YouTube Transcript:
Korematsu and Civil Liberties
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Available languages:
View:
THIS FILM IS A PROJECT OF THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION TRUST
AT SUNNYLANDS.
DECEMBER 7, 1941.
A JAPANESE FLEET HAD CROSSED THE PACIFIC UNDETECTED,
LAUNCHING PLANES INTO THE MORNING SKY.
THE BOMBS THAT DROPPED ON PEARL HARBOR THAT MORNING
BROUGHT DEATH, DESTRUCTION,
AND A NATIONWIDE SENSE OF TERROR.
THE AMERICANS HAD BEEN ATTACKED ON AMERICAN SOIL.
IT WAS A SNEAK ATTACK, WE DIDN'T SEE IT COMING,
AND THERE WAS PANIC.
THAT SHOOK THE PSYCHE OF THE NATION.
BEFORE PEARL HARBOR,
THE UNITED STATES HAD NEVER SUFFERED A SNEAK ATTACK
OF THAT MAGNITUDE.
PEOPLE WORRIED, WELL, IF WE DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING,
MAYBE SAN FRANCISCO OR LOS ANGELES WILL BE NEXT.
HOW DOES THE CONSTITUTION GUIDE US
WHEN THE NATION IS GOVERNED BY FEAR?
DURING TIMES OF PEACE, THE RULES ARE CLEAR:
3 SEPARATE BRANCHES OF EQUAL POWER,
EACH WITH A DUTY TO ENFORCE THE CONSTITUTION.
BUT WHEN THE NATION IS AT WAR,
THAT BALANCE OF POWER TIPS IN FAVOR OF THE PRESIDENT.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT,
STEPHEN G. BREYER.
HE HAS AUTHORITY TO WAGE THE WAR.
HE CAN DO THINGS IN THE CASE OF AN INVASION, FOR EXAMPLE,
THAT HE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DO WERE THERE NO INVASION.
THE BALANCE ALSO TIPS IN FAVOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY
OVER CIVIL LIBERTIES.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
ANTHONY KENNEDY.
THE CONSTITUTION IS AT ITS MOST VULNERABLE
WHEN WE'RE IN A CRISIS.
THIS CLARITY OF VISION THAT WE NEED...
TO SEE THE MEANING OF JUSTICE
TENDS TO BE BLURRED.
Justice Breyer: WHEN YOU GET INTO A WAR,
YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT KIND OF BOX YOU ARE OPENING UP.
IT IS JUST FILLED WITH EMOTION, HATRED, VIOLENCE,
AND IT ALL COMES OUT.
ONE OF THE REAL CHALLENGES OF A FREE SOCIETY
IS TO PROTECT ITSELF,
WHILE AT THE SAME TIME
MAINTAINING AN ADHERENCE TO THOSE VALUES
THAT MAKE IT A FREE SOCIETY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
AND 1 OF THE LESSONS OF OUR HISTORY
IS THAT WE TEND TO, IN FACT, GO OVERBOARD,
AND WE TEND TO ERR TOO MUCH ON THE SIDE OF SECURITY RATHER THAN LIBERTY.
AND THE CONSEQUENCES CAN BE DISASTROUS.
THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR DESTROYED MUCH OF AMERICA'S PACIFIC FLEET
AND KILLED OVER 2,000 PEOPLE.
THE VERY NEXT DAY, PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
ADDRESSED A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS
ASKING IT TO DECLARE WAR.
YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1941...
A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.
CONGRESS DECLARED WAR
33 MINUTES AFTER FDR WAS DONE WITH HIS SPEECH.
WITHIN DAYS, A THOUSAND JAPANESE NATIONALS WERE ROUNDED UP
AS FEAR OF FIFTH COLUMN ACTIVITY, OR SPYING,
REACHED NEW LEVELS OF HYSTERIA.
THERE WAS FEAR.
THERE WAS UNCERTAINTY.
I CAN REMEMBER SOME OF THAT.
I REMEMBER WE HAD TO PULL OUR CURTAINS DOWN IN THE EVENING,
BLACKOUT CURTAINS,
BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE AFRAID THAT WE WOULD BE BOMBED IN SAN FRANCISCO.
