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Gold Star parent Khizr Khan speaks at Seattle Day of Remembrance

Khan stopped in Seattle on the Day of Remembrance, speaking to the strength the Muslim community draws from the example of Japanese Americans.
Seattle's Densho organization invited Gold Star parent and constitutional rights advocate Khizr Khan to speak at a special remembrance event on Monday.

It's a day of remembrance nationwide, to mark the day President Roosevelt signed an executive order that led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, 76 years ago.

Seattle’s Densho organization invited Gold Star parent and constitutional rights advocate Khizr Khan to speak at a special remembrance event on Monday.

“The Muslims are gaining strength from the example of our Japanese American brothers and sisters,” Khan told KING 5.

Related: "Prisoners in Their Own Land: Life in a Japanese internment camp"

Khan, who immigrated from Pakistan, made headlines in 2016 for speaking out against then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign proposal of a Muslim ban.

Since then, President Trump's executive order restricting travel from several Muslim majority countries has drawn controversy and court challenges. The administration has cited threats to national security and vetting concerns of the countries named in the order.

However, Khan says he sees parallels between the treatment of Muslim Americans today and that of Japanese Americans, more than seven decades ago.

“They had faith in the goodness of this country, and later on this country recognized the mistake and not only the injustice that was done, but compensation was paid,” said Khan.

“All of that is a heartening moment for the Muslim community, meaning that there had been other communities that had gone through this unfairness and injustice in the past but they have stood fast to the values of this country, to the constitution and its dignities that are enshrined in the constitution and they have won the day.”

The U.S. Constitution is one Khan clings to and regularly invokes, even whipping out his pocket constitution during his speech before the Democratic National Convention.

Since then, Khan has traveled to nearly 200 communities across the U.S. on a speaking tour that will continue through 2018.

“I have not felt discouraged; I have felt heartened, the more I have traveled the more communities I have spoken with,” said Khan.

“We live in one of best nations on this earth,” he continued.

But one not without a complicated and, at times, dark history. Wendy Watanabe, who attended Monday’s event, says both of her parents were interned.

“It's very emotional,” said Watanabe. “They had their lives ripped up; their parents lives, everything they had worked for.”

Watanabe says speaking up and remembering remains a critical part of moving forward.

“We absolutely need to be looking at what happened in the past and trying to do something differently,” said Watanabe.

Densho, an organization dedicated to preserving the history of Japanese Americans during WWII, counts one of its responsibilities as making sure history doesn’t repeat itself against any other group.

“Because of your sacrifices and courage,” Khan told the crowd. “I say never again, never again.”

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