San José State held its third annual Day of Remembrance at the Diaz Compean Student Union on Monday.
The event emphasized its commitment to highlighting the importance of remembering, resisting justice and acknowledging the ongoing struggles of Japanese Americans.
Day of Remembrance acknowledges the forced incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two thirds of whom were American citizens under former President Franklin D. Roosevelt Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, according to a San José Nihonmachi Outreach Committee webpage.
Yoshihiro Uchida Hall, formerly called Spartan Complex, served as a registration center for 2,487 people of Japanese descent, according to a Feb. 21, 2024 article from The Spartan Daily.
The reception was welcomed with a performance from San José Taiko – a group founded by young Japanese Americans in 1973 to uplift the Asian American community, according to the San José Taiko webpage.
Opening remarks were delivered by Chief Diversity Officer Kristin Nicole Dukes and a virtual message from SJSU’s President Cynthia Teniente-Matson who could not be physically present.
During the ceremony, Dukes acknowledged the Muwekma Ohlone land and highlighted the importance of acknowledging injustice and working towards restoration and accountability.
“This land acknowledgment statement and the Day of Remembrance program, both demonstrate the importance of acknowledging harm when it is committed to be accountable for restoring individuals and communities that have been hurt intentionally and unintentionally,” Dukes said.
Dukes introduced the video of Teniente-Matson in which she expressed her regret for not being able to attend in person and emphasized the significance of the Day of Remembrance.
“This enduring struggle exemplifies how resistance leads to renewal and how the pursuit of justice continues across generations,” Teniente-Matson said. “At SJSU, we recognize that our past informs our present and our future.”
Day of Remembrance was formed around a cross-generational forum to collectively remember and confront historical injustices.
While acknowledging the resilience and advocacy of the Japanese American community and its broader impact on civil rights, Teniente-Matson called for further action to prevent injustices from repeating.
“This observance is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on the lessons of history and to consider how we can do our work in a way that ensures injustices like this remain in the past,” Teniente-Matson said. “We honor the courage of those who live through these injustices and ensure that their stories continue to be told.”
Further in the event, Supervisor Duong,the first Vietnamese American to serve on the Board of Supervisors, spoke on the importance of honoring the history and heritage of Asian American Studies in shaping communities and creating identity.
“We must acknowledge that San José State University was once a site where Japanese Americans were processed under Executive Order 9066 in 1942 a painful chapter, a shameful chapter in U.S. history,” Duong said. “In recognizing this, we also celebrate the enduring activism that ensures that injustices such as this do not happen again.”
Ellenberg spoke about forming alliances, in order to protec`t marginalized communities who are threatened by unjust policies such as those who are at risk of being deported by ICE, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Sadly, much of that hate speech, that rhetoric of prejudice and bigotry, has returned today in the form of political discourse and active harmful policy implementation that targets immigrants, members of the LGBTQ community, seekers of reproductive health rights, the pursuit of racial equity, and frankly, anyone else the federal administration regards as less than justice,” Ellenberg said.
Immigrants in the San José community have been under attack by ICE enforcement since Trump signed his executive order to detain and remove all “aliens” who violate federal law and prevent immigrants from entering the U.S., according to a Jan. 30 article by The Spartan Daily.
San José City District 3 Council member Rosemary Kamei explained the need to build a more just and compassionate society through collective remembrance.
“Never forget and continue to work towards a brighter future for the coming generations, ” Rosemary Kamei said.
