Public Affairs Videos

To commemorate the Day of Remembrance, a panel will discuss "How could concentration camps happen?" The annual Day of Remembrance marks the date, 75 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the authorization leading to the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans of the American West Coast in concentration camps during World War II, without due process of law.

This program is a panel discussion of conditions that exist in a society that enable governments to order and execute mass incarcerations such as those inflicted on Jews in Europe and Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II.  Presenting these histories and their social backgrounds for comparison are Dee Simon, the Baral Family Executive Director of the Holocaust Center for Humanity, and Dr. Tetsuden Kashima, Professor Emeritus of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington.  Presenting a comparison between historical cases and potential for mass incarcerations in contemporary society is Professor Lorraine Bannai of Seattle University.