About Let It Not Happen Again: Lessons of the Japanese American Exclusion
Presented by Clarence Moriwaki, president of the Bainbridge Island
Japanese American Community
In March of 1942, the US Army forcibly removed 227 Japanese
Americans from their homes on Bainbridge Island. Starting with this small
community, a national strategy began, with more than 120,000 Japanese American
men, women, and children forcibly removed and incarcerated during World War II.
Clarence Moriwaki shares the story of Bainbridge Island—the origin
point of the Japanese American exclusion—to provide a human, historical account
of this national tragedy, and to ask the question: Are there parallels to
what’s happening in America now? Moriwaki uses historical images, including
historical and current propaganda, to explore the fear, racism, and failure of
political leadership that led to these unconstitutional actions during World
War II, and why we must not let it happen again.
About the Speaker:
Clarence Moriwaki is the president of the Bainbridge Island
Japanese American Community and a founder and former president of the
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association. Moriwaki
has written guest editorials on the subject that have been published
nationwide. Moriwaki has served as a spokesperson for administrations including
the Clinton Administration, the Office of the Governor, and Congressman Jay Inslee.
Moriwaki lives on Bainbridge Island.