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The San Jose Day of Remembrance
commemorates the anniversary of Executive Order
9066 that led to the forced incarceration of
120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of
whom were American citizens.
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Traditional candlelight procession through
San Jose's historic Japantown. Photo
courtesy of Andy Frazer. |
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A candle is lit in
memory for
each of the camps.
Photo courtesy of Andy Frazer. |
Thirty years ago,
NOC established the
San Jose Day of Remembrance event to bring
awareness to the plight of former Japanese American
incarcerees and to build support for efforts in
getting an official apology from the United States
government. Initially, there was not widespread
support for redress and reparations, even within the
Japanese American community, but gradually the
redress movement gathered momentum. Education and legislative efforts from many
organizations and individuals culminated in the
signing of the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
As we look back on that landmark legislation, we
also acknowledge that there are many who were
similarly affected by the incarceration that
were not given an official apology from the
U.S. government. During World War II, the U.S. government orchestrated and
financed the mass abduction, forcible deportation
and internment of 2,264 men, women, and children of
Japanese ancestry from 13 Latin American countries.
Most Japanese Latin Americans were excluded from the
Civil Liberties Act of 1988 because the U.S.
government claimed they were “illegal aliens.”
Similar in spirit to the early Day of Remembrance
programs, the 2010 Day of Remembrance will
describe grassroots and legislative efforts to
establish a commission that would investigate and
determine the facts surrounding the wartime
deportation and incarceration of Japanese Latin Americans. The
struggle for a formal acknowledgment for this great
injustice reminds us that there is still much
unfinished business related to the redress
and reparations.
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The Day of Remembrance is also an
event that aims to bring different communities
together in order to build trust, respect and
understanding among all people The event allows
us to
renew our pledge to fight for equality, justice and
peace.
This year's Day of
Remembrance program also features special
performances by
San Jose
Taiko and by
shakuhachi master, Kanow Matsueda and
Julie Masazuki Sumida on
koto, Congressman Mike Honda, speakers from the
community and the traditional candlelight
procession through historic San Jose Japantown.
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NOC
is now on Facebook!
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San Jose Taiko will make
their annual appearance at the Day of
Remembrance.
Photo courtesy of Andy Frazer. |
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