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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.
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.
Thank you for all that you do for America's national parks,
Tracy Coppola
Colorado Program Manager
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