A bill to compensate evacuees, and the fight against housing bias

Vol. 22, No. 18, May 4, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

Compensation for wartime losses led the news. Interior Secretary J. A. Krug urged Congress to create an Evacuation Claims Commission to pay persons of Japanese ancestry for property losses from the forced removal, and John Kitasako’s Washington News-Letter laid out the draft bill’s provisions. Housing bias ran alongside it: a Portland American Legion post protested after Nisei veteran Shigeru Naemura was barred from buying a home, and an editorial on real estate boards took up the same practice. Another editorial, “Hoods and Hoodlums,” backed the California attorney general’s move against the Ku Klux Klan.

Elsewhere, Bill Hosokawa’s “From the Frying Pan” looked at how little the public knew of current events. Nisei soldiers drew praise from Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and from the military government head on Okinawa. JACL news covered a new national second vice president and dinners in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. The 442nd Regimental basketball team’s tour of northern Italy appeared on page 5.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Propose Legislation to Indemnify Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Secretary of the Interior J. A. Krug urged Congress to pass a bill creating an Evacuation Claims Commission to compensate persons of Japanese ancestry for losses from the wartime evacuation. The bill would cover property damage and losses but exclude repatriates, deportees, and speculative claims.
• Portland American Legion Post Protests Real Estate Board’s Discrimination Against Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Frederick and John Ravin American Legion post in Portland protested a national real estate code and local board policy that barred Nisei veteran Shigeru Naemura from buying a home. The resolution asked Portland realtors to renounce racial discrimination.
• Civil Rights Congress Asks Indemnification for Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Congress for Civil Rights in Detroit unanimously passed resolutions calling for indemnification of evacuation losses and naturalization rights for Asian immigrants. The resolutions were submitted by JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka.

Military & Veterans

• Okinawa Military Government Head Lauds Nisei Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Lt. Col. Charles I. Murphy, head of military government on Okinawa, praised the assistance of Nisei soldiers from Hawaii and the West Coast serving in the Ryukyus. Murphy said he was proud of their work with the Japanese residents.
• Hawaii Nisei Loyalty Hailed by Eisenhower, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Army chief of staff, told a Honolulu audience that Hawaii’s 120,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry kept America’s war secrets well. He stated that security was never in danger in Hawaii.
• Nisei Veterans Group Seeks Public Support, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Nisei Veterans Committee of Seattle, an independent organization formed in February, planned a fund drive, an all-Nisei baseball team, and a community dance. Officers were also elected to lead the group.
• Seattle Nisei GI Commended by General in Tokyo, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Tadashi Matsushita of Seattle, a U.S. Army CID agent, was commended by Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger for helping capture two fugitives from the Yokohama stockade. Matsushita and four other agents apprehended the men.
• Wyoming Nisei Cited for Action in Italy War, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Sgt. Tsukushima of Casper, Wyoming, received the Silver Star for action near Forno, Italy, where he was wounded but remained in position to defend ground gained. He later fought with Company C of the 100th Battalion.
• Paul Robeson to Sing in Honor of Nisei Veterans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Paul Robeson will appear as a special guest at a Memorial Day testimonial banquet in Chicago honoring Nisei war veterans. General Frank Merrill will represent General Stilwell, who cannot attend.
• Nisei Basketball Team Tours Northern Italy, by John Ito, page 5. The 442nd Regimental basketball team traveled from Leghorn through Milan, Venice, and Venezia Giulia to play exhibition and competitive games. They won a game against the Udine All-Stars 44 to 37 before a crowd of British soldiers.
• Purple Heart Vet Takes Art Job in Philadelphia, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Susumu Tanaka of Santa Ana, a Purple Heart recipient who served with the 442nd in Italy and Germany, accepted a position in the art department of an advertising agency in Philadelphia. He had attended the Los Angeles Art Center.

JACL

• Appoint Mas Sakada to Cabinet Vacancy of National JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL President Hito Okada appointed Chicago optometrist Dr. Randolph Mas Sakada as national second vice president, replacing Masao Satow, who became eastern representative. Dr. Sakada is a former president of the Oakland JACL chapter.
• Dr. T. T. Yatabe Honored at Dinner by Chicago Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. T. T. Yatabe, retiring midwestern JACL representative, was honored at a Chicago testimonial dinner for his wartime services. He received a briefcase and a wristwatch.
• Thank-You Banquet Will Be Given by San Francisco Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The San Francisco JACL and community organizations will hold a banquet on May 7 at the Hotel Whitcomb honoring those who supported Japanese Americans during the war. Generals Stilwell and Merrill are expected to attend.

