Why were Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II? President Franklin Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942 paved the way. And while some where given redress payments in 1988, the battle continues for a few hundred Japanese Latin Americans who were also incarcerated at the same time but left out of the settlement. Phil Tajitsu Nash, U.Maryland Asian American Studies professor, lawyer, and activist talks to Emil Guillermo about the ongoing fight for justice. Nash talks about the circumstances around E.O.9066 and how more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up in the first place. Also, why Asian Americans were actually split about the incarceration with many Filipinos and Chinese in America were eager to disassociate themselves from the Japanese Americans. Nash talks about the need for solidarity among Asian Americans today and all people of color. Nash says many of those rounded up were American citizens, and none were ever convicted of espionage against the U.S. For more listen to episode one of "Emil Amok's Takeout."
For more on the Japanese Latin Americans: www.JLAcampaignforjustice.org
For more information: www.amok.com
See column on the AALDEF blog.
