Bill introduced to award Congressional Gold Medal to Fred Korematsu

KOREMATSU INSTITTUE

Karen Korematsu, stands before a portrait of her father, Fred Korematsu.

On what would have been his 100th birthday, Congress introduced bicameral legislation Tuesday (Jan. 30) to award Fred Korematsu the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his fight against the illegal incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and his work to advance civil rights.

“Fred Korematsu stood up for the rights of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, and continued his fight for decades to expand civil rights and overturn his own false criminal conviction,” said Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, one of the sponsors of the legislation. “Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’ highest civilian honor, to Fred Korematsu is a fitting tribute to his lifelong pursuit of justice and equality.”

Sponsoring the bill in the House, is Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif. “Mr. Korematsu was an outspoken activist, a fighter for justice, and a hero to many – including myself," says Takano. 

"As a son of Japanese Americans who lived through Japanese internment during World War II, I find Mr. Korematsu’s legacy to be a guiding light for the work that I do in Congress. His life’s work placed civil rights at the forefront and it has been one of the cornerstones in the movement to build an America where everyone can be treated equally under the law."

In 1942, at the age of 23, Korematsu was arrested for refusing to enter the internment camps for Japanese Americans. After his arrest, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld Executive Order 9066 based on military necessity. 

Four decades later, on Nov. 10, 1983, Korematsu’s criminal conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco. Korematsu remained a civil rights advocate throughout his life and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton in 1998. He passed away on March 30, 2005 at the age of 86.

“My father, Fred T. Korematsu, was born in Oakland, California 100 years ago today. A civil rights pioneer, he dedicated his life to ‘stand up for what is right,’ and he worked to ensure what happened to him and other Japanese Americans will never happen again to any other minority group,” said Karen Korematsu, founder and executive director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and daughter of Fred Korematsu. "Through this bill, it is a reminder that we must Stop Repeating History and, like my father, continue to champion civil liberties and the Constitution for all.”

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

“The specter of the Korematsu decision haunts us to this day,” said National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) president Pankit Doshi. “With this bill, Congress has the chance to repudiate the Supreme Court’s ruling and prevent the country from repeating a dark chapter of our nation’s history."

“This legislation is an important acknowledgement of the injustice suffered by my grandparents, parents, and more than 115,000 others who were relocated and imprisoned based on nothing more than their heritage,” said Takano. “This stain on our history must serve as a warning of what happens when we allow fear and hate to overwhelm our basic respect for one another."

Tuesday's legislation is a follow-up to a bill introduced Dec. 18, 2018 the anniversary of the widely-condemned Korematsu Supreme Court decision that led to the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-IL and Hirono introduced the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2017 (S. 2250) to prevent similar civil and human rights travesties from happening on U.S. soil ever again. 

Their legislation is named in honor of the late U.S. Congressman Mark Takai from Hawaii for his long-time leadership on this issue prior to his passing. 

With President Trump’s continued efforts to restrict minority and immigrant civil and human rights, the bill would help our nation stop repeating history by ensuring that no individual is imprisoned or detained based upon a protected characteristic such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. Takano introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We, as a nation, must never forget or repeat the horrors thousands of Japanese Americans experienced as prisoners within our own borders, said Duckworth. "We must also continue to do everything we can to ensure such a national travesty never happens again. I’m proud to introduce this bill with Senator Hirono in remembrance of my dear friend and former colleague Mark Takai to reinstate our commitment to protecting civil liberties and strengthen our resolve to ensure we never again repeat such shameful acts.”
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