ELEVEN DAYS AFTER PEARL HARBOR,
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ISSUED AN ORDER
CREATING A COMMISSION TO LOOK INTO THE DEBACLE
OF PEARL HARBOR.
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE OWEN ROBERTS
WAS PICKED TO LEAD A COMMISSION
TO INVESTIGATE THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK.
THE PRESSURE WAS TO RELEASE A REPORT QUICKLY
SO THE COMMISSION DID A NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS,
BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY GATHER EVIDENCE.
BASED ON NOTHING MORE THAN HEARSAY,
THE ROBERTS REPORT MADE WILD AND UNSUPPORTED ACCUSATIONS
ABOUT JAPANESE AMERICANS.
HE SAID THAT THERE WAS AN UNPRECEDENTED DEGREE
OF FIFTH COLUMN ACTIVITY, AND THAT SUBVERSIVE PRESENCE
WERE THESE DISLOYAL JAPANESE AND JAPANESE AMERICANS.
THAT WAS IRRESPONSIBLE
BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A SHRED OF EVIDENCE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT.
THE HYSTERIA GENERATED BY THE ROBERTS REPORT
RESULTED IN CALLS TO HAVE THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF PEOPLE
WITH JAPANESE ANCESTRY REMOVED FROM THE WEST COAST.
ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY TAKEN AWAY, ALL 120,000 OF THEM.
REMEMBER, IGNORANCE FUELS FRIGHT,
AND WE SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE JAPANESE PEOPLE
OR THE JAPANESE CULTURE OR OUR OWN FELLOW CITIZENS.
NOW, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW A LITTLE HISTORY
ABOUT THE JAPANESE IN AMERICA.
FROM THE START, THE U.S. DID NOT ALLOW ANY IMMIGRANTS FROM ASIA TO BECOME CITIZENS,
MOSTLY BECAUSE OF FEAR THEY'D COMPETE FOR JOBS WITH WHITE AMERICANS,
AND RACISM.
SO WHEN THE JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS, CALLED ISSEI,
STARTED ARRIVING IN THE MID-19th CENTURY,
ONLY THEIR CHILDREN WHO WERE BORN HERE, CALLED NISEI,
COULD BE CITIZENS BECAUSE THE 14th AMENDMENT SAID SO,
BUT FOR DECADES STATES AND CITIES PASSED LAWS
DISCRIMINATING AGAINST IMMIGRANTS FROM ASIA
LIKE CALIFORNIA'S ALIEN LAND LAW.
AND THIS SORT OF LAW WAS MIMICKED ACROSS,
LIKE, THE WEST COAST.
OREGON PICKED IT UP, WASHINGTON ALSO PICKED IT UP.
AND AS A RESULT, THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO BUY LAND.
NEXT THEY PASSED ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR CITIZENSHIP
COULD NOT RENT LAND IN CALIFORNIA.
AND THEN A FEW YEARS LATER,
ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR CITIZENSHIP COULD NOT SHARECROP.
ALL JAPANESE IMMIGRATION WAS CUT OFF IN 1924.
AND DESPITE ALL THESE OBSTACLES AND ON THE WORST LAND AVAILABLE,
BY 1941, JAPANESE AMERICANS HAD SOMEHOW MANAGED TO PRODUCE
MORE THAN 10% OF THE TOTAL VALUE OF CALIFORNIA'S RESOURCES.
THE WAR WAS LIKELY TO TAKE THAT AWAY.
CIVIL LIBERTIES GET TRAMPLED, BASICALLY,
WHEN THERE'S A LOT OF PUBLIC FEAR.
THE SECRETARY OF WAR, HENRY STIMSON,
ALONG WITH THE ENTIRE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
FROM THE 3 WEST COAST STATES
ARGUED FOR REMOVAL.
WELL, THOSE WHO WERE IN FAVOR OF EVACUATION
USED THIS ARGUMENT. ABSOLUTELY TRUE THEY USE THIS.
YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT. YOU'LL THINK I'M MAKING IT UP.
BUT I'M NOT.
THEY SAID THE VERY FACT
THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO ACT OF SABOTAGE SO FAR
IS THE PROOF THAT SOME IS PLANNED AND INTENDED.
