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2024 Fred Korematsu Events
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To commemorate his journey as a civil rights activist, the "Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution"
was observed for first time on January 30, 2011, by the state of California, and first such commemoration for an Asian
American in the US.
Japanese-American Fred Korematsu was born on January 30, 1919 to Japanese immigrant parents who ran a flower nursery in town.
He refused to go to the internment camps, and was arrested. Fred challenged his internment in court, losing ultimately
at the Supreme Court in 1944.
Dissenting from the decision, Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy pronounced the court's judgment the "legalization of racism."
After the War, Fred did not talk about what had happened for years.
Even his own daughter found out about his case in high school. Later in his life, he began to speak out for civil rights again.
Since then, he has been recognized as a hero by many, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill
Clinton. During the last years of his life,
Fred sought to protect the civil rights of people of Middle Eastern descent after September 11, 2001. He passed away in 2005
in Northern California.
Fred Korematsu
Activist Who Objected to the Internment
Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was an American civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Shortly after the Imperial Japanese Navy launched its attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066,
which authorized the removal of individuals of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast from their homes and their mandatory imprisonment
in internment camps, but Korematsu instead challenged the orders and became a fugitive.
- 1) 2024 - 54th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage Event: To Commemorate Japanese American Incarceration During World War II (Kyodo Taiko Will Perform)[See Video] (Saturday,27 April,2024)
Join the 55th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage at the Manzanar National Historic Site on April 27, 2024. This... [
Event Details]
- 2) A Beautiful Japanese Rock Garden in Traditional Japanese Style, USC Campus (Video) Landscape Composed Arrangements of Rocks (Aid for Meditating) (Thursday,02 May,2024)
USC Rock Garden - Building a peaceful place for reflection & remembrance. Dedicated to Japanese American... [
Event Details]
- 3) 2024 Japanese Americans Monument Interned During WWII, Wilson Park, Torrance (Approved) (Friday,10 May,2024)
Torrance to build monument for Japanese Americans, others interned during WWII.Torrance could break ground on... [
Event Details]
- 4) 2024 - 25th Annual Go For Broke Monument Anniversary VIRTUAL Tribute Event (Honor Brave Men & Women Whose Names are Etched in Granite) (Sunday,02 June,2024)
Go For Broke Monument Anniversary Virtual Tribute Event. Join us as we honor the Japanese American soldiers... [
Event Details]
- 5) 2024 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage (3 Days: Thu-Sat) Preserve and Memorialize the Heart Mountain World War II Japanese American Confinement Site (Thursday,25 July,2024)
PILGRIMAGE Event - The sessions, activities, and tours available during the event are listed below. These are... [
Event Details]
- 6) The State of California's Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution - Jan 30th (Thursday,30 January,2025)
Fred T. Korematsu was a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the... [
Event Details]
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