Born in Seattle: The Campaign for Japanese American Redress by Robert Sadamu Shimabukuro, Chizu Omori (Foreword by)

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Synopsis

A chronicle of the activists who initiated a national campaign for redress for the World War II internment of 120,000 Japanese-American citizens. The author, a Seattle writer, interviewed hundreds of people who had lived in the internment camps, as well as organizers of the movement. It began in the late 1960s with second-generation Japanese-American engineers at Boeing who set out to educate their community, legislative bodies, and the broader public about the need for the federal government to acknowledge the wartime injustice. Two decades later, it led to President Ronald Reagan's signing the 1988 Civil Liberties Act.

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Publishers Weekly

The WWII internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans by FDR's Executive Order 9066 is a painful, still-obscured moment in U.S. history. In Born in Seattle: The Campaign for Japanese American Redress, Robert Sadamu Shimabukuro recounts the 20-year battle undertaken by Seattle activists seeking official apology and financial compensation for the imprisoned citizens and permanent residents. Shimabukuro interweaves testimonies from the activists and inhabitants of the camps, accounts of other wartime phenomena (government seizure of homes and businesses, loyalty questionnaires) and descriptions of activism and consciousness-raising (the Day of Remembrance, "I survived E.O. 9066" T-shirts and Seattle's 1992 exhibit Executive Order 9066: 50 Years Before and 50 Years After). Since September 11, former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and other public figures have cited the internment camps to warn against hostility towards Muslim-Americans; this book offers a clear-sighted cautionary tale about the possible outcomes of xenophobia and fear. (Dec.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.