On the twentieth anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, ADL brings together classroom resources to reinforce the significance of this act, including a special Curriculum Connections lesson about the discrimination that the Japanese-American community faced, which contributed to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in U.S. internment camps during World War II.
These materials provide an opportunity for students to reflect on the dangers of stereotyping, prejudice and racial and ethnic discrimination, so as not to repeat history. As one former internee shared, “The citizens have to be aware (about the internment), the citizens have to be cautious, and make sure that, that the government, the elected government officials or bureaucrats, or the military, do not abuse the rights of citizenship.”
Understanding the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
This document provides a brief overview of the political and judicial discrimination that the Japanese-American community faced during World War II, including descriptions of Hirabayashi v. U.S. and Korematsu v. U.S., and how, over 40 years later, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, sought to right the wrongs that the Japanese-American community faced.