Community

• Fifty Persons Still Missing in Hawaiian Disaster, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Red Cross announced that fifty persons, many of Japanese ancestry, are presumed dead in the April 1 tidal wave that struck Hawaii. Roughly half of the casualties were of Japanese ancestry, most reported from the Hilo area.
• Deluded Aliens Held for Flag Display, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Four Japanese aliens in Hilo, Hawaii, were arrested for displaying the rising sun flag on Emperor Hirohito’s birthday, apparently believing Japan had not been defeated. Police declined to release their names.
• Scholarship Set Up at Ohio School in Memory of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Friends established the Masuo S. Hoshide Memorial Scholarship at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, honoring a Seattle Nisei watchmaker who died after surgery. The award will go annually to a Denison student.
• Denver Council Votes Down Anti-Bias Law, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Denver City Council rejected an ordinance that would have barred racial or religious discrimination in issuing business licenses. Council officials said a wartime policy against licensing Japanese applicants outside Larimer Street had been abandoned.
• Nisei Soprano to Sing for Church of Brethren, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago soprano Ruby Yoshino will perform a concert at the First Church of the Brethren during Music Week. She has toured extensively and is preparing a Town Hall recital.
• Nisei Infant Starts Baby Week at Salt Lake Hospital, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mori of Salt Lake City was the first child born at St. Mark’s Hospital during National Baby Week and received gifts. The mother was attended by a nurse.
• Martha Kawabata Speaks Before Dietetics Group, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Martha Kawabata, a student at Cincinnati General Hospital, spoke at the Ohio Dietetic Association convention in Toledo. She is one of two Nisei students in dietetics in Cincinnati.
• Evacuee Family Finds Home in Iowa Refugee Community, by Louis Cook Jr., page 3. The Ikuta family moved from Tule Lake to Pella, Iowa, a Dutch community, and has been welcomed there. Their daughter Tomie was nominated for a school citizenship award.
• Japanese Wife of U.S. Officer Dies in Tokyo, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Misao Sudo Cromley, a Japanese physician whom Congress had voted to admit to the United States with her American husband, died in Tokyo before she could emigrate. Her husband, Lt. Col. Ray Cromley, was at her bedside.
• Midwest Buddhists to Meet at Olivet Institute, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Services of the Midwest Buddhist Church will move to Olivet Institute in Chicago after a fire destroyed the Uptown Players building where they were previously held. The chapel has been made available for weekly services.
• Spokane JACL Slates Meeting for May 10, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The newly organized Spokane JACL chapter will hold its first meeting on May 10 at the Community Church. Nisei in the area are urged to attend.
• New York JACL Dinner Honors WRA Director, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The New York JACL will host a testimonial dinner on May 22 honoring WRA Director Dillon Myer for his efforts in orderly resettlement. Myer leaves his post on May 15.
• Snake River JACL Urges Registration for Primaries, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Snake River JACL chapter in Oregon is campaigning to register all Nisei voters for the state primaries. Ontario, Oregon Slope, and Nyssa have reported favorable progress.

Commentary

• Delegate Farrington Calls for Elimination of Discriminatory Features in Naturalization Law, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Hawaii Delegate Joseph R. Farrington told a New York conference that racial exclusions in naturalization law should be repealed, citing the war record of Japanese Americans. He argued that loyalty depends on heart and mind rather than ancestry.
• Evacuation Set Bad Precedent, Yasumura Tells Church Group, by P.C. Staff, page 2. John Yasumura of the American Baptist Home Mission Society told a church leaders conference that the wartime segregation of Japanese Americans set a dangerous precedent. Masao Satow added that knowledge of facts would reduce prejudice.
• Real Estate Boards, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that organized real estate boards have enforced residential segregation against Japanese and other minorities, and that restrictive covenants and possibly new legislation are needed. It cites the Portland and Salt Lake City cases as examples.
• Hoods and Hoodlums, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises California Attorney General Robert Kenny’s move to dissolve the Ku Klux Klan and draws parallels between Klan terrorism and wartime hoodlumism against evacuees. It notes the Klan’s support for restrictive covenants.
• Deluded Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial addresses reports of Hawaii Issei who believe Japan won the war, noting the harm such stories do to Japanese Americans. It quotes Nisei chaplain Masao Yamada and sociologist Andrew Lind on the causes and remedies.
• Washington News-Letter: Government Initiates Action to Pay Losses of Evacuees, by John Kitasako, page 4. Interior Secretary Krug sent Congress a draft bill to adjudicate evacuee property claims, and this column details its provisions. Dillon Myer said he hoped Congress would act soon.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa observes that the American public is poorly informed about current events, citing a quiz question on the Nuremberg prosecutor. He argues the Tokyo war crimes trials need careful coverage so the public learns about fascist methods.

National

• Report Nisei Stranded in China Gets Passport to Return Home, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Tokiji Sugiyama, stranded in Shanghai during the war, was granted a State Department passport to return to the United States after his sister appealed on his behalf. The action may end the unofficial classification of stranded Nisei as men without a country.
• Anti-Alien Land Laws Criticized by Officials, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Retiring WRA officials at a Portland testimonial dinner criticized alien land laws and a Portland licensing restriction against Japanese aliens. Most evacuees have returned to the Portland area and found work in cities from New York to Spokane.
• Seattle Doctor Given Prison Term on Murder Charge, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. James Unosawa of Seattle was convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and abortion in connection with the death of an 18-year-old girl. He was sentenced to a prison term.
• First AVC State Convention in California Adopts Resolution Condemning Anti-Alien Land Act, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The first California convention of the American Veterans Committee unanimously condemned the state’s anti-alien land law. Other resolutions supported full employment, housing legislation, and a British loan.

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