Bills introduced to fete civil rights icon on his 106th birthday.
The Japanese American Citizens League today joined 77 other organizations to show support for the introduction of federal legislation that would designate Jan. 30 as a date to honor Fred Korematsu for taking a principled stand against the unjust mass incarceration of Americans of Japanese heritage during World War II and also seek to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to the civil rights icon.
Reps. Doris Matsui (D–Calif.) and Mark Takano (D–Calif.) introduced HR 77, which seeks to designate Jan. 30 — Korematsu’s 1919 date of birth — as “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D–Hawaii), meantime, introduced companion legislation S 47.
Hirono also introduced S 338, which seeks to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Korematsu. Its House counterpart, also introduced by Takano, is HR 821, aka the Fred Korematsu Congressional Gold Medal Act.
The Congressional Gold Medal is America’s oldest and highest civilian award, bestowed for distinguished achievements and contributions.
Fred Korematsu
In its statement, JACL said, “Recognizing Korematsu’s legacy permanently on this date and issuing the Congressional Gold Medal would be a fitting acknowledgment of his contributions to our nation’s understanding of what it means to be an American and the rights we must all cherish and preserve for all.”
Among the 77 organizations joining the national JACL in support of the legislation were several JACL chapters. (A list of supporters may be seen here.)
Following President Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066 during WWII, which led to the forced removal of ethnic Japanese — most of whom were U.S. citizens — from the West Coast to government-operated concentration camps and detention centers, four individuals filed legal challenges to different aspects of the executive order that reached the Supreme Court. Of the four — Mitsuye Endo, Gordon Hirabayashi, Korematsu and Minoru Yasui — only Endo’s challenge proved victorious at the time. (See related story here.)
Decades later, using the obscure legal challenge writ of error coram nobis, the three losing SCOTUS cases were revived, with Hirabayashi’s and Korematsu’s rulings being overturned; Yasui died before his case could be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. His original conviction was, however, overturned by Oregon’s federal court. All three were each later awarded Presidential Medals of Freedom.
On Sept. 23, 2010, California designated Jan. 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. (see Oct. 1-14, 2010 Pacific Citizen) Since then, several other states — Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia — also have designated Jan. 30 as Fred Korematsu Day.
To read the entirety of JACL’s statement, visit here.
