War, Race, and the Constitution: Lessons from the WWII Japanese American Incarceration (Best of OLLI)
The World War II incarceration of nearly 127,000 persons of Japanese ancestry is a case study in the constitutional breakdown of the separation of powers when national security is asserted over civil liberties. We’ll examine: the Asian immigrant experience that set the stage for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s issuance of Executive Order 9066; the question of loyalty; the government’s false justifications of the incarceration to the Supreme Court and to the American public; and how this history is being repeated today.
Faculty Bio
Susan Kamei is the author of When Can We Go Back to America? Voices of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II. She is an educator and news commentator on the continuing relevance of this tragic history to contemporary issues today.
This is a Best of OLLI Course
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Member Praise for Susan Kamei
Susan was an absolutely spectacular teacher. She was an excellent lecturer, her slides were fantastic, and she answered a ton of questions with great knowledge. I felt lucky to be able to take her class.
Professor Kamei was amazing! I cannot recommend her highly enough. She is so knowledgeable, so personable, and knows so many personal stories about Japanese incarcerees and their families. Although I already knew the basic facts about the incarceration, I learned so much about the human dimension. Just wonderful.
This was an amazing course! Susan was fantastic! So knowledgeable, an excellent teacher, and her passion for the topic and her family history really added to her lectures. I feel so much smarter after this class. I also really appreciated the recommended materials many of which I read/listened to and that also enhanced my class experience.