His legacy is now featured in one of the signature installations
at the new Obama Presidential Center Museum.
PORTLAND — Another honor has been bestowed on Oregon-born attorney Minoru Yasui, whose lifelong commitment to civil rights, democracy and justice for all earned him the honor of the first Oregonian to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and have March 28 designated in perpetuity as Minoru Yasui Day in Oregon.
Min Yasui in his office circa the 1980s (Photos: Courtesy of the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project)
According to the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project, Yasui’s legacy is now featured in “Power of Words,” one of the signature storytelling installations at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago.
Rising 88 feet through all four levels of the museum, “Power of Words” is a monumental digital experience that explores the power of speeches, voices, poetry, music and language to inspire, empower and connect people in the pursuit of social progress.
The featured footage of Yasui comes from a 1986 guest lecture he delivered to students in an Asian American Studies course at the University of California, San Diego — one of the first Asian American Studies courses in the U.S.
In the footage featured at the Obama Presidential Center, Yasui reflects on the responsibility of every citizen to stand against injustice:
“But this is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, founded in liberty, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. And this was happening in our country. As an American citizen, as a lawyer, I felt that we owed at least the obligation AS A CITIZEN to tell our government THEY ARE WRONG. That is the sacred duty of every citizen, because what is done to the least of us can be done to all of us. I KNEW that we had to protest it.”
The archival footage was originally featured in the documentary “Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice.” Working in collaboration with the Obama Foundation, MYLP helped connect the foundation with retired Professor Jim Lin of UCSD to obtain permission for the footage and provided the clip featured in the exhibit.
“Min’s picture at the top of the Obama Presidential Center’s 88-foot exhibit brings tears of joy,” said Peggy Nagae, co-founder of the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project. “It’s a powerful recognition that he was an extraordinary person — willing to speak up and act on what is right, regardless of the personal cost. As Min said, ‘When you suppress or oppress any group of people, you are really derogating the rights of all people.’ Min knew at a deep level that shaking up the status quo was necessary, and he was willing to do just that. He knowingly put his personal liberty and professional career at risk. That’s extraordinary.”
Born in Hood River, Ore., Yasui is known for his courageous stand on March 28, 1942, against the wartime military curfew imposed under Executive Order 9066 — a defining act of protest against the unconstitutional policies that led to the mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and people of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Yasui’s stand became a defining moment in the pursuit of constitutional rights and equal justice.
Elsewhere in the museum, Yasui is also recognized among the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded during the Obama administration.
Honoring his unwavering commitment to justice, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Yasui the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, calling his life “a reminder of the power of one voice echoing for justice.”
To learn more about the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project, visit www.minoruyasuilegacy.org. To learn more about the Obama Foundation and Obama Presidential Center, visit www.obama.org/.
The “Power of Words” installation featuring Yasui at the Obama Presidential Center Museum in Chicago.