Peggy Nagae encourages taking action through Minoru Yasui’s legacy

Guest speaker Peggy Nagae spoke to history classes in the Multi-Purpose Room on Feb. 13. Nagae is the Chief Operating Officer of White Men as Full Diversity Partners and served as lead defense attorney for the appeal of the 1943 Supreme Court case Yasui v. United States.

Minoru Yasui was a Japanese-American civil rights activist who challenged Executive Order 9066 by purposely violating its curfew stipulation in order to challenge the constitutionality of the Executive Order. After a few appeals, his case was brought to the Supreme Court, where his conviction was upheld unanimously. Approximately 40 years later, Nagae helped overturn his conviction by proving the government intentionally concealed evidence that would have deemed Yasui innocent.

During her visit, Nagae told students the story of Yasui and talked about her life, incorporating peer discussions and a question and answer session.

“I really liked how Ms. Nagae not just lectured, but she also let us have discussions in between,” said junior Priscilla Yang. “It’s a good break in between to think about how you respond to it instead of just blindly let[ing] it go through your head. The conversations I had were very eye opening to see another person’s perspective, [and] also it was to get in touch with what I was feeling.”

Nagae appreciated Aragon students’ sincere engagement.

“There [were] a lot of interesting questions that were asked. I felt good about the attentiveness … the interaction and engagement of the students,” Nagae said.

Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher Will Colglazier contacted Nagae in Dec. 2018 after seeing an advertisement for a documentary about Yasui.

“[This presentation] speaks to the human story, but it definitely visualizes an Asian-American story, which is a big piece of the Aragon community,” Colglazier said. “Peggy Nagae is a great example of someone who wasn’t necessarily in Japanese internment, but she made justice a factor of her career. I think we can bring in guest speakers who aren’t necessarily in an event that’s in our history books, but someone who’s using their knowledge of history to do good in the present.”

Students enjoyed her firsthand account, as it provided a live perspective of history.

“As students, we will still never truly feel connected to what we’re learning unless we actually can go out there and experience such things,” said junior Ikjot Dhillon. “For her to come and just talk to us, even if it was the same things that we read, was really important because it was coming out of her mouth — It was the significance of who she is and what she stands for.”

Nagae thoroughly informed students about the history of Japanese-Americans, which she said is often generalized.

“It’s important for me to set the record straight in terms of Japanese-American history in that it didn’t start with the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” Nagae said. “[It’s important] in general, for people to understand that the history of this country has been one filled with racism, not just towards African-Americans, but to many different groups of people … It’s great for Asians and for all students to see that there are Asian-American civil rights leaders. You can take action in your next conversation. By doing so, you shift history.”

“You can take action in your next conversation. By doing so, you shift history”

Some teachers gave out an associated assignment, such as a reflection and note-taking sheet. Colglazier had his students write to the state to request more education about Japanese-American internment.

“Yasui’s name isn’t in the state standards,” Colglazier said. “They gloss over some aspects of Japanese internment that I think need to be in there. We used our in-depth knowledge to hopefully make a change in how this event is taught in the future.”

Nagae believes Yasui’s legacy of activism and justice ought to be taught to students to demonstrate greater diversity and representation in history.

“The students need to understand the broad swath of civil rights, and I think Asian students deserve a hero,” Nagae said. “History is written by the victors, so it’s important to get a real picture of history.”

Students reflected on the messages in her presentation.

“She showed us that you can really start from nothing and become this great thing just by believing in justice and having passion towards a topic,” Dhillon said. “We need people who believe that they’re here to do good … [Nagae] said, ‘If it can happen to you, it can happen to me, so I will protect your rights just as I will protect mine.’ Especially in our political climate right now, we need to protect each other and hold out a lending hand to one another.”

Junior Benjamin Chen was inspired by Nagae’s courage and perseverance.

“A big takeaway is her bravery because she mentioned how … a case like this really could have hurt her reputation. It was a big risk that not many people would take, yet she did it,” Chen said. “Another [takeaway] is perseverance because she kept through with this and kept with the case. She still fights for what she believes is right today.”

Hearing about Nagae’s upbringing and introversion impacted Yang’s perspective of herself.

“Ms. Nagae said that she was an introvert, but because justice was at the core of her being, she had to pursue it; It was her life,” Yang said. “There’s the idea that if it’s something that you’re meant to do, it doesn’t matter how shy you are; you have a goal … I’m taking away that it’s okay to be shy sometimes. I’ll overcome it by [focusing] on what I feel is important.”

Nagae hopes that students will see the power they have within themselves to take action.

“If I could do this, each of you can do this. I’m not something special — I was an introvert; I was poor; I grew up on a farm; [I had] never talked to a lawyer [in high school]. Hopefully, my story is about possibility,” Nagae said. “I hope that students can see how powerful they can be as individuals. [I hope] they say something if they hear something inappropriate, dismissive or devaluing of other people or themselves. I hope they live a life worth living and take action.”