Fred Korematsu Dies

Did he die world-wide?

Oh... um... I just kind of got that impression from reading the article, but I guess that doesn't make sense.

Doesn't everyone die world-wide?

Who is this guy? And does anybody care?

He was quite a champion, wasn't he, Edgar.

Thought of our friend, c.i., when I heard this on the news earlier.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for posting this.

CG, may I ask how old you are?

Anybody who doesn't care who this guy was has no understanding at all of the human condition. I find it hard to understand a remark like that.

ebeth, he certainly was.

Hi, j_b.

I think she was referring to me.

I don't think so, coates.

Edgar's right. Again.

Don't know if you saw it, Edgar, but I'm coming around to your way of thinking in re Reverend Jackson - at least his actions of the last week.

Jackson has his problems. Don't we all?

Not many people care about me...

Yer wrong, coates. We all care about you. I didn't reply to you in the beginning, because I didn't understand what you were saying.

Everyone?

Um...I still don't understand what scoates is saying.

Edgar, thanks for posting this. I admit, shamefacedly, that the name Korematsu meant nothing to me at first. That's why I looked at your post, to find out who he he was. Remarkable man with more courage than most. It's a shame it took more than 40 years to overturn that kangaroo court conviction. And that Supreme Court ruling ranks right up there with Dred Scott and Plessy v Ferguson.

Isn't it way past constitutionalgirl's bedtime?

Korematsu's death, and life, got quite a bit of coverage on the CBC radio news. There was also a small feature on As It Happens.

<nods>

Must be bringing back a lot of memories for some folks.

This is the second thread today where ConstitutionalGirl's comments seem to indicate someone quite young. I was just curious. Her words in her posts seem to contradict the message she's quoting in her signature.

I care about you SCoates.

Edgar, my daughter did an extensive research project on the internment camps for school a couple years ago. We spent a lot of time together going over stories and accounts. She was only 12 at the time, but she gained a deep compassion for the Japanese-Americans who were interned during WWII. I'll be sure to show her the link about Korematsu.

I recently finished the book "When The Emperor Was Divine" (and I highly recommend it) and was looking up the history of the times when I came across the name Korematsu. I'm sure, to the shame of my education, that I never learned about him in school. A life worth living, we need more like him.

Not an excuse, but I think C.Girl is young and British and does not know about the Japanese interment camps in the US.

When the history of the US in the 20th century is written, Korematsu will get at least a line, which is much more than most of us who simply carried spears in the chorus will merit. There was a guy on Abuzz several years ago who was pushing a privately printed book (that he authored) that "proved" that Americans of Japanese ancestry were a security threat in WWII. So the work Korematus's began is far from done. In MHO the Patriot Act is just an update of the bigotry Korematus spent his life opposing.

It's hard for me to write about Fred Korematsu without sounding trite. I just wanted to let A2K know what a man this was that we have lost.