Resolution No. 111-11A2, In Observation of the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.pdf (1,176 KB)
Adopted, at First Reading on Suspension of the Rules, by the Board of Education at it Regular Meeting of
January 11, 2011
Subject: Resolution No. 111-11A2
In Observation of the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution
– Commissioners Sandra Lee Fewer, Emily M. Murase, Kim-Shree Maufas, Hydra B. Mendoza,
Rachel Norton, Jill Wynns, Norman Yee and Student Delegates Elvina Fan and Athena Creer
WHEREAS: The struggle for civil liberties has often been inspired by ordinary Americans who have
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had the courage to stand up and fight for their basie-Constitutional rights; and
Fred T. Korematsu was one of a few individuals who in 1942 refused to comply with the
military orders issued under Executive Order 9066, which implemented the forced
removal of over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from their homes on the West
Coast and their internment in America’s concentration camps for the duration of World
War II; and
Mr. Korematsu believed that the military orders violated his basic rights and freedoms as
an American under the U.S. Constitution, and represented by Ernest Besig of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, chose to challenge the
constitutionality of his arrest and conviction for violating the military orders; and
In December 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Mr. Korematsu’s challenge,
effectively upholding the constitutionality of the internment of an entire ethnic
community without charges of any crime or disloyal act, without legal representation, and
without trial or conviction, on the ground that the responsible military commander had a
reasonable basis to conclude that the West Coast Japanese American communities posed
a threat to national security; and
Tin-he felowing-years, official governmentatpublication after the war of
contemporaneous reports from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Armythe Army’s
Military Intelligence Division (MID) showed that none of the thousands of reports and
rumors of Japanese American espionage or sabotage was ever validated, that no acts of
espionage or sabotage by Japanese Americans ever occurred, that Japanese Americans
were overwhelmingly loyal to the United States; and that the Japanese American
communities posed no military or security threat to the United States; and
Mr. Korematsu felt personally responsible for the Supreme Court’s validation of the
internment, and waited for almost 40 years for an opportunity to re-challenge the U.S.
Supreme Court decision in his case; and
In 1982, Mr. Korematsu filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis in the San Francisco
federal court charging that newly discovered evidence showed that the 1944 Supreme
Court decision had been secured through the-gevernment’s-a deliberate fraud on the
courts, including the government’s knowing suppression of the eontemperaneous-ONI,
FBI, FCC and FEG-MID reports, the destruction of the military commander’s Final
Report showing that thehis decision to intern the entire West Coast Japanese American
population was based on race prejudice; and the substitution of afabrieated-an altered
Final Report purporting fabricated to show that the-commeander’shis decision was based
on military considerations; and
Resolution No. 111-11A2
In Observation of the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitutio
– Commissioners Sandra Lee Fewer, Emily M. Murase, Kim-Shree Maufas, Hydra B. Mendoza,
Rachel Norton, Jill Wynns, Norman Yee and Student Delegates Elvina Fan and Athena Creer
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On November 10, 1983, at the federal districtcourt held-a-hearing on-Mr—korematsu-sof
his coram nobis petition-at-whieh, Mr. Korematsu said to the Court: “As an American
citizen being put through this shame and embarrassment [of being interned for suspected
disloyalty] and also all Japanese American citizens who were escorted to concentration
camps suffered the same embarrassment, we can never forget this incident as long as we
live. The horse stalls that we stayed in were made for horses, not human beings.
According to the Supreme Court decision regarding my case being an American citizen
was not enough. They say you have to look like one, otherwise they say you can’t tell a
difference between a loyal and a disloyal American. I thought that this decision was
wrong and I still feel that way. As long as my record stands in federal court, any
American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a
hearing. That is if they look like the enemy of our country. Therefore, I would like to
see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will
never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed or color”; and
On November 10, 1983, the Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel granted Mr. Korematsu’s petition,
finding that in order to secure Mr. Korematsu’s conviction the government had corrupted
the judicial process by its suppression, destruction and fabrication of material evidence,
and ended her decision with the following observation on the meaning of the 1944
Supreme Court decision in Mr. Korematsu’s case: “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 this 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 fears and
prejudices that are so easily aroused”; and
The decision on Mr. Korematsu’s coram nobis petition influenced the U.S. government’s
passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which recognized that the forced relocation
and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was not justified by
military necessity or national security, but resulted from race prejudice, war hysteria, and
a failure of political leadership; and
For the rest of his life, until his passing on March 30, 2005, Mr. Korematsu dedicated
himself to educating the American public, particularly school children and young people,
about the history of the internment and to standing up for the rights of other groups,
particularly Arab and Muslim Americans, targeted by similar suspicions and fears
triggered by contemporary international hostilities and antagonisms; and
Resolution No. 111-11A2
In Observation of the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitutio
– Commissioners Sandra Lee Fewer, Emily M. Murase, Kim-Shree Maufas, Hydra B. Mendoza,
Rachel Norton, Jill Wynns, Norman Yee and Student Delegates Elvina Fan and Athena Creer
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On January 15, 1998, President Clinton awarded Mr. Korematsu the Presidential Medal
of Freedom in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of all Americans for our
constitutional rights and liberties, saying: "In 1942, an ordinary American took an
extraordinary stand. Fred Korematsu boldly opposed the forced internment of Japanese
Americans during World War II. After being convicted for failing to report for relocation,
Mr. Korematsu took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled
against him. But 39 years later, he had his conviction overturned in federal court,
empowering tens of thousands of Japanese Americans and giving him what he said he
wanted most of all — the chance to feel like an American once again. In the long history
of our country's constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for
millions of souls: Plessy, Brown. Parks. To that distinguished list, today we add the name
of Fred Korematsu"; and
California law designates certain days as having special significance, when public
schools are encouraged to observe and conduct suitable commemorative activities as
specified; and
The History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten
through Grade Twelve, states that the history curriculum at each grade level relating to
community, state, region, nation and the world must reflect and integrate the experiences
of men and women of different racial, religious and ethnic groups; and
The California Assembly and State Senate both unanimously passed AB 1775, the Fred
Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, and Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger signed this bill into law on September 23, 2010.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School
VAI/11
District encourages all schools and teachers to observe the Fred T. Korematsu Day of
Civil Liberties and the Constitution on or near January 30 each school year, and to
conduct activities commemorating the spirit and meaning of Fred Korematsu’s life and
recognizing the importance of preserving and protecting our civil rights and liberties,
even in times of real or perceived crisis.