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 United States 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, then join us for the program on Wednesday, August 12 at 4 p.m. (PDT).

This program is FREE, but RSVPs are required using Eventbrite link below.

RSVP NOW

Programs like this are made possible with your support. Thank you for your generosity.

This event is co-sponsored by the University Task Force on Support to Asian and Asian-American Students and Scholars at Penn, Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH) at Penn, Penn Libraries, and the Penn Program on Asian American Studies in partnership with JANM.

Image: Instructions to All Persons poster, paired with Order 41. (Gift of James V. Gatewood, 99.243.2).