The Japanese American National Museum presents “From 9066 to 9/11 — Past, Present, Future of Anti-Asian Bias in America” on Wednesday, Aug. 12, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. PDT.
On March 21, 1942, Congress codified Executive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin Roosevelt, which resulted in the forced removal and confinement of people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast in American concentration camps. 78 years later, the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a surge in discrimination, bias, and violence against Asian Americans, many of whom were falsely blamed for spreading the virus.
The short film “9066 to 9/11,” produced by JANM’s Watase Media Arts Center in 2004, traces the history of discrimination against people of Asian background in the U.S. from the World War II incarceration to the rise in Islamaphobia after 9/11. Join the film’s producers and members of Penn’s Program in Asian American Studies for a discussion on the past, present, and future of anti-Asian bias in America and how we can stand together for racial justice and equality for all.
Watch the film here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4k7Mn-4W40 — then join the discussion on Wednesday. The program is free, but RSVPs are required using the ticket link.