The Conscience of a Public Official: Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron and Japanese Removal

LOS Angeles mayor Fletcher Bowron was a key proponent of Japanese internment and a leading voice of anti-Japanese prejudice during World War IL But after the December 1944 Supreme Court case Ex Parte Endo permitted loyal Nisei to return to the West Coast, the mayor turned to the issues of housing and re-integration of the returning internees and called for amity and fair treatment toward the returnees. After the war, Mayor Bowron apologized. The article establishes Bowron's share of the responsibility for this dark chapter of American history but also acknowledges his later expression of conscience.