Biography
Karen is the Founder and Executive Director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute and the daughter of the late civil rights icon, Fred Korematsu. Since her father’s passing in 2005, Karen has carried on his legacy as a public speaker, educator and civil rights advocate. She shares her father’s passion for social justice and education and in 2009 established the Fred T. Korematsu Institute to advance racial equity, social justice and human rights for all. The Institute’s work has expanded from K-12 civic education to promoting public civic engagement and participation. Karen crisscrosses the country speaking to audiences from Kindergarten to Judges and inspiring and promoting Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution of January 30.
Karen’s work extends to advocating civil liberties for all communities and addresses current issues that draw upon lessons of the past. She has presented to Teachers College Columbia University, NY, New York and since 2012, the National and State Councils for the Social Studies and was Co-chair of the Annual National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference, 2017.
She has signed on to amicus briefs in several cases opposing violations of constitutional rights arising after 9/11, including Odah v. United States, Turkman v. Ashcroft, Hedges v. Obama, and Hassan v. City of New York and recently, Hawaii v. Trump. In 2015, Karen was inducted as the first non-lawyer member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She serves on the board of directors of Advancing Justice-AAJC and NAPABA Law Foundation. She has been interviewed on radio, podcasts and TV. Karen has been interviewed on radio, podcasts and TV. Last year her op-eds appeared in the NY Times and Washington Post. Karen has received numerous awards and honors including GMNY 2015 Isidore Starr Award, Muslim Advocates-Voice of Freedom Award; the “Key to the City of Dearborn, Michigan”; and the ACLU-Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. Just last month Karen received the Community Leadership Award from APAICS, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, DC and her first honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont.
Articles, Publications, and Appearances
Video Interviews
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Karen Korematsu on Asian Pacific America (NBC: Bay Area, January 28, 2020)
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Karen Korematsu reacts to SCOTUS decision: ‘They traded one injustice for another’ (Washington Post, June 26, 2018)
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Children of Japanese American legal pioneers from World War II fight travel ban (USA Today, October 10, 2017)
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Korematsu, Japanese internment and America today (Yahoo! News, May 12, 2016)
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Supreme Court Landmark Case Korematsu v. United States (C-SPAN, November 9, 2015)
Op-eds
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How the Supreme Court replaced one injustice with another. (The New York Times, June 27, 2018)
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My father resisted Japanese internment. Trump’s travel ban is just as unfair. (Washington Post, December 4, 2017)
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When lies overruled rights. (The New York Times, February 17, 2017)
In The News
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How the Supreme Court struck down a WWII-era travesty when it upheld Trump’s travel ban (Washington Post, June 27, 2018)
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The Supreme Court Overturned a Ruling That Enabled Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II (Time Magazine, June 26, 2018)
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Supreme Court overrules Korematsu case that upheld World War II Japanese American incarceration (USA Today, June 26, 2018)