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While the US interned 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, Hawaiʻi mobilized to protect its own

"Inclusion: How Hawaiʻi Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America" by Tom Coffman
University of Hawaiʻi Press
"Inclusion: How Hawaiʻi Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America" by Tom Coffman

This Saturday, Feb. 19, marks the 80th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing Executive Order 9066, which triggered the internment of 120,000 citizens of Japanese descent.

University of Hawaiʻi Press

Author Tom Coffman's new book, published by the University of Hawaiʻi Press, is called “Inclusion: How Hawaiʻi Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America.”

The Conversation talked to Coffman, as well as Barbara Tanabe, another former journalist whose family’s internment experience in Seattle gives context to that time in Hawaiʻi's history. Coffman shared how an inclusive community worked from the ground up to protect an embattled segment of Hawaiʻi's population.

This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 14, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.on HPR-1.

Catherine Cruz is the host of The Conversation. Originally from Guam, she spent more than 30 years at KITV, covering beats from government to education. Contact her at ccruz@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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