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What Is The Significance Of Fred Korematsu Civil Rights Issue

1666 Words7 Pages

After the Pearl Harbor attacks during World War II, President Roosevelt, concerned about national security and the sizable Japanese-American population along the coast, issued an order for their relocation inland. Fred Korematsu, a U.S. citizen born to Japanese immigrant parents, was arrested in San Leandro, California, on May 30, 1942, for being in public areas and refusing to comply with the government's directive to evacuate coastal regions and relocate to inland detention centers. Korematsu contended that Executive Order 9066 violated the Fifth Amendment, leading to one of the most notorious Supreme Court cases and a significant battle for civil rights in history. To explore the significance of this legal battle requires an examination …show more content…

His resolve was put to the test when his family relocated to the Tanforan Assembly Center on May 9, 1942. The choice to stay behind caused tensions between him and his family. Opting to remain behind, Fred assumed the alias “Clyde Sarah” and underwent cosmetic procedures with the hope of evading detection. However, he was arrested by San Leandro police less than three weeks later and subsequently detained by military authorities. Ernest Besig, an attorney affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), offered Fred legal representation and initiated legal proceedings that challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, Korematsu’s arrest, and the mass internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans. Thus began the landmark civil rights fight for Japanese-American equality and the controversial Supreme Court ruling that upheld this internment. Upon appeal, the Supreme Court agreed to take the case of Korematsu v. United States. Following oral arguments in October of 1944, the court published its verdict on December 18, …show more content…

Korematsu stood before Judge Marilyn Patel of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco and said “According to the Supreme Court decision regarding my case, being an American was not enough.I felt this decision was wrong and I still feel that way. As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without trial or hearing.I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color”. After the overturning of his conviction, Mr. Korematsu remained a public advocate for civil rights and the protection of Japanese Americans’ liberties. Fred worked closely with lobbyists in Washington D.C. to pass a bill granting an official apology from the U.S. government as well as compensation amounting to $20,000 for every survivor of the internment camps during World War II. In 1998, President Bill Clinton invited Fred and his family to the White House and awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the last years of his life, Fred continued his advocacy through the authorship of numerous amicus curiae briefs supporting cases involving infringements upon civil

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