San Diego JACL Gala to Mark 30th Anniversary of Civil Liberties Act

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Japanese American Citizens League is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the signing of H.R. 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, by President Ronald Reagan, officially apologizing for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II.

Honorees Karen Korematsu and John Tateishi

The “Never Forget – Justice for All” Gala, will be held on Saturday, Sept.15, at the Town & Country Golden Ballroom, 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, and will recognize the local Japanese Americans who were interned, mainly at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, for the duration of the war.

The San Diego JACL Civil Rights Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to former JACL National Director for Redress John Tateishi, who led the ten-year campaign for reparations.

Receiving the San Diego JACL Civil Rights Leadership Award is Karen Korematsu, the daughter of Fred Korematsu, one of three Nisei who took their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court to protest the unjust treatment of Japanese Americans, and had their convictions overturned four decades later.

The San Diego JACL will also honor local Japanese Americans who worked tirelessly with the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations (now known as Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress): Arthur Nishioka, Kay Ochi, Jan Tokumaru, Dennis Kobata, and Yosh and Marleen Kawahara.

The San Diego Chapter JACL was formed in 1932 and is part of National JACL, the oldest Asian American civil rights organization in the U.S.

Registration and reception at 5 p.m.; dinner and program at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 general, $100 for JACL members, $65 for children under 12. For more information, visit www.jaclsandiego.org and click on “Events.”