Poston unrest, a JACL emergency conference, and resettlement plans

Vol. 15, No. 26, November 26, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue

Unrest at the Poston relocation center in Arizona led the front page. Military police ended a five-day disturbance there, and Project Director W. Wade Head praised the loyal American-born Japanese who helped restore order. The same page reported on the week-long emergency JACL national conference in Salt Lake City, where delegates agreed to expand the League’s facilities and staff for large-scale resettlement work. WRA Director Dillon Myer spoke about resettlement and later announced that evacuees could apply to leave the centers for outside jobs. Editorials took up internal security and the conference, and columns came from Larry Tajiri, Bill Hosokawa and Tad Uyeno. A. L. Wirin of the ACLU analyzed Judge Fee’s ruling on the evacuation of citizens.

Other items include the Intermountain District Council’s $10,000 pledge to the League and a profile of the American Friends Service Committee. A report on the 100th Infantry Battalion, the visit of Arkansas Governor Adkins to the Jerome center, and two football stories fill the back pages.

What’s in this issue

National

• Five-Day Disturbance Ended at Poston; Loyal Nisei Win Praise of Project Director, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Military police ended a five-day disturbance at the Poston relocation center in Arizona, where a pro-Axis group had seized control after the beating of community council member Kay Nishimura. Project Director W. Wade Head praised the loyal American-born Japanese who cooperated in restoring order.
• WRA Plans for Resettlement of Evacuees Told By Director Myer at Salt Lake Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. WRA Director Dillon Myer expressed confidence in the individual resettlement program across the United States at a Salt Lake City address. He stressed avoiding concentration of evacuees in any one region and said relocation projects would emphasize food, housing, and education.
• The ACLU on Judge Fee’s Decision: Legality of Citizen Evacuation Challenged by Federal Justice, by A. L. Wirin, page 5. Wirin, ACLU counsel, analyzes Judge Fee’s ruling that military orders against American citizens of Japanese ancestry are unconstitutional. He explains how the decision supports ACLU test cases challenging evacuation.

Military & Veterans

• America’s War With the Axis Nearly a Year Old; Allied Advances Noted, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The article reviews war developments in the Pacific, North Africa, and Russia as the conflict approached its first anniversary for America. It notes cautiously optimistic prospects for the United Nations.
• 100th Infantry Battalion Activated Last Spring In Hawaiian Islands, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The 100th Infantry Battalion, composed of American soldiers of Japanese ancestry activated in Hawaii, arrived at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, in June 1942. Its commander describes the unit’s background and the loyalty of its men.

JACL

• Emergency Conference Agrees To Plans to Expand League’s Facilities, Increase Personnel, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Delegates to the week-long emergency JACL national conference agreed to push plans for expanding facilities and personnel in anticipation of large-scale resettlement work. They also reaffirmed their denunciation of the Axis powers and faith in the American way of life.
• IDC Pledges Ten Thousand To League, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Intermountain District Council, the youngest JACL district council, pledged $10,000 to support national JACL work at a special meeting in Salt Lake City. Officers were also elected at that meeting.
• Arkansas Delegates Set JACL Record of Travel to Confab, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Four delegates from the Jerome center traveled more than 3000 miles round trip to attend the emergency JACL conference in Salt Lake City. Delegates from military-zone centers had to travel under escort during parts of their journeys.
• Calling All Chapters!, by Teiko Ishida, page 6. Guest writer Kay Nishimura praises National Headquarters staff for their sacrifices and tireless work on behalf of evacuees. The column notes their limited pay and urges chapters to provide the financial support needed for 1943.

Commentary

• Internal Security, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that wholesale evacuation was based on race rather than individual record, but that the JACL cooperated with the military order. It acknowledges that a small aggressive minority has used intimidation and calls for dealing with them separately from the loyal majority.
• John Nisei and the JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial contrasts the hard labor of nisei dispersed across relocation centers and farms with the intense, mature work of JACL delegates at the Salt Lake conference. It concludes that the delegates labored harder than ever before on behalf of all nisei.
• Political Football, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial, reprinted from the Manzanar Free Press, comments on how California Japanese American votes became a campaign issue in the gubernatorial and congressional races. It criticizes efforts to challenge nisei absentee ballots.
• Nisei: Are You Listening, Tokyo?, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri responds to Japanese propaganda by affirming nisei loyalty and love for America. He argues that loyalty cannot be measured by race and that nisei will help prove the democratic ideal.
• Americanism Is a Way of Life, by Tad Uyeno, page 4. Uyeno critiques John Lechner’s proposal to deport Japanese Americans after the war as a fascist-style racialism contrary to true Americanism. He argues that such ideas endanger all minorities.
• From the Frying Pan: JACL Looks Forward to Greatest Task, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa observes that the JACL has matured and now focuses on individual resettlement of evacuees into American communities. He argues that assimilation is the only path to full acceptance.

Community

• Our Friends, the Friends: Quaker Group Meets Problems Raised by Evacuation, by Kenny Murase, page 6. The article profiles the American Friends Service Committee and its director Clarence Pickett, detailing their decades of relief work. It describes their wartime assistance to evacuees, including student relocation and community Christmas drives.
• Young Nisei Couple Married in Richmond, Indiana Ceremony, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Chisako Higuchi and Martin Y. Hirabayashi were married at Quaker Hill in Richmond, Indiana, with a Friends meeting pastor officiating. The groom was enlisting in the U.S. Army shortly after the ceremony.
• Nevada Bans Aliens’ Right to Insurance, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Nevada’s board of review denied unemployment compensation to Japanese aliens formerly employed in White Pine County, affecting about 40 people. The board ruled that enemy aliens were not available for work under state regulations.
• Evacuees May Leave Centers for Outside Jobs, Says Myer, by P.C. Staff, page 8. WRA Director Dillon Myer announced a new policy allowing evacuees to apply for leave from relocation centers to take outside jobs. He outlined the conditions for leave, including assurance of employment and housing.
• Governor Adkins Visits Jerome Center Following Reports of Pampering, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Arkansas Governor Adkins said after visiting the Jerome center that he found no evidence evacuees were being pampered. His statement responded to accusations that evacuees enjoyed privileges denied to the general public.
• Governor of Oregon Thanks Evacuees for Harvest Help, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Oregon Governor Charles Sprague wrote to Hito Okada thanking evacuee workers from relocation centers who helped harvest sugar beets. He expressed hope the Japanese had benefited from their endeavors.
• Two Nisei Star On Championship Wyoming Eleven, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Worland High School’s undefeated championship football team credited two nisei players, Ray Saito and Howell Ujifusa, for their success. Both were recognized for their play in the conference.
• Toby Sasaki Named On All-City Team, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Toby Sasaki, a nisei football star at East High School in Salt Lake City, was named to the all-city varsity team by the Salt Lake Tribune. His running and passing were central to East’s victories.

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