Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, participate in the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Untold Civil Rights Stories Writing Contest! Submit your completed work here. Official rules here.
Essential Questions:
- In times of war, how would you safeguard civil liberties while maintaining national security?
- What was the government’s reasoning behind the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II?
- How did the Japanese American community respond to the internment order?
- How did the September 11th attacks affect Americans’ views of Asian Americans?
- How should we move forward? What can we do to prevent future incidents like this?
Writing Process:
Supporting Texts:
- “One Man Seeks Justice from a Nation: Korematsu v. United States” (Eric Yamamoto, Dale Minami & May Lee Heye, AAAJ-LA)
- “Korematsu Day Background” (PowerPoint)
- “Remembering the No-No Boys” (Nadra Kareem Nittle, About.com)
- “Silence…No More” (Kiku Funabiki, AAAJ-LA)
- “Who Took the Rap? A Call to Action” (Russell Leong, AAAJ-LA)
- “Why Children Did Not Knock at My Door on Halloween This Year” (Ifti Nasim, AAAJ-LA)
- “After Word: September 11, 2001” (Russell Leong, AAAJ-LA)
- Transcript of Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942)
Online Video Resources:
- “Japanese Internment in America” (History Channel)
- “Japanese Relocation” (U.S. Office of War Information)
- “A Message from Karen Korematsu” (Korematsu Institute)
- “Korematsu and Civil Liberties” (Annenberg Classroom)
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Pilgrimage (Tadashi Nakamura)
