“… [this is] about our civil liberties and the Constitution and that’s what’s at risk. We all can see that and this is not a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent or a political type of issue. This is about our democracy. This is about our Constitution, and we all need to work to uphold and preserve our Constitution.” – Dr. Karen Korematsu, Roosevelt Four Freedom Award Acceptance for Fred T. Korematsu, October 2021

February 19 is the Day of Remembrance, a day commemorated around the country to promote education and understanding about a solemn chapter in our American story so that we never forget it or repeat it. It was over eight decades ago when the U.S. government put more than 100,000 Japanese immigrants and American citizens of Japanese descent into camps based on their ethnicity, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. That number would grow to 125,000 by the time World War II ended in 1945. Lives were upended, homes were lost, and families uprooted from their communities. But the Day of Remembrance is not only about one group or a particular community during one moment in history. It is not a dark part of our past that should be left in the history books. And the resulting WWII Incarceration is not just about Japanese Americans. Across various groups and throughout our history, many stories have challenged and shaped our Constitutional liberties and caused us to think about what it means to be an American and have equal treatment under the law. 

At the Korematsu Institute, we believe prejudice, xenophobia, and racism are born of ignorance. And the best way we can fight that—the most powerful tool we have—is education. We can all work together for a future where xenophobia and hate speech, lack of civics education and engagement, and racial inequity are a thing of the past. The Day of Remembrance is one facet of our American story, but it also bridges so many other parts of our shared experience from the importance of civic participation to civil rights to the U.S. Constitution. Our national traveling exhibit, “Am I American or Am I Not?” aims to bring this important history outside of the boundaries of the classroom around the country. Named after the question Fred Korematsu asked when faced with criminal charges for violating the military orders to leave his home and report to camp without due process, the exhibit addresses other historic and modern-day events and what it means to be an American and stand up for what is right.

This Day of Remembrance should also serve as a reminder that we cannot let down our guard against hate. Our country is made up of 341,347,814 American citizens* (as of February 16, 2025) and we have millions of vibrant, unique stories passed down at weddings, christenings, and funerals, shared at holidays, written in family bibles, and even forgotten. But we all make up one country. This is about all of us.

* United States Census Bureau, U.S. and World Population Clock.