The new law also links Japanese American
incarceration and President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
TORRANCE, Calif. — Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi’s (D-Torrance) Assembly Bill (AB) 491 on Sept. 28, which will provide $3 million in education grants over the next three years on the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
AB 491 updates the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, established in 1998, by expanding the scope of the grant program to include content linking the Japanese American mass incarceration with current civil liberties challenges, including President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban as well as his calls for a national Muslim registry.
The original version of AB 491 also included a $3 million appropriation request for the grant program, but Assemblymember Muratsuchi removed the appropriation request from his bill after he successfully negotiated for the $3 million in funding through the Budget Act of 2017 (AB 97).
“I am excited to deliver $3 million in education grants on the World War II Japanese American Incarceration,” stated Assemblymember Muratsuchi. “AB 491 will help educate more Americans not only about the mass incarceration of innocent Japanese Americans during World War II, but also about what is happening today, with loyal Muslim Americans and others similarly being treated as national security threats. Seventy-five years ago, in 1942, the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans without any due process of law began with one Presidential executive order. This year, President Donald Trump has issued executive orders calling for a Muslim travel ban. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that Americans have learned the lessons of the Japanese American Incarceration so that no other group or community is similarly targeted.”
AB 491 amends Section 13000 of the Education Code to include the following language: “The Legislature further finds and declares that, just as in 1942 when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 calling for the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans as national security threats, so in 2017 President Donald Trump has issued executive orders calling for a travel ban for immigrants and refugees from Muslim-majority countries on the basis of national security. Moreover, during the 2016 presidential campaign, President Trump called for a ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,’ as well as for a national Muslim registry. These actions and proposed actions made 75 years after the issuance of Executive Order 9066 highlight the ongoing need for public educational activities and the development of educational materials to ensure that the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans will not only be remembered, but also properly understood, so that no group or community is ever again unjustly targeted as Japanese Americans were during World War II.”
AB 491 updates the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, which was established in 1998 through legislation authored by then-Assemblymember Mike Honda (D-San Jose), who went on to serve in the U.S. Congress.
“I would like to acknowledge and thank Congressman Honda for being the original architect of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program. I am honored to be able to carry on his work,” said Assemblymember Muratsuchi.
Barbara Takei of the Tule Lake Committee, a nonprofit organization that represents Japanese American survivors and descendants of those imprisoned during WWII at the Tule Lake concentration camp in Northern California and works to preserve the historic site, supports the bill.
“Given the echoes of 1942 and the rising climate of fear and racism targeting Muslims, immigrants and refugees, the work of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program is more important than ever,” said Takei. “To ensure the mistakes of the past are not forgotten and not repeated, we are grateful that you have introduced AB 491 to continue the work of this valuable program.”
Assemblymember Muratsuchi represents California’s 66th Assembly District, which includes El Camino Village, Gardena, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance and West Carson.
In addition, he serves as chairman of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
Muratsuchi is also a member of the Assembly Committees on Budget, Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, Natural Resources, Utilities and Energy and Veterans Affairs.
