A student group held an event at an Illinois university that discussed the past fight for reparations for Japanese Americans and tied it to current discussions about reparations for other groups.
The Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) at Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois, hosted an event on Feb. 23 to commemorate the Feb. 19 anniversary of the beginning of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese Americans during the World War II and to discuss previous efforts for reparations, according to an Instagram post from the group.
“[T]oday is the day of remembrance, where we commemorate the unjust actions of the US when they incarcerated over 120,000 americans [sic] of japanese [sic] ancestry to camps throughout desolate areas of the country. APAC will be hosting a dialogue to talk about the reparations movement as a result of the incarceration, especially connecting it to how reparations are being looked at for other marginalized communities,” the post announced.
Japanese Americans have previously benefited from reparations as a result of two different bills, the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act of 1948 and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, The Daily Northwestern wrote in an article on the event.
The latter legislation gave out more than $1.6 billion to those who qualified, according to to the National Archives.
APAC Treasurer Brandon Takahashi condemned the fact that the 1988 bill gave reparations only to those who were actually interned, claiming that this measure sets a precedent that could stop modern-day reparations initiatives from benefiting black Americans because of the U.S.’s past history with slavery, wrote The Daily Northwestern.
Northwestern student and APAC Communications Co-Chair Lily Ng, who helped guide the discussion, said that the treatment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War should be called “incarceration” and not “internment,” as she alleged that the latter term implies guilt on behalf of those arrested, reported The Daily Northwestern.
APAC previously hosted an event on Feb. 7 called “Activism-ology: The Campus as a Site of Resistance,” inviting students to “[c]ome together to discuss the histories, struggles, and power of student organizing!” as seen on an Instagram post.
[RELATED: Anti-DEI bill to end mandated ‘divisive concepts’ passes KY Senate]
The group also previously published an open letter regarding the Supreme Court decision against affirmative action in college admissions, saying it will have “rippling negative effects on communities of color” and adding: “Racist systems of power in the United States have long weaponized the precarious position of Asian Americans in this country, holding up particular demographics (often certain middle-to-upper class, East and South Asian folks) as ‘model minorities’—docile subjects who have ‘successfully’ assimilated as a result of their diligence.”
The statement continued: “Asian Americans will never be allowed access to white power and privilege in the United States, despite what the dominant systems in this country would like us to believe.”
In 2020, the group affirmed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Instagram, stating: “Asian Americans benefit from white supremacy and the oppression of Black people.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Northwestern University and APAC for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.