February 19th marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 which led to the forced removal and incarceration, without charge or trial, of 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Toby Asai Loftus, '90 shares the story of his mother's family, forced from their home in Hood River, OR, into temporary and long-term concentration camps in CA and WY. His talk will include family photos, historical context, and video clips of his mother from talks she has given. He will focus on the experience of Japanese Americans in California and Oregon, the pre- and post-war racism and persecution they endured, and the lessons this dark chapter of history offers us today. Toby’s 89-year-old mother, Mitzi Asai Loftus, will join in for questions and answers. (Please note this event is capped at 100 participants.)

Toby’s mother, Mitsuko (Mitzi) Asai, was a fourth grader in Hood River when she and her family were forced to leave their home and sent to guarded “relocation centers,” first in Tule Lake, CA and later in Heart Mountain, WY. The Asais, like more than 120,000 other Japanese people, were rounded up and incarcerated in the barbed wire-enclosed camps during World War II without charge, due process, or conviction for any crime. Their only “crime” was being of Japanese heritage.