Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and the Passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 FROM THE PUBLISHER
In December 1982, a congressionally created commission concluded that the evacuation and incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II were the result of racism, war hysteria, and failed political leadership. Six months later, the commission recommended that the U.S. government offer a national apology and payments of $20,000 each to the surviving internees as a form of redress. Against long odds these recommendations became law on August 10, 1988, when President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This book is a case study of the political, institutional, and external factors that led to the legislation's passage.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
The incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II has been written about extensively. This fine addition to the library is the story of the long and bitter political struggle in Congress to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, a law to pay reparations to former camp inmates. The author explains how a bill with no backing from powerful lobbyists or constituents, in a time of economic belt-tightening, became a law through the committed efforts of a few politicians who appealed to the moral issue at hand. The detail is staggering. Very little of the legislative history is omitted, which makes the book tedious in parts, yet anyone interested in redress issues of the imprisoned Japanese Americans or in the workings of Congress will find this book a good case study in both the issues and processes. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-- Glenn Masuchika, Chaminade Univ. Lib., Honolulu
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