The Evolving Legacy of Japanese American Internment Redress: Next Steps We Can (and Should) Take

Abstract

This essay starts with an observation and then poses and responds to a question. The observation is: The long-term legacy of Japanese American WWII incarceration redress, beyond individual catharsis and vindication, is still evolving; it is still to be determined. And how it evolves is in part dependent on how “we”—those who have benefited directly or indirectly from internment redress—carry forth the lessons of the redress struggle and contribute time and energy to the reparatory justice struggles of others.

Here is the question (really more of a challenge) for scholars and advocates (or combined scholar-advocates), and for all those engaged in justice-thinking as well as justice-practice: Drawing from redress experiences and insights, and with an eye on others’ on-going and future redress struggles, how do we help generate cutting edge ideas and practical approaches that resonate in policy halls, courts, and public minds and that work for on-the-ground organizers and advocates? How do we participate in and contribute to the redress struggles of others? More specifically, how do we further refine “practical theory” about what engenders the kind of “social healing through justice” that: (1) speaks to the hearts and minds of governments and people with a history of injustice, and (2) both helps guide on-going redress efforts and assess their efficacy? This is what justice scholars and advocates around the world are asking for in greater depth and sophistication to help drive forward their on-the-ground present-day social healing initiatives. This essay offers some initial responses.

Keywords: Korematsu, Hirabayashi, Yasui, coram nobis, Judge Patel, Japanese American incarceration, national security, civil liberties, redress and reparations, Japanese Americans legacy, social healing