Archive for January 24th, 2011
After exploring Sacramento for 15 years I thought that I had seen the whole town, until a few months ago when I found the Nisei War Memorial on 4th and O while walking to the Crocker.
“Nisei” means Japanese people born outside of Japan and this squat midcentury building was built to memorialize those who fought for the U.S. I love how it has become a valley surrounded by high rise mountains. Those two rocks in front of the building have plaques on them dedicated to prominent members of the Nisei community, one who was nicknamed “papa-san”
Nearer to the street, there is a monument to Japanese American civil liberties. Here I learned that Executive Order 9066, which effectively cleared the way for Japanese internment camps wasn’t rescinded until 1976. And it wasn’t until 1988 and President Reagan that the U.S. apologized.
This plaque says “Stamp out prejudice and racism. By stamping your feet on this plaque you are taking a stand that you will not accept prejudice and racism.”
