The words from 1980 echo today: the promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity and that the decision to issue the order was shaped by “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”
Order 9066 was President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1942 decision to massively deny civil rights to an entire group — those of Japanese-American descent — of American citizens and their families, based solely on their race.
Of course, from 1942-45, FDR would go on to great success at political leadership, but few Americans regard 9066 as anything but less than a systematic denial of civil rights that our nation rightly strives to atone for.
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Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, fresh out of the State Senate in Salem, continues that atonement. Its championing by Hood River Republican Sen. Chuck Thomsen draws upon history to reiterate a historic point. Thomsen deserves kudos for marshaling it through the Senate, which last week voted unanimously to adopt it.
In the context of the deep injustices done to Japanese Americans, the resolution states that “We, along with the people of Oregon, pause to reflect upon the lessons learned from the Japanese American incarceration experience, appreciate the contributions that immigrants and refugees bring to our nation and commit to valuing all Americans, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or country of origin.”
President Gerald Ford formally rescinded Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1976, in his “An American Promise” proclamation, in which he called upon the American people to “resolve that this kind of action shall never again be repeated.”
The resolution cites the 1980 Congressional legislation, signed by President Jimmy Carter on July 31, 1980, establishing the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians to investigate the claim that the incarceration of Japanese Americans and legal resident aliens during World War II was justified by military necessity. The commission held 20 days of hearings, heard from more than 750 witnesses on this matter and published its findings in its report, “Personal Justice Denied,” and came to its necessary conclusion, cited above.
It also cites Congress enacting the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, in which it apologized on behalf of the nation for “fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry,” and President Ronald Reagan signing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law on Aug. 10, 1988, and proclaiming it a “great day for America.”
Finally, the resolution cites the 2016 Oregon Legislative Assembly’s passage and the singing by Governor Kate Brown of House Bill 4009, recognizing the loyalty and brave resistance of Minoru Yasui and designating March 28 of each year as Minoru Yasui Day.
One way we can all continue to recognize personal justice denied and the sacrifice of loyal Americans is to participate in the March 15 Sense of Place lecture, “A Sense of Honor: How Community Members Supported Japanese Americans in Our Valley.” Then there is the March 28 Oregon State Minoru Yasui Day, and to continue to inform ourselves on any contemporary efforts by our government to deny rights and restrict peoples’ ability to live, work, and contribute to American society.
The concluding Whereas’s and Be it Resolved’s in Resolution 14 are worth reading all the way through:
“Whereas when awarding Minoru Yasui the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Nov. 24, 2015, President Barack Obama described Minoru Yasui’s legacy as ‘a call to our national conscience, a reminder of our enduring obligation to be the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave’ — an America worthy of his sacrifice’; and Whereas across the country the Japanese American community observes the Day of Remembrance on Feb. 19 of each year to educate the public about the lessons learned from the incarceration in order to ensure that it never happens again; and Whereas the Day of Remembrance provides an opportunity for all people to reflect on the importance of political leadership and vigilance and on the value of justice and civil rights during times of uncertainty and emergency; and Whereas at this time in history it is especially important that Oregonians recognize and cherish those who have come to Oregon as immigrants and refugees to pursue the American Dream for themselves and their families and to contribute to the economic and social vitality of this great state; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:
That we, the members of the Senate of the Seventy-ninth Legislative Assembly, recognize the historical significance of Feb. 19, 1942, the date President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, restricting the freedom of Japanese Americans and other legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property and that we support the goals of the Japanese American community in recognizing the national Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of these actions; and be it further Resolved, That we, along with the people of Oregon, in order to recognize and honor the heroism, sacrifice, patience and loyalty of the Japanese American World War II veterans and internees and to remember the lessons and blessings of liberty and justice for all, acknowledge the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066; and be it further Resolved, That we, along with the people of Oregon, pause to reflect upon the lessons learned from the Japanese American incarceration experience, appreciate the contributions that immigrants and refugees bring to our nation and commit to valuing all Americans, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or country of origin.”
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