A time to remember, a bridge to the future

Dec. 7, 1941 is well-known as “a date which will live in infamy.”

But for the thousands of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans living in America at the time, their “infamous” date is Feb. 19, 1942: the day president Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an Executive Order 9066, which paved the way for the incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent.

{mosads}The 75th anniversary of that order has never been a more appropriate time to reflect on the destruction wrought by decisions based on prejudice and fear.

I can tell you this personally, because my family was one of the thousands directly affected by this devastating edict.

At that time, my father was the general manager of the abalone processing cooperative in Monterey Bay, Calif. The co-op primarily employed Japanese workers who shucked, trimmed, sliced, pounded, packaged, and shipped abalone. The work was dangerous and dirty, but the livelihood of the Japanese community was tied to this industry.

Like so many immigrants before them, these workers faced discrimination, unfair laws, a new language, and a new culture. But by working hard and persevering, they started to make their mark and were just beginning to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

That all changed in February 1942, when my family, along with 120,000 men, women and children, were removed from their homes and forced to live in internment camps across the country as a result of Executive Order 9066. I was born in one of those camps.

It would be 34 long months before the executive order was suspended and the families were released. 

The incarcerated may have been free to return home, but life would never be the same. During that time, the abalone industry disappeared, and returning families were forced to eke out a meager living as housekeepers and domestics while trying to get back on their feet. My father, who had been a business owner and community leader before the war, was relegated to learning a new occupation, that of a gardener.

As a result of my family’s experience, I have dedicated my life to fighting for and protecting basic human rights. For more than 50 years, I have been a member of the Japanese Americans Citizens League, the oldest and largest Asian and American civil rights organization in the United States—including serving as its president for four years. JACL’s mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights not just of Japanese Americans, but of all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry.

And that is a mission I hope to pass on to our youth as well. 

For the last three years, with the financial support and encouragement of the Japanese government, JACL has been organizing the Kakehashi Project, a youth exchange program that sends hundreds of U.S. college students to Japan in order to encourage a deeper understanding of U.S.-Japan relations. Kakehashi means “bridge,” and with today’s global community, building bridges is critical to our youth’s future endeavors.

The Kakehashi Project is not only educating American youth, but is also working with Japanese students to share stories like mine that are virtually unheard of in Japan.

Executive Order 9066 was the result of prejudice and ignorance. Lives were disrupted and families separated; it was a violation of basic civil and human rights—and something we should never forget. But remembrance is about more than simply recalling this infamous chapter from 75 years ago.

As the saying goes, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

Our hope is that the next generation of leaders will do all they can to learn from past so they can be instrumental in building bridges for the future.

Larry Oda is the former national president of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and is currently the co-chair of the JACL’s U.S.-Japan Committee.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.