JACL Demands Accountability at the National Archives
November 4, 2024
For Immediate Release
Seia Watanabe, VP Public Affairs, swatanabe@jacl.org
Matthew Weisbly, Education Programs/Comms Manager, mweisbly@jacl.org
A Wall Street Journal article published October 29, 2024, included several serious allegations that the National Archives, led and directed by Colleen Shogan, “sought to de-emphasize negative parts of U.S. history. She has ordered the removal of prominent references to such landmark events as the government's displacement of indigenous tribes and the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II from planned exhibits.” Also of note was requesting the removal of Holocaust materials from a planned exhibit. The article elaborates that “Shogan and her top advisers told employees to remove Dorothea Lange's photos of Japanese-American incarceration camps from a planned exhibit because the images were too negative and controversial.”
JACL expresses its concern that the National Archives is pursuing a policy of erasing Japanese American and other histories from the public record. The National Archives, of all places, has a profound responsibility to the unadulterated preservation of the full history of the United States of America.
The Japanese American story, while representing one of the most reprehensible chapters in our history, is vital to recognize where a failure in leadership can lead to the trampling of the constitution and abrogation of the rights of over 120,000 people simply because of their race, and despite their United States citizenship in most cases. Archivist Shogan is now demonstrating a similar failure in leadership to that of our leaders during WWII.
The National Archives is a vital resource for members of the Japanese American community to better understand what our community experienced during WWII. The repository of records has aided countless former incarcerees, their children, and grandchildren in researching their family’s information to facilitate the healing from years of trauma passed down through the generations. Archivist Shogan’s directives are a betrayal to the Japanese Americans who have relied upon the National Archives.
JACL has requested a meeting with Archivist Shogan to give her the opportunity to defend these allegations. Should these allegations prove true, there can be no other path than for her immediate resignation. The National Archives cannot be an institution with weak leadership that will bow to racist calls for the erasure of Japanese American history, otherwise, we will truly have learned nothing from the atrocities of WWII.
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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.
