Support the Fred Korematsu Day bill (sponsored by Assemblymember Warren Furutani) as it goes up for vote on the California State Senate floor later this summer!

Asked about wartime decision making by the Supreme Court in her confirmation hearing, Judge Sotomayor referenced Korematsu v. US. “It’s inconceivable to me today that a decision permitting the detention, arrest of an individual solely on the basis of their race would be considered appropriate by our government,” said Sotomayor.

On June 30, the Fred Korematsu Day bill passed in the California Senate Education Committee with a unanimous vote of 8-0. This follows unanimous votes in the Assembly Education Committee (8-0) and Assembly Floor (69-0) in May. It will be heard on the Senate Floor in August, and hopefully move to the Governor’s desk in late August or early September. We are encouraging organizations to send support letters for the bill, which encourages educators to teach students about Fred Korematsu’s case and its relevance today.

By sending in support letters, community backing will be reflected during the Senate Floor hearing in August. The draft of the full bill is available here.

Letters can be faxed or emailed to:

Leilani Aguinaldo Yee
Assemblymember Warren Furutani’s office
Fax: 916.319.2155
Email: Leilani.yee [at] asm.ca.gov.

Please email info@korematsuinstitute.org should you have any questions. Thank you for your support!

Here are some of the diverse organizations supporting this effort thus far:

American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
American Civil Liberties Union
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Anti-Defamation League
Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area
Asian American Justice Center
Asian Law Caucus
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento
Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley
Central CA Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Council on American Islamic Relations – CA
Greater Los Angeles Chapter, San Diego Chapter
Paul DeWitt
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Equal Justice Society
Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego
Filipino Bar Association of Northern California
Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy
Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education
Go For Broke National Education Center
Aggie Idemoto, Ed.D.
Japanese American Bar Association of Greater Los Angeles
Japanese American Citizens League (National)
Japanese American Citizens League, San Francisco Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Pacific Southwest District
Japanese American Citizens League, Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Japanese American National Museum
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern CA
Korean American Bar Association of Southern California
Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Muslim Public Affairs Council
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Orange County Asian American Bar Association
Organization of Chinese Americans (National)
Organization of Chinese Americans, Orange County
Organization of Chinese Americans, Greater Los Angeles
Organization of Chinese Americans, Silicon Valley
Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego
Philippine American Bar Association of Los Angeles
San Leandro Unified School District
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Sikh Coalition
South Asian Bar Association of Northern California
Southwest Center for Asian Pacific American Law
Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s Asian Pacific American Law Students’ Association
Ventura County Asian American Bar Association

To further our mission on leadership development in Asian American communities, the Korematsu Institute is seeking to understand how human rights tools can be an effective resource for emerging leaders, especially in immigrant communities. We are excited to share our initial findings with you in this report.

For more information and to view the full report, please click here.

The Human Rights Perspective in Asian American Advocacy
Wednesday 6/23/10  -  2:15pm-3:45pm

Film Screening: “9066 to 9/11″ (more info coming soon)
Wednesday 6/23/10  -  4:00pm-5:30pm

Communicating the Message: How to Talk About National Security and Human Rights
Thursday 6/24/10  -  10:45am-12:15pm