Stand Up and Speak Up: Karen Korematsu
It was not until Karen Korematsu was 16 years old, sitting in her high school U.S. history class, that she learned about a significant Supreme Court Case called Korematsu vs. United States, when her friend mentioned it in an oral book report. When speaking to her friend afterwards Karen’s thoughts were confirmed—the case was about her own father, Fred Korematsu. When her father got home that evening, Karen asked if what she learned earlier that day was true. Her father answered that it was, and they did not speak about it in their house again. It was not until 1988 when the case was reopened that Karen learned more about that time in history from her father, who took a stand for all Japanese Americans during a time of unconstitutional discrimination.
Proudly wearing a shirt with a picture of her father on it, Karen Korematsu, daughter of Fred Korematsu, spoke to the Saint Mary’s community this past Monday about the relevancy of her father’s case today. Korematsu spoke about how her father decided to knowingly violate Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 of the U.S. Army and was arrested and convicted. The exclusion order instructed all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and noncitizens, to leave their homes and report to internment camps. When his case reached the Supreme Court, it ruled that the exclusion order was constitutional. In 1988, over four decades later, the case was reopened and the government passed the Civil Liberties Act, granting reparations to Japanese Americans interned during World War II. Although the government acknowledged the unconstitutionality of the Japanese internment, the original case ruling still stands.
Fred Korematsu was an American citizen, born and raised here in the Bay Area in Oakland. Korematsu was fighting for something he believed was unconstitutional, not just for him but for all Japanese Americans who were being discriminated because of their race. As part of the first year of Seminar curriculum, Korematsu vs. United States, a landmark case in American history, addresses the mission of justice that Seminar classes wrestle with in the texts.
Karen Korematsu wants to educate people, whether they are 5 or 100 years old, about the events that occurred during that time in history and how we can take action today to fight injustices we see in our society. “At the end of the day, we’re all American and need to fight for our civil liberties,” said Korematsu, who founded korematsuintitute.org to help teach about the injustice of the Japanese internment camps and Fred Korematsu’s fight for justice. The institute has developed curriculum for teachers to use in their K-12 classrooms.
In a Q&A session with students afterwards, one student asked if America had learned its lesson from the discrimination of a group of people for their race alone, or if a similar event could occur again. Korematsu said she thinks that America has not yet learned from its past mistakes. She feels that the way the country reacted after Sept. 11 is very telling, and also alludes to the recent executive orders limiting travel that President Donald Trump ordered this past January. The first order went into effect two days before national Fred Korematsu day on Jan. 30, the first day named after an Asian American. But Korematsu does not think hope is completely lost. If anything, the country may be stronger than ever to rally support for one another, she said. Korematsu said that if her father were still alive he would encourage people to “stand up for what is right and don’t be afraid to speak up.”
February 19, 2017 marked the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, but through education, speaking up for what is right, and supporting one another, Korematsu is hopeful that we will win the fight for American history to not repeat itself.