Fred T. Korematsu Elementary
"If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don't be afraid to speak up."
Fred T. Korematsu
Fred T. Korematsu Elementary School at Mace Ranch is Davis’
newest elementary school, opening for students in August 2006.
The school is named in honor of Oakland native and civil rights activist
Fred T. Korematsu (1919-2005).
A Japanese-American shipyard welder at the beginning of World War II, Mr. Korematsu challenged the federal government’s war order to relocate Japanese-Americans to internment camps.
Mr. Korematsu was arrested and lost a legal challenge in a 1944 Supreme Court decision but was vindicated decades later by the overturn of his conviction in 1982. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in 1998.
In 2010, the California legislature recognized Mr. Korematsu’s January 30 birthday as a special day of significance in which schools are urged to honor his memory.