SOME OF THE GREATEST CIVIL LIBERTARIANS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY DURING PEACE
ADVOCATED REMOVING THE JAPANESE DURING WAR.
AT THE TIME,
PEOPLE WHO WERE GREAT CIVIL LIBERTARIANS--
EARL WARREN SAID THAT THE JAPANESE INCLUDING CITIZENS
SHOULD BE EVACUATED FROM THE WEST COAST.
HE LATER, I HAVE TO ADD,
SAID IT WAS THE GREATEST MISTAKE HE EVER MADE.
BUT NOT EVERYONE IN THE GOVERNMENT
BOUGHT INTO THE HYSTERIA.
MEN LIKE FRANCIS BIDDLE, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,
WAS ACTUALLY QUITE HEROIC IN SAYING THIS WAS THE WRONG THING TO DO.
WE SHOULDN'T DO IT.
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAID THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EVACUATION.
IT WAS A POSITION HE AND J. EDGAR HOOVER
HAD MAINTAINED FROM THE START.
THE FBI WAS SAYING THESE PEOPLE AREN'T A THREAT,
AND SO YOU HAVE A FIGHT IN THE GOVERNMENT
BETWEEN JUSTICE, CIVILIANS, AND THE MILITARY.
THE MILITARY WON.
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
WAS ABOUT TO ASSERT THE KIND OF POWER
THAT COULD ONLY COME TO A COMMANDER IN CHIEF DURING WARTIME.
THE PRESIDENT TENDS TO ASSERT GREAT POWER DURING WARTIME,
EVEN TO THE POINT OF TAKING MEASURES
THAT CAN RESTRICT CIVIL LIBERTIES
BECAUSE HIS PRINCIPAL CONCERN WOULD BE TO PROTECT THE NATION.
FDR WAS IN HIS THIRD TERM AS PRESIDENT
WHEN THE WAR BEGAN.
HE HAD GUIDED THE NATION THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
NO PRESIDENT WAS EVER MORE POWERFUL.
ON FEBRUARY 19, 1942,
FDR SIGNED EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066.
9066 PUT THE SECRETARY OF WAR AND HIS COMMANDERS
IN CHARGE OF DECIDING WHERE THE MILITARY ZONES WOULD BE
AND WHO SHOULD BE REMOVED.
IT GAVE THE MILITARY POWER OVER THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS WITHOUT ANY HEARINGS
OR DUE PROCESS.
THIS WAS UNPRECEDENTED POWER FOR A PRESIDENT,
EVEN FOR FDR.
HE ASKED CONGRESS TO SUPPORT EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066,
AND IT DID.
CONGRESS FOLLOWED THAT WITH PUBLIC LAW 503,
WHICH THEN GAVE IT POWER.
LAWS DID NOT SPECIFICALLY NAME ANY RACE OR ETHNIC GROUP,
BUT ALLOWED THE MILITARY TO IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS
ON ANYONE IT DEEMED A THREAT,
BUT EVERYONE KNEW WHO WOULD BE TARGETED.
MILITARY AREAS WERE CREATED,
AND AT FIRST, CURFEWS AND OTHER RESTRICTIONS
WERE IMPOSED ON EVERYONE OF JAPANESE DESCENT.
WHEN THE EVACUATION BEGAN ON MARCH 22, 1942,
NEWSREELS ANNOUNCED ITS START WITH A TONE WAVERING BETWEEN FEAR AND CONTEMPT.
THIS ONE CALLED, "OUT THEY GO,"
NEVER MENTIONS THAT 2/3 OF THE EVACUEES WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS
BUT REFERS TO THEM BY A WORD WE'D NEVER USE TODAY...
JAPS EVACUATE VITAL WEST COAST AREAS
FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY.
AT LOS ANGELES, 36,000 JAPS SEE THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
AND SELL OUT THEIR GOODS BEFORE THEIR VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE.
THE EVACUATION WASN'T VOLUNTARY.
IT WAS THE LAW.
AND BEFORE IT EVEN BEGAN CAME MAYHEM, THEFT, AND LOSS.
