Go For Broke National Education Center - Preserving the Legacy of the Japanese American Veterans of World War II

JAPANESE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVES WIN BATTLE OVER TEXAS CURRICULUM
The Texas State Board of Education unanimously votes to include the Japanese American Exclusion Order and 442nd RCT Military Unit in the state curriculum standards

Houston-area residents Donna Cole, Glen Gondo, Dr. Abbie Grubb, Sandra Tanamachi, and Linda Toyota brought the WWII Japanese American experience to the forefront of American history classrooms in Texas. In March, the state of Texas became a feature headline as the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted to approve a series of controversial amendments to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards. Though many of the proposed changes came under fire, the Japanese American community was particularly concerned that none of the amendments mentioned the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) or the Military Intelligence Service (MIS). In addition, the only mention of the Japanese American confinement equated the mass internment of Japanese Americans with that of German and Italian Americans.

In response to these concerns, organizations like the Anti-Defamation League -North Texas and Southwest Region, National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, Japanese American Citizens League, Go For Broke National Education Center and the Japanese American Veteran's Association, among others, launched a letter-writing campaign to change the proposed amendments prior to the final vote on May 21.

Ultimately, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) received tens of thousands of comments from the public and had a record 206 people register for a public hearing. Five of these testifiers traveled from Houston and patiently waited through hours of testimony for the opportunity to express their perspective on the importance of Japanese American history.

The Board responded positively and in fact, was often visibly touched by the accounts of the suffering of the Japanese American community and their dedicated patriotism despite their unjust treatment. The testimonies built a case on both personal experience and historical fact that stressed the uniqueness of the Japanese American internment and the significance of the service of the 442nd RCT, the most decorated unit for their size and length of service in US military history, and the MIS, who are credited by General MacArthur's Chief of Intelligence, Major General Charles Willoughby with shortening the war by two years and saving over one million lives.

Two days after the public hearing, the SBOE held a final vote on the curriculum. According to Chairman Gail Lowe in a personal email to Tanamachi, the vote was unanimous to include the 442nd RCT and to address EO 9066 when discussing the internment of enemy aliens. Board member Pat Hardy also wrote that she had learned much regarding the Japanese American experience from the presentations, and she was pleased to know that future generations of schoolchildren would not be unaware of this aspect of the nation's history. Released on June 25, the revised TEK 113.41.c.7.D for High School US History now includes "the internment of German, Italian, and Japanese Americans, and Executive Order 9066," while TEK 113.16.b.5.C will require fifth-graders to study the 442nd along with the Tuskegee Airmen.

(Written by Dr. Abbie Grubb and edited by GFBNEC for use in this edition of eTorch.)

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