Read Online Enduring Conviction Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies Lorraine K Bannai Books

Product details Series Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies Paperback 312 pages Publisher University of Washington Press; Reprint edition (February 22, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 029574281X

Enduring Conviction Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies Lorraine K Bannai Books Reviews

• I first became aware of the blatantly unconstitutional WWII incarceration of American citizens of Japanese descent in a high school Government course of the kind taught in the late 1950's, but I didn’t fully comprehend what had happened before reading "America’s Concentration Camps" by Allan Bosworth a decade after that. Thirty years down the road I became Chair of the Academic Senate of the Hayward campus of California State University and decided to use (some might say abuse) the office to promote a fortnightly series of university-wide conversations on the topic “Racism in America.” A number of calls to the ACLU of Northern California resulted in my being entrusted with the home telephone number of Kathryn Korematsu, Fred’s gracious wife and protective gatekeeper. After listening politely as I explained who I was and what I wanted, Kathryn asked a couple of probing questions before deciding it would be safe to let me talk to Fred who then agreed to be the inaugural speaker in my series provided the details could be worked out to Kathryn’s satisfaction. The result was a humble but profoundly moving talk to a large room filled with appreciative students, faculty, and members of the Hayward community. A year or two later, I was able to welcome Fred back to campus as a commencement speaker and to receive an honorary doctor of law degree. With that background, it was with high hopes but guarded expectations that I purchased "Enduring Conviction" (an exquisitely appropriate double entendre of a title). I am happy to report that my hopes were realized and my expectations greatly exceeded. Lorraine Bannai has put together not only a marvelous account of Fred Korematsu’s hugely significant legacy to American liberty, but done it in the humble tone and spirit of Fred himself. Anyone of a mind and temperament to appreciate Fred’s story as told in this outstanding book might also be interested in "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, "Subversives" by Seth Rosenfeld, and "Merchants of Doubt" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway.
• You can tell a lawyer wrote this book . . . it is grammatical and clear, and the story itself is pretty darn amazing, but I found myself zoning out at times because, well, Fred himself and the people who experienced what he did are the story and yet the book is mostly a fairly dry account of the (disgraceful) history of his case in the courts. So this is readable, but not exactly gripping. Everyone should know, though, the details of what happened to Korematsu and so many tens of thousands of other Japanese citizens in the U.S., and how readily a liberal President and a supposedly enlightened court system sanctioned it. So this book is worth the effort. I just wish someone who writes for a living had written it.
• This story is so compelling precisely because Fred Korematsu was such an ordinary American. He knew he was a loyal American and that the racial label that called him a wartime enemy was a lie. He loved his ordinary American home town, and like most Americans he hated to be forced out of there for no good reason. He hated to be separated from the romantic love of his short life for no reason. He knew that imprisoning him solely because of his race was wrong. He had the moral courage to take his unpopular dissent all the way to the Supreme Court, to lose there, and to go back to court when new evidence came to light 40 years later. This story of Fred Korematsu's all-American values of fairness and persistence in the face of adversity can inspire all Americans. I highly recommend it.
• What an incredible story! This should be required reading in every high school in the country. Thank Fred gor your courage!
• Excellent research and well documented. His personal life and the legal battle were thorough and presented in an interesting manner
• Quality book, and an extremely valuable historical read. The story remains very important in our modern world.
• Historically accurate, and very well supported by citation to credible sources.
• This book ought to be required reading for each middle and high school student in America.