PEOPLE WERE ONLY ALLOWED TO TAKE TO THE CAMPS
WHAT THEY COULD CARRY ON THEIR BACKS.
THEY HAD TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO STORE OR GET RID OF
EVERYTHING ELSE THEY OWNED ON SHORT NOTICE.
THE LUCKY ONES GOT 2 WEEKS.
SOME ONLY A FEW DAYS.
MOST JAPANESE AMERICANS HAD TO LEAVE THEIR PROPERTIES BEHIND.
THERE'S LOTS OF INCIDENTS WHEN, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE CHEATED
OR THEY WEREN'T GIVEN FULL VALUE FOR THEIR PROPERTY.
THERE WERE A LOT OF FIRE SALES THAT HAPPENED,
SO THEY HAD THESE TREMENDOUS LOSSES
A CONGRESSIONAL REPORT 40 YEARS LATER
DETAILED SOME LOSS.
ONE PROPRIETOR HAD TO SELL HER 26-ROOM HOTEL FOR ONLY $500.
REFRIGERATORS WERE EXTORTED FOR $5.00 OR LESS.
ONE MAN POURED GASOLINE ON HIS HOUSE,
DETERMINED TO BURN IT DOWN RATHER THAN LEAVE IT BEHIND.
HIS WIFE STOPPED HIM, SAYING,
WE ARE CIVILIZED PEOPLE, NOT SAVAGES.
Newsreel announcer: EMPTY STREETS AND VACATED STORES
STAND IN SHADOWS.
AND IN THE COUNTRY, THE SAME STORY: ABANDONED FARMS.
ALL THEY HAD LEFT WERE SUITCASES, SHEETS, AND BLANKETS,
120,000 PEOPLE, BABIES AND THE ELDERLY.
THEY WERE SEARCHED, SOME WERE EVEN TAGGED.
NO ONE KNEW IF THEY WERE GOING TO BE DEPORTED
OR HOW LONG THEY WOULD BE IN PRISON
BECAUSE THERE WERE NO TRIALS, NO HEARINGS,
AND THERE WAS NO DUE PROCESS TO INFORM THEM.
THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE INTENTION OF THEIR GOVERNMENT WAS TOWARD THEM,
AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HELD.
EVACUATION TOOK ALMOST 18 MONTHS.
8,000 ACTUALLY MOVED EAST TO PARTS OF THE COUNTRY OUTSIDE OF THE MILITARY AREAS
TO AVOID INTERNMENT.
THE WHOLE THING TOOK PLACE IN STAGES.
FIRST EVACUEES WERE TAKEN BY BUSES, CATTLE TRUCKS, AND TRAINS
TO NEARBY ASSEMBLY CENTERS WHERE THEY WOULD BE CHECKED IN FOR A FEW WEEKS
BEFORE BEING SHIPPED OUT TO THE MORE PERMANENT INTERNMENT CAMPS.
ASSEMBLY CENTERS WERE OFTENTIMES TEMPORARY SHELTERS IN FAIRGROUNDS
AND SOMETIMES IN HORSE RACING TRACKS.
THE CONDITIONS WERE EXCEEDINGLY ROUGH.
HORSE STALLS, THAT WERE HASTILY CLEANED UP OF THE MANURE AND THE SMELL AND SO FORTH.
THE FIRST THING WE HAD TO DO
WAS TO MAKE OUR OWN MATTRESSES.
NORMAN MINETA WAS BORN IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA,
GREW UP TO BE A CONGRESSMAN
AND THE FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN TO SERVE IN THE CABINET.
HE SERVED UNDER BOTH PRESIDENT CLINTON AND PRESIDENT BUSH.
THE IDEA THAT THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT
THOUGHT THEM TO BE DISLOYAL,
THIS WAS A YOKE OF SHAME THAT WAS BORN BY THE JAPANESE AMERICAN POPULATION
FROM THAT TIME ON.
THIS IS WHAT WE WOULD DO TO SHOW THIS COUNTRY
THE EXTENT OF OUR LOYALT
JOHN TATEISHI WAS BORN IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES.
WE'LL GIVE UP EVERYTHING.
WE'LL SACRIFICE EVERYTHING WE OWN
AND ALL OF OUR FUTURES AND GO QUIETLY INTO THESE CAMPS.
