California To Formally Apologize For Internment Of Japanese Americans

California is poised to formally apologize to all Americans of Japanese heritage for the state’s role it the internment of more than 120,000 people during World War II.

On Thursday, the California Assembly is expected to approve a new bill, HR-77, which details a series of profound civil rights abuses perpetrated against Americans in 1942 at the height of anti-Japanese hysteria.

“The Assembly apologizes to all Americans of Japanese ancestry for its past actions in support of the unjust exclusion, removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and for its failure to support and defend the civil rights and civil liberties of Japanese Americans during this period,” the text of the bill reads.

The legislation was introduced by State Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D), who told the Japanese American Citizens League, or JACL, that he wanted his state to “lead by example” after spending years pushing resolutions that only commemorated the day. Six other co-sponsors signed on to the bill.

“While our nation’s capital is hopelessly divided along party lines and President Trump is putting immigrant families and children in cages, the California Legislature, with HR 77 will be issuing an official, bipartisan measure for its own actions taken that led to the incarceration of over 120,000 loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry behind barbed wire,” Maratsuchi told the JACL’s national newspaper, the Pacific Citizen.

I introduced HR 77, an official apology by the Assembly for legislation actions that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. I will be introducing the H.R. on Feb 20th as part of the annual Day of Remembrance celebrations.https://t.co/xCpkQsKT8R

— Asm. Al Muratsuchi (@AsmMuratsuchi) February 10, 2020

February 19 has held significance for Japanese Americans for decades, because it was on that date in 1942 that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order which forcibly removed 120,000 people living on the West Coast and placed them in 10 internment camps around the country. Two of those camps were in California, one in Manzanar and the other at Tule Lake.

The JACL notes that American citizens of Japanese heritage were never “charged, much less convicted, of espionage or sabotage against the United States. Yet they were targeted, rounded up, and imprisoned for years, simply for having the ‘face of the enemy.’”

The date is now known as a Day of Remembrance.

“Every February, the Japanese American community commemorates Executive Order 9066 as a reminder of the impact the incarceration experience has had on our families, our community, and our country,” the JACL writes on its website. “It is an opportunity to educate others on the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis, and the importance of remaining vigilant in protecting the rights and freedoms of all.”

The California Assembly bill specifically points to ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to limit immigration into the United States, saying that its passage would help ensure similar mistakes from the World War II-era were not made by the federal government again.

“Given recent national events, it is all the more important to learn from the mistakes of the past and to ensure that such an assault on freedom will never again happen to any community in the United States,” the legislation reads.

The federal government has taken measures to apologize for its behavior in the past.

A congressional commission found in 1983 that the policies were grounded in “racial prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership,” according to the Associated Press’ report.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure that provided $20,000 in restitution for every survivor of the internment measures.

HR-77 does not include any compensation for those still alive who were forcibly placed in interment camps.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has also taken several actions to apologize for troubled moments in the state’s history.

Last year, Newsom issued an executive order formally apologizing to Native Americans for “violence, maltreatment and neglect. Earlier this month, Newsom announced a clemency initiative to pardon LGBTQ people  ― including civil rights leader Bayard Rustin ― who were convinced under discriminatory laws.

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