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Civil Liberties Act of 1988 - Victory!

When President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 on August 10th, it marked a day of victory, finally, for the Japanese American community and all those who had been so invested in the Redress and Reparations campaign. The hours and hours of work everyone had contributed were instantaneously completely justified. It was all worth it.

Tears of joy were wept, and inexpressible happiness and relief filled that room when Reagan signed the bill. It was indeed, a momentous occasion for Japanese Americans who gave their all to this cause. Sox Kitashima recalls that “the community was on cloud nine and ready to burst.” (95)

To address gender, notice that there is only one woman in this picture. Although the Japanese American community and the Redress/Reparations movement are no exception to being in situations where women are underrepresented in politics and head positions at the federal level, it is worthwhile to be aware of the existence of such dynamics. Also of notable presence in this picture are Congressmen Norman Mineta and Robert T. Matsui, two men who, with the complementary work of others like Sox, Aiko, Cherry and Lorraine, were instrumental in the signing and passage of this bill.

Source: Kitashima, Tsuyako Sox and Morimoto, Joy K., The Birth of an Activist: The Sox Kitashima Story. San Mateo: Asian American Curriculum Project, 2003 (pp. 92-95)

Photo: Densho Digital Archive, http://archive.densho.org/main.aspx. Photo/Document Collections: Kinoshita Collection