“Well, now we have a special day that’s in honor of my father. It’s Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. It’s important to emphasize it’s about our civil liberties and the Constitution, and the emphasis on civics. Our civic participation is important, and that’s the way my father led his life.” – Dr. Karen Korematsu

January 30, 2026, is the 15th anniversary of the first Fred Korematsu Day! In 2010, in California, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the legislative bill establishing the inaugural Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution on January 30, honoring his birthday on January 30, 1919. The first Fred Korematsu Day was celebrated in January 2011, and it became the first statewide day in U.S. history named after an Asian American. 

Fred Korematsu represents more than one man’s fight against injustice, like Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, Fred transcends the crisis of the Japanese American Incarceration. His landmark Supreme Court case challenged the constitutionality of the Japanese American Incarceration. The case is taught in law schools across the country, books have been written about his struggle for justice, and schools have been named in his honor. But he could be any American who reads the Constitution and refuses to be denied their basic civil rights and to be treated like a second-class citizen. He refused to be incarcerated solely based on “looking like the enemy” and denied due process. We can learn from his story that when you see something is wrong, you should speak up. Fred Korematsu is the inspiration the country needs right now. 

2025 marked 16 years of the Korematsu Institute’s education and advocacy work, established in Fred Korematsu’s honor by his daughter, Dr. Karen Korematsu. In the past year, Dr. Korematsu and Vice President and Director of Education Courtney Peagler travelled around the country speaking to everyone from kindergartners to high school students to law students, using Fred Korematsu’s story to promote civic education, our civil liberties, and Constitutional rights at events, averaging over two a month, around the country. They led ten workshops and symposia for educators at conferences like the Middle States Social Studies Conference (MSS), the National Council History Educators (NCHE), and the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). 

We are bringing history to cities across the country with our “AM I AN AMERICAN OR AM I NOT?” exhibition and are working to update our free educational resources for teachers to make sure they have the tools they need to share hard moments in our history. We work to prevent important parts of the American story from being erased. We speak with teachers around the country on the frontlines about what obstacles they are facing in the classroom, with new state laws banning certain words and curriculum, and restricting particular topics and moments in history, such as the Japanese American Incarceration from instruction, and working to respond with the tools they need to meet this moment in history.

On this Fred Korematsu Day, we thank our community of educators, parents, students, and supporters who work together with us to carry on Fred’s legacy and educate to fight for the social justice and racial equity we urgently need today to prevent repeating the mistakes of the past. We always hope that his story of perseverance in the face of adversity inspires others to become more civically involved and to “stand up for what is right.”