In
1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that caused the
United States to enter World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans
were rounded up and put into internment camps. American born 23
year old Fred Korematsu defied the government order and refused
to report for incarceration. That year he was arrested and branded
a traitor. Korematsu appealed his conviction and the case went
all the way up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled against
Korematsu, claiming that incarcerating Japanese-Americans during
World War II was justified due to national security. Forty years
later, a legal historian helped Korematsu appeal his conviction
once again, and in 1983 it was overturned by a federal court,
declaring the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens during
World War II was not based on military necessity but on racial
prejudice. Fred Korematsu continued to raise awareness about this
hidden chapter of American history when American citizens were
incarcerated simply because of their ethnicity. The United States
government issued an official apology to the 120,000 Japanese-Americans
incarcerated during World War II, and in 1998, President Bill
Clinton awarded Fred Korematsu with the nation's highest civilian
honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fred Korematsu's story
became especially relevant after September 11, when some in America
began to look at all Arab-Americans in fear. Concerned about the
prolonged detention of un-charged prisoners at Guantánamo Bay,
Korematsu filed a brief with Supreme Court, warning that history
was in danger of repeating itself once again. In 2010, the state
of California declared January 30 should be celebrated each year
as Fred Korematsu Day, in honor of this brave American who stood
up against prejudice and injustice.
