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EK: But I just had a quick question. This might not be a quick answer to a quick question, but because you're a part of the redress movement and everything, I was just wondering... this is something I actually, I also interviewed Bill, and we talked about redress as well, but just the idea of government redress, and everything and how, you can't really put a monetary value on all the, all the injustice and trauma that left -- that was left during incarceration, and just for Japanese Americans during that time. And so I just wanted to see, as someone who is part of this redress movement, what redress kind of means to you and what other people who look back -- who go to this recording, what you think people should understand about redress?
KB: You know, I think what's important is really that people be knowledgeable of the report, Personal Justice Denied. But beyond that, listen to some of the stories and understand the impact on lives when the government takes arbitrary action that deprives people of, of their rights and, I think, what really is important is that people take away from that a commitment to ensure that this never happens again to anyone else. To me, that is, that is the most important thing is that people kind of learn the lesson but they know the history. And then they look around and they see its relevance to what's happening today and how that points to the need for Black reparations, why it's important that when children and families are separated at the border that we take care in -- as a society and in the way our government handles that and so many other issues. I think we're, we're in a moment right now with yesterday being the anniversary of the Atlanta murders, of thinking a whole lot about what do we do? What is the appropriate response in this circumstance to what is occurring in our society and how it's impacting our communities. And it's very complicated, I think, but just because things are complicated doesn't mean that we should stop searching for solutions and trying to do what we can. And I think the Seattle chapter, right after the Atlanta murders, stepped up admirably, as I recall. Put out a message about things that people in communities could do, constructive things people and communities could do in response. So, I think that... and I could talk somewhere about this maybe when I talk about coram nobis, but I think a lot of us feel that all of these issues are pretty linked because they have to do with human rights, it has to do with social justice, and that the lesson I would hope most people would get from learning about, one that people should become informed, people should understand, and hopefully what they take away from that is a sense of responsibility.
EK: Thank you, Kathryn. I just, it's a heavy topic to think about. Well, I wouldn't say its heavy, but I would -- I mean, it is, but I just think that, sometimes the idea of just human rights and social equality and justice in general just seems like such a simple idea but doesn't manifest in our society today. And it's just a... seems like, sometimes it's just such daunting work. When you take one step forward there's always something that takes us one step back. So, I just want to say thank you for those words of wisdom really, it's just a matter of pushing forward. So thank you.
<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.