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Lawmakers push to take Fred Korematsu Day national
During World War II, Fred Korematsu, in a photograph displayed at the National Portrait Gallery, defied an incarceration order for people of Japanese descent.
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Mandel Ngan
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
Southern California members of Congress are helping lead a bipartisan effort to get Congress to award its highest civilian honor to the late civil rights pioneer Fred Korematsu. The Japanese American man from California was convicted for defying incarceration orders for people of Japanese descent during WWII.
Who is Fred Korematsu: Korematsu, born to Japanese immigrants in Oakland, was arrested for refusing to be incarcerated based on his ethnicity. He fought his conviction and appealed to the Supreme Court. Justices justified the wartime incarceration in a 1944 decision that was thrown out seven decades later in 2018.
Why the bill matters now: This is the fourth time a bill to grant Korematsu a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal has been introduced — and the first time it has GOP support.
Who's backing the bill: The bill's lead sponsor over the years has been Mark Takano, with support from other Asian American Democrats in Congress. This year, three Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors: California Reps. Young Kim and Vince Fong and Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy. Fong and Maloy both won their first full terms in November 2024.
A second Korematsu bill: Takano also has re-introduced a bill to have Fred Korematsu Day, marked in California and six other states, observed at a national level. The bill does not have GOP co-sponsors.
Go deeper: California marks first 'Fred Korematsu Day'
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