Internment, Japanese Americans, Japanese Peruvians, Labor And The Lessons For Today

2017 is the 75th anniversary of the internment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese Peruvians in concentration camps during World War II under the executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Today the Trump administration is justifying this action by arguing that it would be acceptable today for Muslims and other select groups be incarcerated again.This panel will look at the struggle against the internment and lessons for today with California historian Charles Wollenberg, who is currently completing a book about civil rights attorney Wayne M. Collins. During the 1940s, Collins bucked prejudice and war hysteria to take cases related to Japanese American evacuation and internment. Among others, Collins defended Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American citizen who refused to report for the camps and was imprisoned. The high profile Korematsu case reached the Supreme Court. Wollenberg’s talk is entitled “Wayne Collins: Rebel with a Cause.” In it, Wollenberg will discuss Collins’ legal defense of Nikkei (second generation) rights and liberties, including the Korematsu case. Author Laura Atkins, who is co-author with Stan Yogi of “Fred Korematsu Speaks,” will also discuss this important book for young people about the life of Fred Korematsu. Civil Rights Activist Grace Shimizu is Director of the Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project and the Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin American Internees. She will speak about the ongoing fight for the Peruvian Japanese who were kidnapped from Peru by the FBI and brought to the United States to be used to trade for US prisoners of war. Panel member ILWU historian Harvey Schwartz has written about the role of the ILWU in fighting discrimination after the war against Japanese Americans. Larry Yamamoto, ILWU Local 34 who is a Bay Area artist, camp survivor, will serve as commentator for the event.
The event was hosted by the Japanese American Historical Society and was introduced by executive director Roselyn Tonai at the panel that was held on July 1, 2017 at their office.
Additional media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEQeEeUDIQ
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18631/japanese-internment-world-war-ii-ilwu-labor-unions
http://www.ilwu.org/oral-history-of-lou-goldblatt/
https://youtu.be/Dm7NiQNdRhA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T13pKptpLSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySXUAXt5hE
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18631/japanese-internment-world-war-ii-ilwu-labor-unions
http://www.ilwu.org/oral-history-of-lou-goldblatt/
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/U-S-went-after-Japanese-in-Peru-in-WWII-3273971.php
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31295270
For more information
http://www.dayofremembrance.org
http://www.campaignforjusticejla.org/history/
For more information
https://www.njahs.org
http://www.campaignforjusticejla.org
http://www.laborfest.net
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org