“Raise a glass to freedom / Something they can never take away / No matter what they tell you / Raise a glass to the four of us / Tomorrow there’ll be more of us.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda, “The Story of Tonight,” Hamilton
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend George Takei’s presentation in Dallas about his experiences growing up in an internment camp, advocating for marriage equality and LGBT rights, and acting in the Star Trek franchise.
It had been several months since I last heard him speak in San Diego, but it was clear that he remained ever optimistic about our democratic experiment. The cosmic observer and former lieutenant commander and captain of the USS Enterprise repeatedly reminded the audience that our country was founded by fallible men with noble ideas. And that a people’s democracy is at its best when its citizens are engaged and involved.
On Monday, Google honored the late Fred Korematsu on his 98th birthday through its daily Doodle. Some scholars, like Stanford Professor David Alan Sklanky, contend that Korematsu’s case justifying the use of Japanese internment is “not good law,” even though unfortunately it has never been overruled.
FOOTNOTE 4 