Street Roots • June 29-July 5, 2018
Page 3
O p in io n
These times call for acts of courage
and national origin. In the rearview mirror,
t’s not a time to be complacent. The
horrifying sequence of actions from the
even Chief Justice John Roberts wrote of the
Trump administration has lurched open
wrong-headedness of the Korematsu decision,
collective awareness of the mistreatment of writing that “the forcible relocation of U.S.
countless people trying to cross the U.S.
citizens to concentration camps, solely and
border.
explicitly on the basis of race, is objectively
It was only three weeks ago when Oregon
unlawful and outside the scope of presidential
Sen. Jeff Merkley focused the glare of social
authority.”
media on the cruel immigration policies
But it is audacious to take a stand against a
targeting people who are escaping poverty and decades-old decision while refusing to act
violence that in no small part results from
against a bigotry-laden travel ban now.
______________
U.S. aggression in the
For those of us in Portland, the case of
first place. Central
Minoru Yasui in particular shines a light on
America has certainly
local resistance with national implications.
DIRECTOR'S
suffered under U.S.-
Hood River-raised, University of Oregon Law
ö J o ä ä
backed dictatorships and
School-educated, and the first Japanese-
U.S.-trained human
American member of the Oregon State Bar,
By Kaia Sand
rights abusers.
Minoru Yasui set up his law office in the
Locally, protestors
Foster Hotel on the very block that Street
mobilized on June 17,
Roots now operates.
shutting
And it was from the historic
down the Immigration and
Foster Hotel - now Musolf Manor,
Customs Enforcement office on
low-income apartments run by
Portland’s South Waterfront by
Innovative Housing - that Yasui
building a barricaded
It is audacious
walked out into the evening on
encampment, OccupylCE, that
March 28, 1942: an act of civil
to take a stand
inspired more actions around
disobedience against government
against a
the nation.
curfew laws targeting people of
decades-old
As of press time, riot-gear
Japanese ancestry.
decision while
clad Department of Homeland
He walked south through Old
Security officers were moving in refusing to act
Town - then known as Japantown -
to disperse the camp. Several
against a
to a police station on Southwest Oak
people were arrested.
Street and Third Avenue, insisting
bigotry-laden
But for more than a week,
travel ban now. th at the police officers arrest him.
this camp bustled like a little
He was determ ined th at his civil
town, tents lining either side of
disobedience challenge the racist
railroad tracks in a valley
laws. His journey was a long one. He
formed by the ICE detention
suffered incarceration and then, as
center to the west and multiple
his court case went forward, solitary
businesses to the east. There was a medical
confinement. He took his case to the Supreme
tent, a mental health tent, a child care tent, a
Court - and lost.
quiet tent, a supply tent, and a kitchen where
Eventually, President Obama awarded
people dished up dollops of homemade
Minoru Yasui the Presidential Medal of
guacamole. Protestors held general
Freedom and two years ago, the Oregon state
assemblies and vigils and work groups,
legislature designated March 28 Minoru Yasui
posting signs throughout the camp to guide
day.
people on how to live respectfully among each
But 76 years ago, Minoru Yasui was
other.
courageous, denounced and alone, challenging
And then on Monday, June 25, the assault
the racist laws of the federal government.
on people attempting to enter the United
We need hundreds and hundreds of acts of
States continued when the Supreme Court
courage right now. Let your voices be heard -
upheld Trump’s executive travel ban, with the
all of you who have put your bodies on the line
majority of justices disregarding Trump’s
to challenge brutal immigration policies,
clearly expressed goal of targeting people who
including people who are homeless, already
are Muslim.
vulnerable to police actions, who camped at
The children of three people who
Occupy ICE in solidarity with brothers and
challenged the World War II persecution of
sisters seeking asylum in this country.
Japanese Americans filed an amicus brief to
Let your voices be heard alongside the
remind the courts that by “refusing to
ACLU attorneys who are fighting to get
scrutinize the government’s claim that its
representation to asylum seekers detained at
abhorrent treatment of Japanese Americans
Sheridan Federal Prison.
was justified by military necessity, the Court
Let your voices be heard, all of you
enabled the government to cover its racially
organizing year after year when cameras are
discriminatory policies in the cloak of national
not trained on your work. Let us see you and
security.”
learn from you.
In the cases of their fathers - Hirabayashi,
Let each effort toward justice reverberates
Yasui, and Korematsu - the Supreme Court
far and wide. The time has come for all of us
upheld a presidential executive order that
to step out into that night and make a stand!
discriminated against people based on race
I
K aia Sand is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach her at
kaia@streetroots. org.
Follow her on
Twitter @mkaiasand
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