Fred Korematsu was a civil rights activist who challenged the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. His name is spelled in English using the IPA phonetic transcription as "fred kɔːrəˈmɑːtsu". The "k" sound in "Korematsu" is pronounced as voiced velar stop, while the "tsu" ending represents a consonant cluster of voiceless alveolar affricate and voiceless alveolar sibilant. Fred's surname is unique and not common in English, which may make it difficult for some people to spell correctly without practice.
Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American civil rights activist who was born on January 30, 1919, in Oakland, California, and passed away on March 30, 2005. He gained prominence for his legal challenge against the United States government's internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
During the war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent living on the West Coast. Fred Korematsu refused to comply with the government's relocation orders and instead remained in his home. He was subsequently convicted for violating military orders and was sent to an internment camp.
Korematsu's case, Korematsu v. United States, reached the Supreme Court in 1944. The Court, in a controversial decision, ruled that the internment was constitutional due to military necessity. However, Korematsu's case gained renewed attention decades later when evidence emerged that the government had withheld crucial information about the lack of military necessity from the Supreme Court.
In the 1980s, Fred Korematsu's conviction was overturned, and he became a symbol of the fight against racial injustice and the preservation of civil liberties. He spent the rest of his life advocating for equality and speaking out against discrimination. Fred Korematsu's legacy continues to inspire individuals to challenge injustice and uphold the principles of equal rights and justice for all.