JACL Commends the Biden Administration’s Apology for Indigenous Boarding Schools

October 25, 2024

For Immediate Release

Seia Watanabe, VP Public Affairs, swatanabe@jacl.org

Matthew Weisbly, Education & Communications Coordinator, mweisbly@jacl.org

On Friday, October 25th, 2024, President Biden spoke at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona and offered an apology for the U.S. government’s past practice of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families and transferring them to government-operated boarding schools.

As early as 1819 and lasting until the late 1960s, the United States government established and operated boarding schools to “civilize” Indigenous children - what we now recognize as a euphemism for an attempt at the systematic and deliberate destruction of the culture and society of Indigenous communities in the United States. These institutions are a lasting stain on American history and serve as only one of many examples of the mistreatment and bigotry that Indigenous communities have faced at the hands of our government.

Donna Cheung, Civil Rights Chair of the Arizona Chapter of the JACL commented; “From my perspective, a leader who acknowledges and rights a historical wrong reflects a strong, confident nation because such an admission reaffirms the moral centrality of the nation. The apology from a sitting U.S. President to First Nation communities is so significant because the U.S. was founded by displacing these communities. The existence of the U.S. is at a profound cost to Native Americans and that needs to be acknowledged also.”

The JACL recognizes that apologies from the U.S. government are a critical step in addressing discrimination and promoting the healing of generational trauma, which has been felt most poignantly by the Indigenous peoples of the United States. The JACL applauds this historic action by the Biden Administration and expresses our hope that this apology serves as just one step towards meaningful and long overdue restorative justice for the many Indigenous communities in the United States.

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NOTE: During WWII over 13,000 people of Japanese ancestry were unconstitutionally incarcerated at the Gila River War Relocation Center. In 1988 the United States Government issued a formal apology to the over 120,000 people who were incarcerated during WWII because of their Japanese ancestry.

The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational, and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.