Remembering Korematsu: Asian American Civil Rights
Fri, April 12, 2024 1:30 PM - Fri, April 12, 2024 3:00 PM at College of Law Room 343
Please join us on Friday, April 12, 1:30-3pm in the Law School, Room 343, as APA Studies hosts a panel discussion titled, "Remembering Korematsu: Asian American Civil Rights." This year on January 30, 2024, the state of Michigan celebrated its first ever Fred Korematsu Day for Civil Liberties and the Constitution. But who was Fred Korematsu?
As a young man, Korematsu became best known for resisting World War Two-era government orders for Japanese and Japanese Americans to be evacuated from their homes and businesses on the American West Coast to be incarcerated in camps on the basis of "national security" and "military necessity." Korematsu's refusal to comply took him all the way the Supreme Court to defend his civil rights as an American citizen. Korematsu lost his case. This ruling has been discredited and only recently overturned. Join us as we recount this history and commemorate the longer struggle for Asian American civil rights as we acknowledge Michigan's first ever Fred Korematsu Day.
We will be joined by Roland Hwang, attorney, President of American Citizens for Justice, and Professor of American Culture and A/PIA Studies at the University of Michigan, Naoko Wake, Professor of History at Michigan State, and Frank Ravitch, Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law and Religion at the Michigan State College of Law. Thank you to the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA) and the Law School's Diversity & Equity Services Office for their co-sponsorship of this event.
