Fred Korematsu Quotes

One person can make a difference, even if it takes forty years.

- Fred Korematsu

I was the third son, and the family tradition was my dad always favored the oldest child.

- Fred Korematsu

Every day in school, we said the pledge to the flag, 'with liberty and justice for all,' and I believed all that.

- Fred Korematsu

That was it - I lost my job... I was very discouraged. I wanted to be in defense work... I'm an American, and I have nothin' to do with Japan, and so it's sort of an insult to me.

- Fred Korematsu

I was really upset because I was branded as an enemy alien when I'm an American.

- Fred Korematsu

It takes a lot of money to hire an attorney.

- Fred Korematsu

I don't even know how it is to have a home. I feel like an orphan or something.

- Fred Korematsu

Before the war, my parents were very proud people. They'd always talk about Japan and also about the samurai and things like that. Right after Pearl Harbor, they were just real quiet. They kept to themselves; they were afraid to talk about what could happen. I assume they knew that nothing good would come out of it.

- Fred Korematsu

My folks were so worried about what they were going to do. All they can take was what they could carry with their hands. What they had for twenty-five years of building their business was going to go out the door, or they're going to lose it.

- Fred Korematsu

During the curfew, whoever went out, the people were watching you. Any Japanese home, there was some person figuring he's a good American citizen by doing his duty, and they were watching every move each family were doin'. Or if they went out, they followed them to see where they were goin'.

- Fred Korematsu

I'm Asian, so they assumed I'm not an American and that I come from Japan. Restaurants would refuse to serve me, and places would refuse to give you a haircut.

- Fred Korematsu

As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a hearing.

- Fred Korematsu

I was an American citizen, and I had as many rights as anyone else.

- Fred Korematsu

I still remember, 40 years ago, when I was shackled and put in prison... Being an American citizen didn't mean a thing.

- Fred Korematsu

I didn't think that the government would go as far as to include American citizens to be interned without a hearing.

- Fred Korematsu

I was very upset because I did not have a fair trial to prove my loyalty to this country.

- Fred Korematsu

All of them turned their backs on me at that time because they thought I was a troublemaker.

- Fred Korematsu

As a citizen of the United States, I am ready, willing, and able to bear arms for this country.

- Fred Korematsu

If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don't be afraid to speak up.

- Fred Korematsu

I lost everything when they put us in prison. I was an enemy alien, a man without a country.

- Fred Korematsu

I thought what the military was doing was unconstitutional.

- Fred Korematsu

It may take time to prove you're right, but you have to stick to it.

- Fred Korematsu

I was born in the U.S. This is my country.

- Fred Korematsu

I was just living my life, and that's what I wanted to do.

- Fred Korematsu