I just learned that an old friend - old in some ways, young in others - is retiring after more than a half century waging battles in the civil rights and cultural arenas.
So why even take note when so many are retiring these days? And what makes him so special? Well, for beginners, he's a good friend, the most trusted and admired friend I have in the nation's entire civil rights community. Plus, he's the most eloquent and the most emotionally generous friend I've ever known.
It all began with a phone call back in 1978.
"Hello, is this John Tateishi? (And he even pronounced it right.) My name is Ernest Weiner, and I'm the director of the Bay Area chapter of the AJC."
After a moment's silence on my part while I tried to figure out who this man was and what the heck the AJC was, he continued.
"John, obviously you don't know who the AJC is." Obviously. I hadn't a clue. So he went on to explain that the AJC was the nation's oldest and largest (sound familiar?!) organization protecting the rights and preserving the culture of the Jewish community, and among the three oldest civil rights organizations in the country.
Ernie explained that he had been assigned by their NYC headquarters to monitor the JACL's Redress campaign and wanted to introduce himself to me. And that was the beginning of a 30-year friendship.
After we had gotten to know each other, Ernie suggested that he bring one of his New York heavy hitters to San Francisco to meet with Clifford Uyeda and me. Cliff and I met for lunch with Ernie and Seymour Samet, who I recall was the AJC's director of domestic affairs (I may be wrong about his title - golden years, you know).
It was during this luncheon meeting in 1978 that Ernie suggested we consider the idea of legislation to establish a blue-ribbon commission to examine what led to the decision to exclude and imprison Japanese Americans during WWII. Samet thought it was an intriguing idea and the two discussed the merits of that strategy with Cliff and me, mainly that Americans across the country knew virtually nothing about the internment, something emphasized by Samet, who had spent his life on the East Coast.
I don't remember exactly what we said in response, but I'm sure Clifford and I were very polite when we rejected what we considered an absurd idea!
Not long after that, Ernie told me he would get the AJC's endorsement of the campaign.
About 15 years older than I, always much wiser, politically more astute, he understood that I was at that time still untested in the political arena. Local and state politics, fine, but it was a totally different league at the national level.
And thus, the American Jewish Committee became the first and most important organization to endorse the JACL's Redress campaign. That act brought credibility to our campaign and enlisted the assistance and support of the AJC's legislative director in Washington, and gave us a number of easy votes among AJC's congressional members and supporters in the Congress.
Those early months of getting to know Ernie were both informative and interesting for me and the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship with a remarkable individual. There is no brush that can, in one or many strokes, paint the picture of this man. One cannot capture the passion, the intelligence, the eloquence, the astounding commitment to the verities of life that are embodied in this individual.
At 83, he's still a young man at heart. He's the greatest flirt I've ever known - greatest because he's so good at it and never offends women with his charm - and at 83, he still has in him the boxer he was when he was 23. He still has quick hands (in boxing, not flirting) and can probably still throw a decent right cross, but I never stand there to find out.
In some ways, boxing is the perfect metaphor of his life. He's a fighter and where he no longer bobs and weaves in the ring, he does so when he takes on difficult and sometimes impossible issues in the community. And always with courage. And passion. He doesn't always win battles, just as the once broken nose tells you he didn't always win fights. But one thing he always does do is bring dignity and honesty to any discourse. Only once in 30 years have I stood on the opposite side of an issue from Ernie, and I could see from that view how formidable he can be.
Somehow the thought of Ernest Weiner no longer sitting at his desk at the AJC office is disconcerting. It throws the world as I've known it off its tilt. At least the AJC is wise enough to keep him on as a consultant, but still, it's not the same. This man, who is no bigger than I, is in many ways so much bigger than life. Probably because he has given so much meaning to so many people.
You never really say goodbye to someone like this. Life demands more of you as a friend.
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