“Am I An American or Am I Not?” exhibit on view at Menlo Park Library

On display at the Menlo Park Library, the exhibition’s title comes from Fred Korematsu, who famously challenged the mass imprisonment of over 125,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. When faced with criminal charges for not following the military orders to leave his home without due process, the U.S. born citizen remembered his Constitutional rights and asked, “Am I an American or am I not?”

“Am I An American or Am I Not?” explores how fear, discrimination, and government actions led to the violation of Constitutional rights during the war and how this history relates to the experiences of other communities, including Native Americans and African Americans.

“Am I An American or Am I Not?” was developed in partnership with the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, AGH Arts Strategies, and Exhibit Envoy, with funding from the National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), the JA Community Foundation, and PwC.

The exhibition is viewable during all library open hours (M-W Noon to 8:00 pm; Th-Sun. 10:00 am to 6:00 pm) through May 17.

This exhibition received funding support from the Friends of the Menlo Park Library.