Dear National Park Advocate,

Did you know that during World War II the U.S. government ordered
nearly all Japanese Americans living in California, Oregon,
Washington, and Arizona to leave their homes? It was one of the
largest forced relocations in American history. Many ended up behind
barbed wire at the Granada Relocation Center, known as Amache, an
incarceration site on the southeast plains of Colorado. 

Alongside our allies in the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI)
community and beyond, we need to preserve this part of American
history. Yesterday, Congressman Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Congressman
Ken Buck (R-CO) introduced the Amache National Historic Site Act (H.R.
2497). 

A new national park site would be one of the most powerful ways to
preserve and protect the stories of Amache. Encourage your
Representative to support this bill.

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This incredible bill will preserve and protect the Amache story, while
challenging us all to reflect, heal, and act toward a better future
where justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are our nation's top
priorities.

Honoring the heroic survivors, descendants of Amache and the legacy of
those who are no longer with us is especially meaningful amid the
recent, yet long overdue, national awareness around the tragic hate
crimes perpetuated against the AAPI community. With H.R. 2497 we have
an opportunity for hope-to honor and learn from Amache so that
its history is never forgotten.

The National Park Service (NPS) is our nation's official protector of
cultural and historic resources and is our nation's largest classroom,
where we can learn about our past through the power of place. What NPS
chooses to preserve and the stories it chooses to tell-including
the complex and difficult-reflects our values as a nation.

7,567 people of Japanese descent, mostly American citizens, were
unconstitutionally imprisoned at Amache. Many survivors died believing
they had done something wrong and never even receiving an apology from
the U.S. government.

While the story of Amache is first and foremost a story for its
survivors and descendants to tell, it is also the story of the Town of
Granada's courage to keep this flame alive. It is part of the cultural
heritage throughout canyons and plains of southeast Colorado.

The creation of a national park is an expression of faith in the
future. It is a pact between generations, a promise from the past to
the future.

Passage of H.R. 2497 will be to the benefit and inspiration to us all.
Please urge your Representative to cosponsor the Amache National
Historic Site Act.

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Thank you for all that you do for America's national parks,

Tracy Coppola

Tracy Coppola
Colorado Program Manager

 

 




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