RESOLUTION
To The U.S. Department of Interior
WHEREAS, Construction of a national Japanese American memorial will be completed and dedicated on U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) land in Washington, D.C. on 9 November 2000;
WHEREAS, Thousands of individuals and organizations donated more than $11 million in time and money to the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation (NJAMF), expecting this permanent memorial to educate the public about the Japanese American experience and to reflect, inclusively and accurately, the community’s values of equality, justice, tolerance, respect, and human dignity;
WHEREAS, These values and ideals prevailed among Japanese Americans during the darkest days of World War II, despite prejudice and discrimination, as displayed in many different forms, ranging from military service to legal struggles by resisters of conscience who fought against constitutional infringements, U.S. Government exclusion orders and concentration camp edicts;
WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) has the authority and duty to ensure that memorials on NPS land are accurate, correct, and appropriate;
WHEREAS, The NPS and NJAMF have failed in their responsibility to the public by approving memorial inscriptions containing problematic and controversial inscriptions, despite due notice and knowledge of these problems;
WHEREAS, The NPS and the NJAMF acted insensitively and disrespectfully by including the misquotation of a "creed," which was written by a private (not elected) individual they know reflects an organizational perspective of only a limited segment of the Japanese American community, and which they know causes widespread pain and objections; and
WHEREAS, The NJAMF, supported by the NPS, imposed their will on the public without proper notice to the community and ample opportunities for public response, using similar processes to the ones enacted by certain Japanese American "leaders" during World War II, but this time without the excuse that this similar and intolerant position was being forced upon them by "emergency" circumstances;
RESOLVED, That the undersigned individuals, organizations, and institutions, go on record objecting to the NPS’s failure to fulfill its mandate to ensure accuracy and integrity of the memorial, and protesting the NJAMF’s lack of respect for and sensitivity to the rich diversity of the Japanese American community;
RESOLVED, That the undersigned submit it is imperative that the NPS carry out its responsibilities by reconsidering, reviewing, and analyzing its approval of the memorial inscriptions, making necessary revisions, and deleting the misquoted controversial "creed"; and
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior oversee the integrity of this Japanese American national memorial and fully investigate the NPS to ensure that it has fulfilled its duties, obligations, and mandates.
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