On August 10, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (also known as Public Law 100-383) into law. This law acknowledged the fundamental injustice of the evacuation, relocation, and internment of United States citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry during World War II. On behalf of the American people, the Act apologized for the grave violation of the constitutional right of due process; made restitution of $20,000 to each surviving former internee; provided a public educational fund to inform the public about the internment; and discouraged such violations of civil liberties in the future.

The half-century long journey from internment to reparations represents a case study in both the violation of civil liberties by the federal government and the right to petition that government for a redress of grievances. The petition clause is one of the expressive rights enumerated in the First Amendment of the Constitution. The right to petition allows citizens to focus government attention on unresolved ills; provide information to elected leaders about unpopular policies; expose misconduct, waste, corruption, and incompetence; and vent popular frustrations without endangering the public order.[1]

This unit pays tribute to a long-time Pennsylvania resident Ms. Sumiko Kobayashi who played a significant role in the movement for redress bill in the Philadelphia region. Kobayashi was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. In 1939, her family moved to San Leandro, California where she graduated from San Leandro High School two years later. In the subsequent year, the family was evacuated to Topaz, Utah. She left the camp in 1943 to attend college in Madison, New Jersey. After the family’s release, they settled in the Philadelphia area in 1947. Kobayashi has been an active member of the Philadelphia Chapter of Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) since 1968. She made a significant difference in the local redress movement through her committed social, political, and cultural activism not only within her own Japanese-American community, but through her connections with a variety of organizations in the region. The decades-long, numerous personal correspondence, meeting minutes, speech notes, budget plans, and newspaper clippings in her papers are a living testament to a determined spirit to work for the good and just of one’s kin as well as one’s neighbors. Although the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 brought legislative closure for the insult and injury, for many Japanese Americans the personal anguish and painful memories remain.[2]

Primary sources:

Sumiko Kobayashi correspondence, 1980-1988.

Includes exchanges with Grace Uyehara, letters to US legislators and other politicians, fellow rights advocates, other members of the redress movement, and JACL “Action Alerts.”

“Summary: Chapter Congressional Meeting”

Public Law 100-383 (1988) – Congress Apologies for the Relocation of Japanese-Americans in WWII

Worksheets

Mapping Complex Correspondence
Coalition Building

Essential questions

1.      Why is the freedom “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” enshrined in the first Amendment of the Bill of Rights? How was the right to petition exercised by Japanese Americans seeking redress?

2.      What were the major elements of coalition building in the Japanese American redress movement at the national and local levels that made petitioning possible?

3.      What were the strategies and tools used during the Japanese American redress movement at the national and local levels?  How are the strategies and tools similar or different from those used by other movements in the past?  Today?

Exploration

After background on Japanese American internment during World War II, ask students to review, individually or in groups, the various correspondence between Sumiko Kobayashi, Grayce Uyehara, and others. Some questions they will consider: Who is writing the letter? What is their relationship to the JACL? How do these letters contribute to the strategy that the JACL outlined for pursuing redress? Individuals were asked to mobilize friends, church congregations and letter writing played an important role, with visits, phone calls, campaign contributions, and speaking engagements used to persuade others to support redress legislation

Outline the different organizations, individuals, and issues that are represented throughout the correspondence.  Who is partnering with whom?  How is a coalition being built between Japanese Americans and others? Who are they seeking to influence? JACL partnered with other organizations, notably the ACLU and the ADL, to leverage their advocacy along with Japanese American legislators, politicians, and other interest groups.

Expansion: Civil Liberties Today

Expanding upon the topic of Japanese American internment and redress, there are currently challenges to civil liberties in the U.S. worthy of a classroom discussion or debate.

1)      Redress and Reparations: Japanese Americans were paid reparations as part of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.  Other groups such as African Americans seek monetary reparations as compensation for historical injustices. What are the arguments for and against reparations?  Should African Americans be compensated for their deprivation and suffering during the history of slavery? Why or why not?

2)      Redress and Resistance: Sumiko Kobayashi, in one of her letters, declared that if internment happened today, she would resist it. Today many people are engaged in demonstrations and protests against the war in Iraq and for immigrants’ rights. How important a role does resistance play in the preservation of civil liberties? When is resistance necessary or possible? Is delayed justice realized by petition for redress still justice?

3)      Rights and Redress: Current legal battles concerning the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus for detainees, citizens or non-citizens alike, such as those held in Guantanamo Bay for an indefinite period of time, suggests possible connections to the history of Japanese American internment. How are these detentions similar or different to internments during World War II? Should the Guantanamo detainees be entitled to the right of due process? Can our country classify people who deserve or do not deserve such a right?  Could these detainees be entitled to redress in the future?

[1] See http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/petition/overview.aspx

[2] Mitchell T. Maki, Harry H. L. Kitano, & S. Megan Berthold, Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999), 240.