Leadership & legacyYears after the conclusion of internment, efforts have been made to compensate victims such as Korematsu. In 1988, this man was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton. This award is America’s highest civilian honor. Additionally, California passed a Fred Korematsu Day bill in 2010, which made January 30th, Korematsu’s birthday, the first day in American history to be named after an Asian American.
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Before his death, Korematsu also helped shape the legacy of internment. This man was an active member of National Coalition for Redress and Reparations. He traveled to the U.S. capital to lobby for the passage of a bill, which would present an official apology from the government and give $20,000 for every surviving Japanese-American who had been sent to a camp. On August 10th, 1988 these efforts proved successful and Ronald Reagan signed this law.
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Additionally, Korematsu spoke out in several court cases involving racism. For Shafiq Rasul, v. George W. Bush and Khaled A.F. Al Odah v. United States of America, Fred filled out an amicus brief that cautioned the government that the extreme national security measures being taken were comparable to those during WWII. Both these cases were in reference to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. Korematsu wrote on behalf of the Muslim inmates being held there following their capture during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Korematsu also filed an amicus brief for Donald Rumsfeld v. Jose Padilla, in which he underlined the similarities of his unjust detainment in World War II and Padilla’s imprisonment following 9/11. With these statements, Fred reminded the government of their mistakes during Japanese-American internment and worked to ensure similar events would not repeat themselves. In this way, Korematsu was a leader in the fair treatment of all races and religions until his death in On March 30th, 2005, but even today his legacy lives on.