Civil Rights: Korematsu v United States

Civics 101

NHPR

Education, History, Supreme Court, American History, Elections, Democracy, Society & Culture, Government, Civics, Politics, Social Studies

4.6 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2021

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1942, approximately 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans were ordered to leave their homes. They were sent to internment camps in desolate regions of the American West. Fred Korematsu refused to comply. This is the story of his appeal to the Supreme Court and what happens when the judicial branch defers to the military.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
0:06.0	Let's try a thought experiment.
0:10.0	I'd like you to imagine that you're an American citizen.
0:14.0	You're an American citizen and always have been.
0:17.0	You were born here in California to be exact.
0:21.0	You went to school here, played with the kids on your block, got a B and Algebra,
0:26.0	hated taking out the trash, had a crush on the kid who taught you how to surf,
0:31.0	worked an after-school job at the supermarket in town.
0:35.0	Life is good, mostly.
0:37.0	Not perfect, but this is home.
0:41.0	And then one Sunday afternoon, you're lying around your living room with some friends
0:45.0	and you hear something on the news.
0:50.0	The United States has been attacked.
0:52.0	This attack means that the country is joining a war,
0:57.0	which is reason enough for you an American citizen to be concerned.
1:02.0	But there's another thing.
1:04.0	The nation that staged this attack, your parents immigrated from there.
1:10.0	And that's why your home is about to turn on you.
1:15.0	Bars and clubs print hunting licenses declaring open season
1:20.0	on anyone of your heritage.
1:23.0	Magazines print articles explaining what physical features distinguish you from other Americans.
1:30.0	Businesses hang signs telling you and your family to go back to where you came from.
	...

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