Last night, in front of a sold-out crowd in Little Tokyo, The LA Local and the Japanese American National Museum’s Democracy Center presented a live reenactment of Korematsu v. United States. It's the Supreme Court case that upheld the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.
George Takei played Fred Korematsu, the Oakland welder who refused to comply with Executive Order 9066. The cast also included Tamlyn Tomita, Spencer Garrett, Angela Lewis, Emily Kuroda, Kyla "Tucaya" García, Dante Basco and Justin Kirk. Dr. Karen Korematsu, Fred's daughter, joined us, along with Dale Minami and Lorraine Bannai, who helped reopen his case. The script came from the Asian American Bar Association of New York.
The event was part of our series "Decisions That Defined Us: 250 Years of Belonging and Exclusion in America." The series uses landmark California court cases to explore who has been included in, and excluded from, the promise of America. Alongside Korematsu, we've covered Oyama v. California (alien land laws), Mendez v. Westminster (school segregation) and Jones v. City of Los Angeles (homelessness). It's part of a national effort by local newsrooms to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Stories like Fred's rarely reach a mainstream audience.
Last night showed what's possible when performance and journalism work together to bring undertold history to life.
Thank you to director Jeff Liu, producers Julianne Hoffenberg and Lindsay Wagner, moderator Michele Siqueiros, and sponsors AALRR and SAFER. The series is supported by the American Journalism Project, The Hearthland Foundation and Acton Family Giving.
Special thanks to: American Journalism Project, Will Schick, Dr. Karen Korematsu of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, Asian American Bar Association of New York, Japanese American National Museum, Brad Takei, Dale Minami, Yang Chen, Judge Denny Chin, Kathy Chin, Robert Chang, Lorraine Bannai, Ann Burroughs, Jim Herr, Sofia Alvarez, Jaclyn Wu, Chris Kwok, Mark Calaguas, Michele Siqueiros, Kristen Muller, Claudia Koerner, Annelise Capossela, Raisa Zaidi, Steve Saldivar, Kayhan Azadi, Mayra Sandoval, Kevin Martinez, Jazmyn De Jesus, Lisa Tyler, Amber Roman and Xavier Vargas.
Watch the livestream recording: youtube.com/live/KyH1OitY0lY
Explore the series: thelalocal.org/decisions
