A recently approved bill by Assemblyman Warren Furutani asks California colleges to extend honorary degrees to Japanese Americans whose college educations were disrupted by forced incarceration during World War II.
In a flurry of approvals, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 37, which was written by the Furutani, a Long Beach Democrat of Japanese American heritage.
"This law demonstrates our state's commitment to addressing the unfinished business for these former students," Furutani said. "Time is running out for these individuals, and while California's colleges and universities have had 60 years to act, few have chosen to extend honorary degrees to these former students."
More than 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and communities during World War II and interred. Of that number, 2,567 Japanese American students were enrolled in California colleges.
As a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board in 2004, Furutani wrote the "Japanese American Internment Diploma Resolution," which retroactively granted a high school diploma to any person who was enrolled in an LAUSD high school immediately preceding his or her internment and did not graduate.
