Japanese internment

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The Book Weighs 25 Pounds. Inside: 125K Names

First comprehensive list of Japanese internment camp victims moves museum visitors

(Newser) - It's a book so large it weighs 25 pounds. But it has to be big: it holds 125,284 names. For the first time, the names of every person of Japanese descent incarcerated in US internment camps during World War II, the majority of whom were American citizens, can...

A Notable Police Chief in City Where 18K Were Detained

Roy Nakamura is California city's first Asian American police chief

(Newser) - Seventy-eight years ago, the job of the police chief in Arcadia, Calif., would have included making sure no Japanese Americans had escaped from the converted racetrack where they were being held in converted horse stalls. Now, the city in Los Angeles County is about to get its first chief of...

After 78 Years, Calif. Will Apologize to Japanese Americans

State will apologize for its role in internment

(Newser) - Les Ouchida was born an American just outside California's capital city but his citizenship mattered little after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the US declared war. Based solely on their Japanese ancestry, the 5-year-old and his family were taken from their home in 1942 and imprisoned far away in...

Mystery of Mountain Skeleton May Be Solved
Big Lead in Mystery of
Skeleton Found Near Summit
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 27, 2019 9:31 AM CDT

Big Lead in Mystery of Skeleton Found Near Summit

Giichi Matsumura's body was found, buried in the area in 1945

(Newser) - Authorities may be close to solving the " huge mystery " of a full human skeleton found buried under rocks on California's second-tallest mountain. NBC Los Angeles reports the Inyo County Sheriff's Office will attempt to identify the body using DNA from a relative of a Japanese American...

Takei: In One Way, Border Separations Are Worse Than Internment

Actor recalls his days in an internment camp—when he, at least, still had his family

(Newser) - The thousands of migrant children separated from their parents at the US border and held in old warehouses and Walmarts is a situation many have compared to the internment camps where thousands of Japanese-Americans were sent during World War II. But "at least during the internment"—words that...

Executive Order 9066 Was Signed 75 Years Ago Today
Executive Order 9066 Was
Signed 75 Years Ago Today
the rundown
Feb 19, 2017 3:51 PM CST

Executive Order 9066 Was Signed 75 Years Ago Today

Paved way for internment of more than 120K people

(Newser) - There's one date that will live in infamy, per President Roosevelt, but Feb. 19, 1942, might qualify, too. It was on this day 75 years ago that FDR signed Executive Order 9066, which laid the groundwork for the internment of Japanese Americans. NBC News reports that some 80,000...

George Takei to Donald Trump: 'I'm Throwing It Down'

The actor offers him a free seat at "Allegiance"

(Newser) - "So, Mr. Trump, I'm throwing it down: come see 'Allegiance.' Unless you're chicken." So says actor and social activist George Takei in a YouTube video inviting Donald Trump to a performance of the musical Allegiance in New York City. The purpose? To show him...

George Takei Has Epic Reply for Anti-Refugee Mayor

David Bowers uses Japanese internment to defend blocking refugees

(Newser) - Twenty-six state governors calling for the US to close its borders to Syrian refugees were joined by the mayor of Roanoke, Va., on Wednesday, who quickly felt the wrath of Khan, er, George Takei. In a letter, per the Roanoke Times , David Bowers wrote that he is "reminded that...

Hidden WWII Report: Japanese Americans No Threat

Neal Katyal 'sets the record straight' at event honoring Asian Americans

(Newser) - Though widely condemned by scholars and judges, the World War II internment of Japanese Americans has never been formally denounced by the Justice Department—until yesterday. Acting Solicitor Gen. Neal Katyal, the top US government courtroom attorney, admitted US misconduct and harshly criticized the actions of one of his predecessors....

WWII Internees Finally Get Degrees

Ceremony honors Japanese-American students forced into camps

(Newser) - UC Berkeley righted a wrong yesterday, issuing honorary degrees to Japanese-American students whose studies were cut short by confinement in World War II internment camps. Surviving students, now in their 80s or older, opted for celebration over recrimination. “There is a Japanese saying, 'shikata ga nai,' which means,...

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