2016 Annual Giving Campaign

Dear JACL Members and Friends,

JACL is in the midst of its Annual Giving Campaign. Letters have been sent to our members and we hope they will give generously. We’d like to enlist your support to convince our members to give by joining us in making the appeal to them.

Their support, with your help, will assist us in our important work.

JACL has implemented many fine programs during 2016 that have done much to make the public more aware of the tragedy of our World War II experience and the important lessons that the incarceration holds for America. As an example, last summer, we held comprehensive teacher training workshops for teachers from across the country that included a visit to Manzanar. The teachers were so moved by this experience that we have no doubt that they will include units on the incarceration in their classrooms.

The lessons from the incarceration could not be more urgent than they are today with comments and suggestions about the need to create a registry for Muslims. There have even been suggestions that the Japanese American incarceration serves as a “precedent” for this. The legal basis for the incarceration rested on the Korematsu case, a decision that has been thoroughly rebuked by historians and the legal community. The rescission of Executive Order 9066, the findings and conclusions of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and the work of the Korematsu Coram Nobis Legal Team in getting the conviction of Fred Korematsu overturned by a federal court have relegated the decision in Korematsu to an infamous place in our nation’s history.

Nevertheless, the need for vigilance is important. We need to continue educating the public about the incarceration and we need to continue to speak out to prevent actions that may threaten the civil liberties of individuals and groups. We need to monitor for hate crimes and we need to respond when incidents occur because we know that organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center have already tracked an increase in hate crimes and hate incidences since the election.

We call on you to lead the effort at your JACL chapter to convince your members and others to give to our 2016 Annual Giving Campaign so that our important work can continue.

Thank you,
Gary Mayeda and Bill Yoshino