Hero of the Day: Karen Narasaki of the Asian American Justice Center

10.14.06 - Posted by AsiansVote

Our Hero of the Day is Karen Narasaki, head of the Asian American Justice Center, who spoke to the Asian Bar Association of Washington on October 11. Her brother, Ken Narasaki, has posted her speech at his blog. It's a moving testament to how her parents' experiences with internment and discrimination led them to teach Narasaki and her siblings "that we had a responsibility to help America live up to its ideals." And as Narasaki notes, these aren't academic questions:

Just last month, Congress voted into law an authorization for the President to simply designate just about anyone an enemy combatant and to try that person in a military tribunal, denying habeas corpus relief from unlawful detention and torture from anyone who is not a citizen of the United States, including longstanding legal permanent residents.

Of course we believe this to be unconstitutional and it will be challenged in the courts, but what kind of nation are we becoming?

Who are we as a country that we now condone torture and in the face of almost unanimous opposition of our military leaders are undermining the Geneva Convention, the International Convention Against Torture and other Human Rights laws that we once stood for?

With her ongoing work with the AAJC, Narasaki fights for fundamental American values every day. It's time for all of the rest of us to do our part.

Read the whole speech. Get mad. Get inspired. And vote, my friends, vote.

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10.14.06 | Candidates & Leaders , Civil Rights & Liberties , Hero of the Day , Issues