Just weeks into her term as governor, Gretchen Whitmer has already begun to write history. With the stroke of her pen, she signed a proclamation signifying that Jan. 30, 2019 – and every Jan. 30th thereafter – be known as “Fred Koremastu Day.”

On Feb. 1, students at Dearborn High School learned about Fred Korematsu through a short video about his life and court case, as well as listened to several speakers talk about the Japanese internment. Dearborn High School is the third Dearborn school to host the commemorative event in as many years.

The proclamation for Fred Korematsu Day was read aloud by Agustin Arbulu, director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

Roland Hwang, commissioner of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission and adjunct instructor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan, noted the timeliness of the proclamation and its relevance to what is happening in the United States today.

“A lot of people are working on a crusade to figure out what is just and equitable,” Hwang said. “There certainly are competing issues on the national agenda with respect to security, equal protection, and due process and all that. I think the hope is that people will put a critical eye on the issue and actually analyze things and rather than take the position of the government on things and realize that the position of the government isn’t exactly right. …

“Anything can occur when people don’t understand what history was gone through and, yes, there is a possibility of things going on again when you don’t know your history.”