Gordon Hirabayashi: Japanese-American Civil Rights Hero

During WWII, when FDR signed an executive order that discriminated against Japanese-Americans, Gordon Hirabayashi took a stand.  In his Supreme Court case--Hirabayashi v. United States--the Supreme Court ruled "that military necessity justified imposing an ethnicity-specific curfew" and Hirabayashi was sentenced to prison.  It wasn't until the 1980's that his curfew conviction was overturned.  

On January 2nd, 2012, Gordon Hirabayashi passed away in Canada at the age of 93.  CNN wrote an article titled "Remembering Gordon Hirabayashi, Japanese-American civil rights hero." 

The article goes in to more detail on Hirabayashi's life story, but I especially like the last paragraph:

"When my case was before the Supreme Court in 1943, I fully expected that as a citizen the Constitution would protect me," Hirabayashi said. "Surprisingly, even though I lost, I did not abandon my beliefs and values. And I never look at my case as just my own, or just as a Japanese American case. It is an American case, with principles that affect the fundamental human rights of all Americans."

This article would be a great way to help students identify with a Japanese-American during WWII.  Hirabayashi's story is also a good way to analyze civil rights, the Constitution and the Supreme Court.