IT WAS ASTOUNDING.
PEOPLE WERE CONFINED IN CAMPS AT SOME POINT
FROM MAY OF 1942 TO AS LATE AS 1946.
BUT AT FIRST, MANY CAMPS WEREN'T EVEN READY.
SEWAGE SYSTEMS, SCHOOLS, WINTER INSULATION,
ALL HAD TO BE BUILT BY THE VERY PEOPLE WHO WERE BEING FORCED TO LIVE THERE.
MOST WERE IN THE DESERT WHERE SANDSTORMS WERE COMMON.
OTHERS WERE BUILT ON SWAMPS AND OVERRUN BY MOSQUITOES.
ALL OF THE CAMPS THEY BUILT
WERE IN ISOLATED SPOTS.
TEN OF THEM SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAN WEST
AND A COUPLE IN ARKANSAS.
HART MOUNTAIN, POSTON, AND TULE LAKE WERE THE LARGEST.
TULE LAKE ALSO HOUSED THOSE WHOSE LOYALTY THE GOVERNMENT SPECIFICALLY QUESTIONED.
THE WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, OR WRA,
CALLED THEM RELOCATION CENTERS.
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY WOULD SAY,
WELL, YOU'RE BEING INTERNED FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION.
WELL, AS A 10-, 11-YEAR-OLD KID,
I KNEW THAT IF I WERE IN HERE FOR MY OWN PROTECTION,
WHY ARE THE MACHINE GUNS POINTING IN AT US AND NOT OUT?
WE HEARD THIS YOUNG MAN SHOUTING AND SAYING,
AS I RECALL, SOMETHING ABOUT THEY COULDN'T KEEP HIM THERE,
THAT HE WAS AN AMERICAN,
AND HE STARTED WALKING OUT, AND THE GUARD--
HE WAS PROBABLY ABOUT 15 FEET FROM HIM,
JUST SHOT HIM IN THE STOMACH.
IT WAS A FELONY FOR ANYONE OF JAPANESE DESCENT
TO LIVE IN OAKLAND ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 30, 1942.
THAT MADE 22-YEAR-OLD FRED KOREMATSU A CRIMINAL.
HE HAD DEFIED THE EVACUATION ORDER TO STAY BEHIND
WITH HIS ITALIAN AMERICAN GIRLFRIEND.
WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED ON THIS STREET CORNER IN SAN LEANDRO,
HE KNEW THAT THE SHAME OF INTERNMENT WOULD BE NOTHING
COMPARED WITH HOW HIS FAMILY WOULD REACT.
WHEN MY GRANDPARENTS GOT WORD IN TANFORAN RACETRACK
THAT MY FATHER HAD BEEN ARRESTED,
I KNOW THAT IT BROUGHT GREAT SHAME TO THEM.
HE WAS TREATED, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE PLAGUE.
I MEAN, NO ONE WANTED ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM.
FRED KOREMATSU HAD LOST HIS HOME, HIS JOB,
AND EVEN HIS GIRLFRIEND.
HE WAS OUTRAGED THAT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN WOULD BE TREATED LIKE THIS,
SO HE CHALLENGED HIS ARREST.
HE TESTED HIS FAITH IN THE CONSTITUTION BY APPEALING HIS CASE
ALL THE WAY UP TO THE SUPREME COURT.
THE KOREMATSU CASE LINGERED FOR OVER 2 YEARS.
IT WAS FINALLY ARGUED BEFORE THE COURT OVER 2 DAYS
ON OCTOBER 11 AND 12, 1944.
KOREMATSU'S ATTORNEYS ARGUED THAT EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066
WAS A VIOLATION OF THE 14th AMENDMENT'S GUARANTEE OF EQUAL PROTECTION
BECAUSE ONLY CITIZENS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY
WERE BEING FORCED TO REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY CENTERS.
AND THE FACT THAT THEY WERE DETAINED WITHOUT A HEARING OR A TRIAL
WAS A VIOLATION OF THEIR FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHT OF DUE PROCESS
PROTECTING THEM AGAINST THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
SOLICITOR GENERAL CHARLES FAHEY ARGUED THE CASE FOR THE UNITED STATES
THAT IN TIME OF WAR, THE GOVERNMENT,
AND ESPECIALLY THE PRESIDENT AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF,
COULD DO WHAT WAS NECESSARY FOR THE NATION'S SECURITY,
EVEN DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE.
YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, AT THE TIME OF KOREMATSU,
BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION HASN'T YET BEEN DECIDED.
SEGREGATION IS STILL THE LAW OF THE LAND.
THE SUPREME COURT HANDED DOWN ONE OF ITS MOST CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS
ON DECEMBER 18, 1944.
THE SUPREME COURT RULED IN A 6-3 DECISION
THAT PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S ORDER WAS CONSTITUTIONAL.
THE COURT SAID THAT THIS IS TIME OF WAR,
AND IN TIME OF WAR IT IS NECESSARY TO DO THINGS
THAT MIGHT NOT BE PERMISSIBLE IN TIME OF PEACE.
JUSTICE HUGO BLACK, WHO LATER BECAME KNOWN
AS ONE OF THE COURT'S GREAT CHAMPIONS OF CIVIL LIBERTIES AND EQUAL RIGHTS,
WROTE THE MAJORITY DECISION THAT ACCEPTED THE GOVERNMENT'S ARGUMENT
OF MILITARY NECESSITY.
IMAGINE THAT YOU'RE A JUDGE.
SUPPOSE YOU DON'T BELIEVE THE MILITARY,
BUT YOU MIGHT POSSIBLY BE WRONG,
AND IF YOU'RE WRONG, WHAT WILL HAPPEN
IF YOU ACTUALLY SHUT DOWN A GOVERNMENT POLICY, A SECURITY POLICY,
AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER ATTACK?
YOU THINK SOME JUDGE KNOWS AS MUCH AS GENERAL EISENHOWER?
SO OF COURSE WE MUST GIVE GREAT DEFERENCE TO OFFICIALS
WHO TELL US WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
WE KNOW THE SITUATION,
AND WE NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
FOR JUSTICE BLACK,
DEFERENCE TO THE MILITARY WHILE AT WAR
WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE RACIAL NATURE OF THE INTERNMENT.
HE WROTE THAT, "KOREMATSU WAS NOT EXCLUDED FROM THE MILITARY AREA
"BECAUSE OF HOSTILITY TO HIM OR HIS RACE.
"HE WAS EXCLUDED BECAUSE THE COUNTRY WAS AT WAR
WITH THE JAPANESE EMPIRE.
OTHER JUSTICES CERTAINLY DIDN'T SEE IT THAT WAY.
JUSTICE FRANK MURPHY, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME EVER
IN A SUPREME COURT OPINION, USED THE WORD RACISM.
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN THIS ORDER
WAS TARGETING JAPANESE AMERICANS.
IT WASN'T LOOKING AT OTHER MINORITY GROUPS
THAT THE COUNTRY WAS ALSO AT WAR AGAINST--
ITALIANS, GERMANS--
ONLY THE JAPANESE.
AND TO JUSTICE MURPHY,
THAT CLEARLY SHOWED THAT THAT ORDER WAS RACIST.
MURPHY ALSO SAID THAT HE COULDN'T SEE ANY MILITARY NECESSITY FOR THIS ORDER.
JUSTICE MURPHY ALSO INSISTED
THAT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY THE PRESIDENT'S INTERNMENT ORDER
AND THAT THE MAJORITY DECISION IN THIS CASE
WOULD ALLOW THE PRESIDENT TO ACT OUTSIDE THE LAW.
MURPHY MADE A POWERFUL DISSENT.
PRESIDENTS MUST BE REMINDED THAT THEY, TOO,
ARE SUBJECT TO THE LAW.
AND THE LAW MUST INSIST THE LAW MUST ALWAYS BE OBEYED.
ONCE WE DEPART FROM THAT RULE,
THERE'S NO STOPPING.
IT IS A DANGEROUS THING
TO TELL THE PRESIDENT HE CAN IGNORE THE LAW
OR TO EXPECT HIM TO OR TO PUT HIM IN THE POSITION
OF HIS HAVING TO DO SO TO SAVE THE COUNTRY.
