Generations of Americans came to the former site of the Pinedale Assembly Center in Fresno, Calif., on Monday, to remember and respect the legacy of the Japanese American community during World War II and the subsequent redress of injustice.

The dedication capped off the three-day Tri-District JACL Conference, which featured panel discussions with former internees, the coram nobis legal team and those involved in the legislation of H.R. 442, seeking redress for the internment of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Excerpts from Secretary Norman Y. Mineta’s Keynote Address:

• They came from all walks of life, but they all shared the common experience of having their lives disrupted and their freedoms removed simply because of their race.
• It required willingness to confront the mistakes of the past and force some to confront their own life awareness of what happened here, and it took more than 45 years.
• Forty-five years in which we slowly but steadily educated our fellow Americans about our story. Forty-five years in which we saw the ranks of our allies and friends continually grow, our numbers stronger each and every year until the day the Congress of the United States formally apologized for those injustices that we had faced with president Ronald Reagan signing that apology into law.
• I have had many moments in my life for which I am grateful beyond my ability to adequate describe…September 17, 1987, it was on that day after years of work as part of the Japanese American community and our friends, that the United States House of Representatives took up the bill to redress the injustice of the internment.
• The debate lasted much of that day and it was not easy for many of us to watch. The House at that time had a number of members who vividly remembered the opening days of World War II and a number who defended the internment as a necessary action as a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, something that we all recognized was a great threat to our great nation.
• But as I look back on that day, I have to say that I am glad they were there because it gave us the opportunity to actually respond to those arguments and to respond to those fears. It gave us the opportunity to have an honest debate about the internment, and at the end of that day, it gave us the opportunity to vote.
• September 17, 1987, is significant for another reason. It was the 200^th anniversary of the adoption of the constitution of the United States of America. History will record that the United States House of Representatives observed the bicentennial anniversary of the Constitution by debating the meaning of the Bill of Rights, and history will also record that in doing so, this time, the House voted to get it right.
• This memorial is about much more than what happened here in Fresno, it is about much more than what happened in the 1940s, this memorial also tells the story of what happened after.
• Pinedale was like Santa Anita, a kind of weigh station. The memories that were forged here in 1942 are bitter ones, of that there is no doubt. They must be remembered, as others have mentioned, and thanks to this memorial they will be. But equally importantly is the understanding of how far we have come as a nation. There are many people who even to this day look at the commemoration of the internment and the injustices that we suffered as a people as somehow unpatriotic, less than American but what those people do not understand that nothing could be further from the truth.
• This country has made light-years of progress beyond where it was in 1942. It is progress that all of us are deeply, deeply proud, but progress cannot be properly understood without reference to the past. In other words, you cannot understand how far you have come if you do not remember where you have been.
• And this memorial tells the story of a community that has suffered terrible and heartbreaking discrimination but it reminds us all as well of what happened next. It tells the story of a people who never stopped loving their country, and who never stopped working to make it the nation that it could be.
• It reminds us of the fact that Americans of Japanese ancestry are one of the smallest minorities in this great country, and that redress for injustice of the internment, could not have been accomplished by our votes, and our voices alone. It was accomplished by the dedicated support of our fellow Americans from all walks of life: white, black, Latino, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhism, men, women, gay, and straight. All of whom came to see us as fully American and who then poured their hearts into the effort to redress the wrongs that were done so long ago.
• Many of you who are here today will visit this site in future years and your children will visit this site as well, and when they do so, remind them that while this memorial reflects on a time of great injustice, it’s most fundamental purpose is to show how far we have come. As I said, you cannot appreciate where you are if you do not understand and remember where you have been.