The Color of Citizenship: Tracing the Legacies of Japanese Internment from WWII to Stop & Frisk – Part One

The mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II is a powerful but often occluded illustration of the fragility of US citizenship and civil liberties. As such, this event demands frequent reexamination in relation to ongoing conversations regarding post-9/11 special registration, detention, and deportation, as well as long-standing formal and informal practices of profiling and surveillance of communities of color.

Part one of this daylong conference examined the history of the Japanese American incarceration and how it is made meaningful to multiple publics in different locations — higher education, museums, and our national landmarks.