We take this somber moment to pause and remember a great American.
Unwavering and unafraid, Fred led everyone down a path of moral fortitude with the use of just one word: "No".
Though jailed and abandoned for his willingness to demand his constitutional rights in the frenzy of World War II, he never gave up the fight. His eventual victory against a corrupted government proved to be a victory for us all. Both revered and reviled by Presidents, very few have had the fortitude to do what he has done.
Fred was not just a icon to the Japanese American community but to all communities around the country and around the world because he stood up for justice. When a very narrow minded leader said "you're either with us or you're against us", Fred boldly replied, "we're against you, because you violate the rights of ordinary people!" For all who knew him and for those who didn't, he proved that individual rights matter in war time every bit as much as they do in peace time and for that, he will remain a hero to us all.
(from Herb H.)
BACKGROUND
Born: 1919-2005Birthplace: Oakland, Calif.
Korematsu was born to a Japanese-American family that owned a flower nursery. Korematsu refused to go to an internment camp. In 1942 he was arrested and sent to a camp.
On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the military commanders on the West Coast to issue whatever orders were necessary for national security. Curfew and exclusionary orders soon followed.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 1944 on the grounds of military necessity.
In 1983, Korematsu appealed his conviction. Later that year a federal court in San Francisco overturned the conviction, stating that the government's case at the time had been based on false, misleading, and at racially biased information.
Judge Patel commented on the lessons of Korematsu v. United States:
Korematsu remains on the pages of our legal and political history. As a legal precedent, it is now recognized as having very limited application. As historical precedent, it stands as a constant caution that in times of war or declared military necessity our institutions must be vigilant in protecting constitutional guarantees.
It stands as a caution that in times of distress the shield of military necessity and national security must not be used to protect governmental actions from close scrutiny and accountability. It stands as a caution that in times of international hostility and antagonisms our institutions, legislative, executive and judicial, must be prepared to exercise their authority to protect all citizens from the petty feats and prejudices that are so easily aroused.
In 1988 Congress passed legislation apologizing for the internments and awarding each survivor $20,000.
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