Congress passed the Japanese redress without ever using the word reparations

Evidence

Congress subsequently passed H.R. 442, and it was sent to the president for signature on August 5, 1988. The legislation did not mention the word reparations but rather spoke of “restitution to those individuals of Japanese ancestry who were interned.” The bill signing occurred five days later in the Old Executive Office Building. After the customary salutations, President Reagan opened the proceedings with this statement: “We gather here today to right a grave wrong…. More than forty years ago…120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in makeshift internment camps. This action was taken without trial, without jury. It was based solely on race.” — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 232

Categorization

• XREF: The word-avoidance detail (‘restitution,’ never ‘reparations’) mirrors terminology choices in the reparations debate generally, and connects to Brown’s own framing argument in chapter one.