New DEI Speaker Series

The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council, in partnership with Humanities Washington, has developed a new DEI Speaker Series. These events are free and open to all state employees and the general public, but pre-registration is required. The session topics are intended to offer new perspectives and encourage diversity of thought as DES dives into topics surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion.

The first session will be held from noon-1 p.m. Thursday, May 27. The topic will be “Let it Not Happen Again – Lessons of the Japanese American Exclusion” presented by Clarence Moriwaki.

Description:

In March of 1942, 227 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes on Bainbridge Island by the U.S. Army. Starting with this small community, a national strategy began, with more than 120,000 Japanese American men, women and children forcibly removed and incarcerated during World War II.

Clarence Moriwaki shares the story of Bainbridge Island — the origin point of the Japanese American exclusion — to provide a human, historical account of this national tragedy and to ask the question: Are there parallels to what’s happening in America now? Moriwaki uses historical images, including historical and current propaganda, to explore the fear, racism and failure of political leadership that led to these unconstitutional actions during World War II and why we must not let it happen again.