Tuesday, March 22, 2016
2PM / Konover Auditorium, Dodd Center
Jack Hasegawa / Day of Remembrance Public Lecture
Sponsors: Asian and Asian American Studies Institute and Asian American Cultural Center
Jack Koichi Hasegawa is a third-generation American of Japanese descent (Sansei) who recently retired as the Executive Director of 4H Education Center at AuerFarms in Bloomfield, CT. Prior to that, he supervised two units within the Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction at the State Department of Education and served as Chief of the Bureau of Educational Equity and member of the Sheff Office. He also held membership in the NCATE Board of Examiners and coordinated the Teacher Preparation Program Approval for Connecticut.
The Asian and Asian American Studies Institute in close collaboration with the Asian American Cultural Center jointly hold the annual Day of Remembrance at UConn as a public, educational lecture that examines the historical context and continuing significance of the federal government of the United States imprisoning en masse civilian members of the Japanese and Japanese American community in camps located on American soil during World War II in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Executive Order 9066 was signed by then president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. After decades of grass-roots organizing and the public hearings that formed the core of the findings of the bi-partisan Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, an apology was issued and reparations paid after the congressional passage of the Civil Liberties Act on August 10, 1988 and signed by then president Ronald Reagan.
The bittersweet lessons of the internment experience that began 74 years ago resonate today as troublingly public rhetoric whip up fear and distrust of migrants, foreigners and minority communities. It is our hope that armed with knowledge and the courage to examine complex issues, we may yet avoid repeating this regrettable chapter of American history.
For more information, contact: Ms. Fe Delos-Santos at fe.delos-santos@uconn.edu