SR7, As Adopted by Senate, January 31, 2017

            Senator Knollenberg offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 7.

            A resolution designating January 30, 2017 as Fred Korematsu Day.

            Whereas, The Legislature recognizes the contributions to civil liberties made by Fred Korematsu.

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu was born to Japanese immigrant parents in Oakland, California, on January 30, 1919, the third of four sons; and

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu was one of the many American citizens of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast during World War II; and

            Whereas, Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941, where 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 9066, that authorized the Secretary of War to require all Americans of Japanese ancestry to be placed in internment camps; and

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu is famously known for his arrest, at the age of 23, on May 30, 1942, and conviction for defying the government’s order to report to an assembly center to be moved to an internment camp; and

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he met his wife Kathryn and married before returning to California; and

            Whereas, A decision of Korematsu v. United States that declared his incarceration justified was formally vacated on November 10, 1983, by United States District Court of Northern California in San Francisco; and

            Whereas, This action, considered to be a pivotal moment in civil rights history, cleared Fred Korematsu’s name; and

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu was recognized in 2010 when the state of California passed the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution bill, making January 30 the first day in United States history designated to honor an Asian-American; and

            Whereas, Fred Korematsu is considered by many as a national civil rights hero whose growing legacy continues to inspire people of all backgrounds; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That the members of this legislative body recognizes the contributions that Fred Korematsu has made and designates that January 30, 2017, shall be known as “Fred Korematsu Day”.