Fred Korematsu was a California-born welder who, following Pearl Harbor, attempted to conceal his identity as a Japanese American. Alienated from his family and community, Korematsu made the complex decision to become a legal “test case” against the U.S. government’s forced internment of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry.
Although he lost his landmark Supreme Court case in 1944, Korematsu never lost his indignation and resolve.
Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Main Library is hosting a free screening of an independent film, “Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story,” Saturday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m. in the Auditorium.
Produced by the nonprofit Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) of San Francisco, this 60-minute, award-winning film tells the story of one man’s defiance of our government’s decision to intern Americans of Japanese heritage in the wake of Pearl Harbor.
This moving and engrossing documentary reveals the untold story of the 40-year legal fight to vindicate Korematsu – one that finally turned a civil injustice into a civil rights victory.
A well-paced intermix of testimony archival footage, reenactments and interviews with members of the Coram Nobis legal team exposes the shocking story of how U.S. government attorneys deliberately suppressed evidence in the Supreme Court case which led to Korematsu’s conviction in 1944.
Korematsu was honored with:
• The Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Jesse Jackson’s PUSH/Rainbow Coalition Award
• Pearlstein Civil Rights Award – The Anti-Defamation League
• Roger Baldwin Award – The National ACLU
