Interviews

1. Reasons for conformity and competitiveness in Gardena, California

2. Not fully understanding parents' World War II incarceration while growing up

3. An emotional response from mother upon talking about incarceration experience

4. Role of the redress movement in helping Nisei to open up about their wartime experiences

5. Memories of hearing the verdict in Fred Korematsu's coram nobis case

6. Impact of the Korematsu coram nobis case, historically and personally

7. Impact of the original Korematsu case on current events

8. Reflections on the importance of history

Minami,Dale

(b. 1946) Lawyer

Impact of the original Korematsu case on current events

You know, I'm kind of coming to a new realization. I mean, redress was a great victory but it clearly was not a total victory. The cases we did was a great victory but it was clearly not a total victory. And as much as you can educate people, you cannot transform everyone and there will still be people who harbor racist beliefs in this country, ignorant beliefs, despite what the evidence is, despite what the facts are.

And so, what I believe is that education is important but it's not the only thing. If you don't have political power, if you don't have the power to punish a Congressman Coble for what he says, if you don't have power to punish a Senator Trent Lott, if you don't have power to make a Shaquille O'Neal feel a little uneasy, all the education in the world is not gonna help you. That's not to say you shouldn't do education, 'cause both, if you don't have the alternative education, all the political power in the world won't help you either. But I think those are the two things that I think are most important and what I've gained from doing this case and working on redress and being involved in both political and educational campaigns, is that they're both really, really important.

Date: February 8, 2003

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda, Margaret Chon

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Sansei male. Born in Los Angeles, California on October 13, 1946, and grew up in Gardena, California. Received B.A. in Political Science from University of Southern California, graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1968. Received J.D., 1971, from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California. Mr. Minami was a co-founder of the Asian Law Caucus, Inc., a co-founder of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the Asian Pacific Bar of California and the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans.

He was involved in significant litigation affecting civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities, including Korematsu v. United States, a lawsuit to overturn a 40 year old conviction for refusal to obey exclusion orders aimed at Japanese Americans during WWII, originally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in landmark decisions; United Pilipinos for Affirmative Action v. California Blue Shield, the first class action employment lawsuit brought by Asian Pacific Americans on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans; Spokane JACL v. Washington State University, a class action on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans to establish an Asian American Studies program at Washington State University; and Nakanishi v. UCLA, a claim for unfair denial of tenure which resulted in the granting of tenure after widespread publicity over discrimination in academia.

Mr. Minami has taught at University of California, Berkeley and Mills College in Oakland, CA and has been a Commissioner of the State of California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission, a Commissioner on the State Bar of California, Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, the Chair of the Attorney General's Asian/Pacific Advisory Committee and a Member of Senator Barbara Boxer's Judicial Screening Committee. He was Chair of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Commission, appointed by President Clinton in 1994. Mr. Minami is a partner with Minami, Lew and Tamaki in San Francisco, and specializes in personal injury and entertainment law. (February 8, 2003)