For the past several years, the Beachhead has been advocating a memorial marker or other remembrance at the corner of Venice Blvd. and Lincoln Blvd. where local Japanese families were gathered together and shipped to concentration camps in 1942.
Many were U.S. citizens and many were small children. None had been accused of any disloyalty during World War II. Their only crime was that they were of Japanese ancestry.
Now, at long last, some recognition of the terrible wrong that was done to our neighbors may be forthcoming.
Below are some of the letters that Venice students have written to Councilmember Bill Rosendahl and to the Beachhead. If all goes right, a ever-present reminder that human dignity and civil rights need constant vigilance if we are to have the right to call ourselves a civilized country and city.
In particular, the Beachhead would like to thank Phyllis Hayashibara, a teacher at Venice High for getting the ball rolling.
You can express your support by emailing Bill Rosendahl at [email protected] and the Beachhead at [email protected]
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