events occurred over sixty years ago, it is relevant in that American history finds itself repeating the same mistake over again in its responses to the terrorist attacks of 9-11, this time with Arab Americans being targeted as “the enemy”. It is never justified, even in a wartime climate of fear, to strip a group of American citizens of their constitutional rights solely based on their racial or ethnic background.
Some information about this year’s DOR from the Nakayoshi Young Professionals blog:
This year’s Day of Remembrance theme, “Dreams Interrupted, Dreams Fulfilled,” recognizes the honorary degrees recently awarded to Japanese Americans whose educations were disrupted by the relocation and internment of the Japanese American community during WWII, and to the enduring value the community places on receiving an education. The 2010 Day of Remembrance will be MC’d by KTVU Channel 2 News reporter Jana Katsuyama, with a keynote by California State Assemblyman Warren Furutani, author of CA Assembly Bill 37, granting honorary degrees to the Nisei who were removed from their educational pursuits. This year’s program will also feature the presentation of the 2010 Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian Award to distinguished human and civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. Additionally, the Purple Moon Dance Project, choreographed by Jill Togawa, will perform excerpts of their work, “When Dreams are Interrupted,†revisiting the forced removal of the Berkeley Japanese community in 1942.
Dan and I will not be able to attend this year due to a prior engagement, but we both volunteered last year, and it was a very powerful ceremony and a testament to the vitality of the Japanese American community in the Bay Area. I was honored to be the escort for the family of Fred Korematsu, and as a non-Californian Japanese American who grew up somewhat ignorant of JA issues, it was a very educational and enlightening experience. We regret that we’re not able to be there today, but we would like to take a moment to remember — and remind others — of the injustice that Japanese Americans suffered and to reaffirm our commitment to human and civil rights.
Because a Constitution is not worth the parchment it is printed on if it is not supported by a sound public opinion and a government of integrity and equal compassion for its people….