Japanese American Day of Remembrance observes the anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It authorized the evacuation and incarceration of 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, most of whom were U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.

In Washington state, nearly 13,000 people of Japanese descent were ultimately sent to detention centers. Most Seattleites ended up at Camp Minidoka near Hunt, Idaho, while the majority of rural Western Washington evacuees were sent to Tule Lake in California.

In February 2010 attorney Lorraine Bannai spoke to an audience at South Seattle Community College about the ethical choices that shaped this part of history. Professor Bannai was part of the legal team in Korematsu v. United States, an action that successfully challenged Mr. Korematsu’s conviction for refusing to obey the wartime order to leave his home and report to a relocation camp for Japanese Americans. Professor Bannai is currently the Associate Director of Seattle University’s Fred T. Korematsu Center of Law and Equality.