密歇根新闻广播 听一位日裔美国人为民权而战的故事

We've all been hearing a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric¹ recently. Everything from banning all Muslims from the country to halting the flow of Syrian refugees.

This week, Karen Korematsu has been in Michigan sharing her father's story from a similar time of fear and confusion.

During World War II, Fred Korematsu refused to comply with the order that put about 120,000 Japanese-Americans in internment² camps. He has become a symbol of resistance to what is now seen as a shameful³ time in America.

Karen Korematsu wants Michigan to be among the states to officially commemorate⁴ January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.

According to Korematsu, her father thought of himself first as an American citizen. "He couldn't believe that American citizens would be ordered to be imprisoned⁵ without any due process of law," she says.

"He just wanted to get on with his life. He had done nothing wrong, so why should he be incarcerated⁶ just because he looked like the enemy?"

Korematsu's father was eventually arrested in the San Francisco Bay area. She tells us that his case was taken up by executive director of the ACLU of Northern California Ernest Besig, who had been looking for a test case "because he thought it was unconstitutional since everyone's due process had been violated."

The process took several years before eventually being heard by the Supreme⁷ Court on December 18, 1944.

Korematsu tells us her father "truly believed" that by the time his case got to the high court, they would see that the internment of Japanese-Americans was unconstitutional. He was "disheartened" and "disgusted" when the court ruled six to three against him.

"But it wasn't unanimous," Korematsu says, "and that's the important point. In fact, Justice Murphy of Michigan was one of the dissenting⁸ positions."

Her father went on to challenge his conviction and that ruling in the 1980s. Though she wasn't fully⁹ aware of it growing up, her father's federal prison record had worked against him when finding employment and housing. "My father had never given up hope that someday he could reopen his Supreme Court case because he clearly felt that the government was wrong and that he was right in what he had done."

Korematsu's father was eventually able to challenge the ruling in the '80s thanks to a piece of evidence turned up by University of California, San Diego professor Peter Irons while researching the World War II Supreme Court cases.

"He was looking through some files and found, actually in the Immigration and Alien Department, a box that hadn't been opened in 40 years. And right on the top of this box, that was dusty, was this file … about the Department of Justice, that proved there was no military necessity for the Japanese-Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes; that at the time of my father's Supreme Court case, the Department of Justice had withheld¹⁰ evidence, had destroyed evidence and had altered evidence. So on that basis, they were able to reopen my father's Supreme Court case."

In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded Fred Korematsu the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian¹¹ honor. Korematsu died in 2005.

Several states have agreed to commemorate January 30 as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution or are on their way to doing so in some capacity.

California was the first, Korematsu tells us, beginning in 2011, followed by Hawaii and the Commonwealth¹² of Virginia. Georgia and Pennsylvania have submitted resolutions honoring the day, while Florida and South Carolina have submitted bills to their respective legislatures.

Korematsu visited with legislators this week in an effort to persuade Michigan to officially commemorate Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution each year on January 30. She tells us they were "very receptive" to the idea.

1 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

2 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

3 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

4 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

5 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

6 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。