ALSO DISSENTING WAS JUSTICE ROBERTS,
THE SAME JUSTICE ROBERTS WHOSE PEARL HARBOR REPORT
CREATED SO MUCH HYSTERIA ABOUT JAPANESE SPIES ON THE MAINLAND,
BY 1944, HE NO LONGER BELIEVED THE MILITARY.
JUSTICE ROBERTS SAYS THAT WE HAVE TO BE VERY SKEPTICAL
ABOUT THE CLAIMS OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES
AND WE HAVE TO HOLD THE GOVERNMENT
TO A VERY HIGH STANDARD OF JUSTIFICATION,
AND ONE HAS TO WONDER WHETHER ROBERTS
DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE A SECOND TIME.
THE THIRD DISSENT WAS WRITTEN BY JUSTICE ROBERT JACKSON.
JUSTICE JACKSON ACTUALLY REFERRED TO THE PRECEDENT
THAT THE MAJORITY WAS CREATING AS "A LOADED WEAPON."
AND HE SAID IF WE UPHOLD THAT, WELL...
THAT PRECEDENT WILL STAND LIKE A LOADED GUN,
READY TO BE PICKED UP BY SOMEONE IN THE FUTURE
WHO WILL USE IT TO JUSTIFY WHO KNOWS WHAT.
HE THOUGHT IT MEANT THAT THE COURTS AND THE RULE OF LAW
WERE BEING ERODED DURING WARTIME.
THE DECISION CAME NEAR THE END OF THE WAR.
GERMANY SURRENDERED ABOUT 6 MONTHS LATER
AND THE UNITED STATES HAD TURNED BACK THE JAPANESE IN THE PACIFIC
MAKING A JAPANESE INVASION OF THE WEST COAST UNTHINKABLE.
THE TIDES OF WAR HAD CHANGED MUCH MORE FAVORABLY
TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE TIME THE KOREMATSU CASE CAME DOWN.
A MONTH AFTER THE KOREMATSU DECISION
THE CAMPS OFFICIALLY BEGAN TO CLOSE.
GOING HOME WAS THE NEXT CHALLENGE.
THEY FELT THAT THEY WOULD BE GREETED
WITH HOSTILE NEIGHBORS AND SO FORTH,
AND WORD ALSO CAME BACK THAT MANY OF THEIR FARMS
HAD IN FACT BEEN DESTROYED, TORCHED BY PEOPLE.
FOR ALL THE FEAR OF SABOTAGE THAT LED TO INTERNMENT,
BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II,
NOT A SINGLE PERSON OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY IN THE UNITED STATES
HAD EVEN BEEN ACCUSED OF SABOTAGE.
FRED KOREMATSU WAITED 40 YEARS
BEFORE HE GOT THE CHANCE TO CLEAR HIS NAME.
HE JOINED UP WITH A TEAM OF YOUNG LAWYERS
LED BY DALE MINAMI.
COURTS MUST BE ALLOWED TO FUNCTION
EVEN DURING TIMES OF CRISIS.
AND SHOULD NOT BE SUBJUGATED TO THE WILL
OF AN ARBITRARY MILITARY DECISION MAKER.
WE WANTED A DECLARATION FROM THE COURTS
THAT WHAT JAPANESE AMERICANS DID WAS NOT WRONG,
IT WAS NOT ESPIONAGE, IT WAS NOT SABOTAGE.
THEY WERE NOT TRAITORS.
NORMALLY, ONCE THE SUPREME COURT DECIDES A CASE,
THAT'S IT, THE CASE IS CLOSED,
BUT MINAMI AND HIS TEAM
BROUGHT THE KOREMATSU CASE BACK TO FEDERAL COURT
UNDER A MOTION THAT IS RARELY USED AND ALMOST NEVER SUCCESSFUL:
CORAM NOBIS.
CORAM NOBIS IS A WAY THAT SOMEONE CAN GO INTO COURT
AFTER THEY'VE BEEN CONVICTED AND SERVED THEIR SENTENCE
AND CHALLENGE IT, TO SAY, THIS WAS WRONG.
THE FACTS WERE WRONG,
AND THIS COURT HAS A DUTY TO CORRECT IT.
