DALE MINAMI RECEIVES ABA THURGOOD MARSHALL AWARD

Attorneys and civil rights activists from all over the country came to honor Dale Minami's achievements as he was presented the 2003 Thurgood Marshall Award by the American Bar Association’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities (ABA IRR) on Saturday, August 9 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

ABA IRR Outgoing Chair Mark D. Agrast began the evening’s program by introducing the ABA President-Elect Dennis W. Archer, the first person of color to lead the ABA in its 126-year history. Archer made a special appearance that evening to congratulate Minami.

California Supreme Court Associate Justice Joyce L. Kennard was the keynote speaker. Kennard’s speech was rhythmic, full of humor and wit. Initially, she quipped about public speaking. Yet Kennard’s message was clear.

Dale Minami and ABA IRI Chair Mark Agrast	Justice Joyce L. Kennard gave the keynote address.
Dale with members of NAPABA	Dale with EEOC's Paul Igasaki (r) and student
Judge Ed Chen, NAPABA President Ruthe Ashley and AABA President Phil Shinn	Dale Minami and Judge Russell Hom

She spoke about the U.S. Constitution, minorities’ rights, equality under the law, and the American dream. Kennard noted that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Justice Thurgood Marshall inspired Minami when he was a student at Boalt Hall. Justice Marshall demonstrated that going to court was a way to correct the legal wrongs in our country.

Subsequently, Minami and Dr. Peter Irons became the litigation team leaders responsible for reopening Korematsu v. U.S. in 1982 that led to overturning Korematsu's conviction of violating the 1942 Executive Order 9066 which ordered the internment of all Japanese Americans post-Pearl Harbor attack. Dr. Peter Irons, a UC San Diego political science professor and lawyer, had uncovered long-forgotten documents in the National Archives that proved that the Justice Department had misrepresented the facts to the U.S. Supreme Court in Korematsu’s 1944 case. U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued her written opinion that formally vacated Korematsu’s conviction in 1984.

Later, Kennard inquired whether we were up to the challenge for equality under the law. Her answer was a dignified, “Yes.” We overcame slavery, she noted. There was the civil rights movement, she continued. Our new challenge was to make room for improvement. 9/11 united the country. The World Trade Center Towers are symbols of American freedom and individuality. She spoke of our individual freedoms in speech, in association, and in religion without which there could not be liberty. Americans can dream the impossible dream, Kennard asserted. America means “letting me be me.” It is about individualism -- my country; my choice. Kennard concluded with a Langston Hughes poem that Justice Thurgood Marshall once recited titled “Let America Be America Again.”

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again….

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Personal reflections by the daughter of Fred Korematsu, Karen Korematsu-Haigh, and Minami’s law partner at Minami, Lew & Tamaki LLP Donald K. Tamaki followed Kennard’s keynote address.

Fred Korematsu, the man behind the landmark 1944 Supreme Court case challenging the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and who later was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 (the nation's highest civilian honor), was unable to attend the award dinner. He sent his “love and personal congratulations” to Minami that evening through his daughter. As Korematsu’s ambassador, Korematsu-Haigh called Minami a true civil rights activist and a “champion of civil rights.”

When it was Tamaki’s turn to speak, he described Minami as a “civil rights advocate, brilliant strategist, and stud muffin extraordinaire” referring to Minami being named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Eligible Bachelors” in 2001. After the laughter subsided, he noted the remarkable contributions Minami had made to civil rights in America. Tamaki reflected on the time when Minami founded the Asian Law Caucus and how Minami established a period of “firsts” which included the first class action employment lawsuit brought by Asian Pacific Americans on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans and engineering a political strategy which led to the appointment of the first Asian American judge in Alameda county, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ken M. Kawaichi. Minami is an inspiration to the legal community demonstrating the faith, the courage, and the true meaning of the U.S. Constitution. Tamaki ended his reflections by thanking the ABA for singling out Minami for “this most prestigious award” and congratulated Minami for a “job well done.”

Judge Ken Kawaichi, who recruited Dale and others to form the Asian Law Caucus in 1972.	Donald Tamaki (above) on Dale Minami: "a civil rights advocate, brilliant strategist, and stud muffin extraordinaire"
Fred Korematsu Credit: Shirley Nakao	[Image not found code=x0803_10] Justice Thurgood Marshall

During the award presentation, Agrast read quotations from former Chair of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar and current Chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession Diane C. Yu and Minority Member-at-Large of the ABA Board of Governors and former NAPABA President Paul W. Lee, both of whom had nominated and supported Minami to receive the Thurgood Marshall Award.

There were many standing ovations that night, but it was Minami who received the longest one. Minami first thanked the organizers of the "Roast Dale Minami" event. Then, he expressed how honored and humbled he felt in receiving the Thurgood Marshall Award. Minami emphasized that Justice Marshall was his hero, his symbol of courage, and his inspiration. He listed historical civil rights violations including the Chinese Exclusion Act, Jim Crow laws, and anti-gay and lesbian sentiment.

He quipped about the differences among him and his siblings as well as what his parents wanted from their children. His humor functioned as a bridge to his expressed sincere gratitude and thanks to his family; his parents and his siblings. He also named his former employers one-by-one and thanked each of them for their support.

In closing, Minami said that we should not lose our civil rights at home post-9/11. We must also not allow history to repeat itself. Presently, we are continuing to climb the mountain that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often spoke of. Minami seemed to imply that steadily we will one day reach that mountain top.

Return to the main Photos page for photos of other events.

Read Dale Minami's moving speech accepting the ABA Thurgood Marshall Award.


Listen to Dale Minami's speech. Click dialup or broadband.
Courtesy of Brian Minami.

Visit the "Dale Minami Roast" page for hilarious photos, jokes, and the special Minami Roast Video by Cold Tofu featuring Brook Lee, Tamlyn Tomita and others.

Read more coverage of the ABA award dinner in the September 2003 AABA Newsletter.


Read the opinion in Korematsu v. United States 584 F.Supp. 1406 (N.D. Cal. 1984).