GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Fred Korematsu, bravely opposed the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II in 1942, bringing his argument that the government’s actions were unconstitutional all the way to the Supreme Court.
His daughter pointed out how little has changed all these years later.
“Back then we called it ‘military necessity.’ Now we call it ‘national security,’” she said. “So, beware of all those euphemisms that we were using then and now.”
Karen Korematsu was at SF State after accepting history professor Marc Stein’s invitation to participate in the university’s annual Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference.
“There is timeliness aspect of the Korematsu case being in the conversation this year,” Stein said. “And … Japanese American internment is always of interest because for many of us, it just stands as a horrible example of injustice and racism and the use of national security to justify unequal treatment.”