Join us for a multidisciplinary program reenacting the case of Oyama v. California. This symposium will bring together legal scholars, civil rights advocates, historians, organizers, students, journalists, and policymakers to examine the enduring relationship between national security, foreign policy, democracy, and Asian American civil rights. Decided in 1948, Oyama v. California arose after the State of California sought to confiscate farmland purchased in the name of Fred Oyama, an American-born citizen, because his Japanese immigrant father was prohibited from owning land under California’s Alien Land Law. This case marked an important milestone in dismantling legalized discrimination against Asian Americans and helped lay the constitutional foundation for later civil rights victories.
Oyama illustrates how national security fears generated by war and geopolitical conflict can become embedded within domestic law and public institutions. It provides a powerful historical lens through which to examine recurring questions that confront us today: How do geopolitical rivalries reshape constitutional rights? When do national security claims undermine democratic principles? How can civil rights advocacy respond not only to the discriminatory effects of these policies, but also to the broader political conditions that produce them? How do debates surrounding immigration, surveillance, academic freedom, free speech, and student protest reflect longer histories linking foreign policy to domestic democracy?
Our cast includes:
Entry is free and open to the public, but space is reserved. RSVP to guarantee a seat.
Women Cross DMZ is co-hosting this program with the UC Irvine Law’s Korematsu Center, Loyola Law School, Stop AAPI Hate, Chinese for Affirmative Action, UC Berkeley’s Asian American Research Center, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), and the Feminist Peace Initiative (which WCDMZ co-leads with MADRE and Grassroots Global Justice Alliance).