A LEGAL HISTORIAN NAMED PETER IRONS
HAD DISCOVERED DOCUMENTS PROVING THAT GOVERNMENT LAWYERS
HAD HIDDEN EVIDENCE FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
ON NOVEMBER 10, 1983,
THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT AGREED.
FRED KOREMATSU'S CONVICTION WAS VACATED. IT WAS THROWN OUT.
I HAD TO DO SOME REAL DEEP THINKING IN ORDER
TO REOPEN THIS CASE AGAIN,
AND I'M VERY HAPPY THAT I DID
BECAUSE THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR
JUST A JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZEN,
BUT IT'S FOR ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS.
IN 1988, CONGRESS PASSED THE CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT,
WHICH NOT ONLY APOLOGIZED FOR THE INTERNMENT,
BUT PAID EACH SURVIVOR OF THE CAMPS $20,000.
THE ACT WAS SIGNED BY PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN
AND SPONSORED BY CONGRESSMAN NORMAN MINETA.
THAT'S HIM RIGHT THERE.
HE LEARNED DURING A TIME OF WAR,
THE ULTIMATE DEFENSE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES MIGHT NOT COME FROM THE COURTS,
BUT FROM AMERICAN CITIZENS EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CONSTITUTION
REALLY DIDN'T HOLD UP FOR US.
MY EXPERIENCE FROM HAVING SEEN THE EVACUATION,
THE INTERNMENT,
THE REASON THAT HAPPENED TO THE JAPANESE AMERICAN POPULATION
WAS THAT IN 1942,
WE WERE ABOUT AS POPULAR AS SKUNKS AT A GARDEN PARTY,
AND SO WE HAD NO ACCESS TO OUR POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS.
SO THE JAPANESE AMERICANS WERE VULNERABLE
BECAUSE THERE WASN'T A POLITICAL COALITION IN PLACE
THAT WOULD DEFEND THEIR INTERESTS.
WE HAVE A MUCH MORE MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
AND A MUCH MORE MULTICULTURAL VOTING BASE
THAN WE HAD IN THE 1940s,
AND THAT'S WHAT WILL PROBABLY PROTECT LIBERTY MOST OF ALL:
THE RIGHT TO VOTE.
IN 1998, PRESIDENT CLINTON AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
TO FRED KOREMATSU,
THE HIGHEST HONOR AN AMERICAN CIVILIAN CAN RECEIVE.
AMERICA HAD OFFICIALLY AND FROM THE VERY TOP
APOLOGIZED FOR THE INTERNMENT.
COULD IT HAPPEN AGAIN?
OF COURSE IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEAR IS THAT YOU MAY TEND
TO FORGET YOUR COMMITMENT TO PROTECT YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL HERITAGE.
THE CONSTITUTION BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE.
THE CONSTITUTION DOESN'T BELONG TO A BUNCH OF JUDGES OR LAWYERS.
IT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE.
PEOPLE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT.
THEY HAVE TO RESPECT IT. THEY HAVE TO REVERE IT.
THEY HAVE TO DEFEND IT.
IN THE SUPREME COURT'S JUNE 26, 2018 DECISION
ON TRUMP V. HAWAII UPHOLDING THE PRESIDENT'S TRAVEL BAN,
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN G. ROBERTS JR.
TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVISIT THE KOREMATSU CASE
AND FINALLY OVERTURN THE 1944 RULING.
REGARDING KOREMATSU, HE WROTE IN THE MAJORITY OPINION:
THE DISSENT'S REFERENCE TO KOREMATSU AFFORDS THIS COURT
THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE EXPRESS WHAT IS ALREADY OBVIOUS:
KOREMATSU WAS GRAVELY WRONG THE DAY IT WAS DECIDED
HAS BEEN OVERRULED IN THE COURT OF HISTORY
AND, TO BE CLEAR, HAS NO PLACE IN LAW UNDER THE CONSTITUTION.
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
Works with YouTube, Coursera, Udemy and more educational platforms
Get Instant Transcripts: Just Edit the Domain in Your Address Bar!
YouTube
←
→
↻
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
YoutubeToText
←
→
↻
https://youtubetotext.net/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc