What’s the importance of Days of Remembrance? Why remember?
“Why keep dwelling on the past?” some might ask. Because the past is never past, William Faulkner might say. “It was so long ago,” some might counter. Even long-ago events or circumstances have a way of spawning entire systems, beliefs, and legacies that reach their treacherous tentacles into the present. If we are allowed to forget, we excuse ourselves from all accountability, especially the work of examining the present.
We remember–not to dwell, or whine–but as a call to vigilance. The fight for Japanese American reparations, inspired by the Civil Rights movement of the 1940s-60s, was a heroic act of remembering by hundreds of survivors who testified, sharing the memories they had long sought to forget. They did it not so much for compensation for that which could never be compensated, but in service of vigilance–to make the government accountable, to discourage any future gross violations of civil liberties.
Our fight was won with the help of Black leaders like Mervyn Dymally and Ron Dellums. It’s past time to return the favor.
“We can’t afford it,” many say. Acknowledging the complexity of Black reparations in terms of the degree of damage, harm, and legacy, John Tateishi’s response is, “Can we afford not to do that? And if you don’t correct this injustice, correct this wrong, what does that mean about us as a society, as a nation, as a democracy?”1
To learn more, go to kqed.org/reparations. To read the final report of California’s Task Force on Reparations, click here.
Inspired by Don Tamaki’s presentation on the results of the work of the California Task Force for Reparations.
1”A Precedent for Reparations,” produced by Manjula Varghese, KQED: https://www.kqed.org/news/11952398/inspired-by-black-leaders-japanese-americans-got-reparations-after-wwii. Accessed 2/12/2024.
Image by jpornelasady at Pixabay.
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Media Coverage:
Read Internee’s story told with ‘Topaz Collages’ (Wheel of Dharma, Vol. 5, Issue 3, March 2023).
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)