Proposition 15 and the unfinished work after the camps closed, 1946

Vol. 23, No. 12, September 28, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

California’s Proposition 15 ran through this eight-page issue. The measure would validate amendments to the state’s Alien Land Law, and Larry Tajiri urged a campaign to defeat it in November. Mike Masaoka praised Santa Barbara’s treatment of returnees, and he and A. L. Wirin were set to argue against the measure in a radio debate. Harold L. Ickes reviewed the wartime hysteria behind the forced removal of Japanese Americans and praised the community’s conduct. On the front page, the WRA liquidation unit under Robert Cullum was surveying where people settled after the camps closed.

Bill Hosokawa wrote about his six-year-old son’s first days of school, and Selden Menefee looked at how discrimination at home affected American prestige in Asia. Other pages cover 168 Nisei graduates of the Military Intelligence Language School at Monterey, Japanese American candidates in Hawaii’s first postwar election, a monument on Oahu, and new JACL chapter plans in the Twin Cities.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Government Conducts Survey of Readjustment Problems of Japanese American Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The WRA liquidation unit under Robert Cullum is continuing its study of evacuees’ resettlement, with spot checks underway in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver. Officials say the survey should give more precise information on where evacuees settled after the camps closed.
• Probation Hearings for Draft Violators Set for Phoenix Court, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Attorney A. L. Wirin announced that 100 Poston evacuees convicted of draft violations must appear for probation hearings before Judge Dave Ling in Phoenix. Their convictions had been upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Legality of Housing Restriction in Los Angeles Challenged, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A Japanese American veteran’s family challenged a racially restrictive covenant that barred them from a home in Los Angeles. Attorneys asked the court to declare such covenants unconstitutional.
• Garman to Join California Fight on Land Law, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Rev. Clark Garman, who helped defeat Colorado’s alien land initiative in 1944, left for California to campaign against Proposition 15. He described the measure as a vicious attempt to strengthen anti-Japanese property restrictions.
• Evacuation Held Responsible for Unsettled Civil Liberties Issues, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Northern California ACLU reported that wartime evacuation caused many unresolved civil liberties problems, including renunciant cases, Peruvian Japanese deportations, and discriminatory state laws. Many of these issues were expected to remain unsettled for years.

Military & Veterans

• 150 Members of Nisei Unit Left in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Chaplain George Aki reported that about 150 men of the 442nd Combat Team remain in Italy after returns by troopship. He had served with the regiment before rejoining his wife in Boston and then traveling to the West Coast.
• Monument Erected to Three Nisei War Dead on Oahu, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A monument honoring three Nisei from Waianae killed in action in Europe was unveiled on Sept. 15 on Oahu. The ceremony was sponsored by the Waianae Young Men’s Association and attended by public officials.
• Graduation Rites Held for 168 Nisei at Monterey MISLS, by P.C. Staff, page 2. 168 Nisei soldiers graduated from the first class of the Military Intelligence Language School at Monterey. Brig. General Frank D. Merrill spoke and several students received special awards.
• Nisei WAC Sergeant Returns Home from Germany Duty, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Staff Sergeant Priscilla Yasuda returned to Orem, Utah, after a year and a half of duty in Germany with the Women’s Army Corps. She traveled home with her brother George.

National

• Stranded Nisei Send Letters to U.S. Homes, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hundreds of Americans of Japanese ancestry stranded in Japan since 1941 used the reopening of international mail on Sept. 10 to contact families in the United States. Among them were two women who sent their first message home since December 7, 1941.
• Japanese Americans Reenter Hawaii Political Campaigns, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Candidates of Japanese ancestry are running for territorial and county offices in Hawaii’s first postwar election, the first time since 1942. Several are running on both Republican and Democratic tickets, including veterans and former officials.

Community

• Masaoka Hails Santa Barbara Attitude Toward Returnees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL national secretary Mike Masaoka praised Santa Barbara for fair treatment of Japanese Americans in an address to civic leaders. He also urged opposition to Proposition 15 and described a local JACL meeting and an Issei meeting held the same day.
• Interracial Solidarity of Sugar Workers in Hawaii Remains Unbroken as Strike Continues, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The 25,000-member ILWU sugar strike in Hawaii continued in its fourth week with interracial unity intact despite attempts to turn imported Filipino workers against Japanese American union leadership. Plantation operations were at a standstill and negotiations remained stalled.
• New York Club Plans Missionary Forum on Issei Issue, by P.C. Staff, page 2. A New York forum on Issei naturalization was scheduled for October 3 with panelists including Edith Terry Bremer and JACL representatives. Organizers encouraged Nisei and Issei to attend and discuss recent changes in naturalization rules.
• Ex-UCLANs to Hold Reunion Banquet in Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Former students and graduates of UCLA are planning a reunion banquet on October 19 in Los Angeles. Committee members are contacting alumni and inviting spouses.
• Mayor Bowron Hails War Record of Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, once an advocate of evacuation, praised the wartime record of Nisei soldiers and the conduct of returning evacuees during a meeting with Mike Masaoka. Masaoka noted that housing discrimination remained the chief remaining problem.
• Fourth Suit Filed in Los Angeles to Recover Property, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Attorneys for Robert Tadashi Ishii filed a suit in federal court to recover Santa Barbara County real property seized from a person of Japanese ancestry in 1942. It is the fourth such suit filed against the Alien Property Custodian in recent weeks.
• Rockefeller Gives $1000 to Aid Evacuee Relocation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. John D. Rockefeller III donated $1,000 to the Greater New York Committee for Japanese Americans. The gift was announced by committee co-chairman I. B. Sekine.
• Native Sons Vote Support for Amendments to State’s Alien Land Statutes, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Native Sons of the Golden West voted to support Proposition 15, which would validate amendments to the California Alien Land Law. JACL regional representative Joe Grant Masaoka condemned the group’s stance as racist.
• Twin Cities Nisei to Form JACL Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Masao Satow addressed 125 residents of St. Paul and Minneapolis on the unfinished job for Japanese Americans. The gathering voted to establish a JACL chapter in the Twin Cities area.
• Masaoka, Tanabe Speak at Joint Meet in Guadalupe, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mike Masaoka and Eiji Tanabe addressed a joint Issei-Nisei meeting in Guadalupe, California, on JACL legislative activities. Attendees voted to petition for reactivation of a Santa Maria Valley JACL chapter.
• Housing Described as Acute Problem of New York Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Greater New York Committee for Japanese Americans reported that housing shortages were its greatest demand, with some persons forced into domestic work to find lodging. Men also faced employment difficulties while women found jobs more readily.

Commentary

• Japanese Americans Set Example in Human Dignity in Evacuation, Says Ickes, by Harold L. Ickes, page 2. Former Interior Secretary Harold Ickes reviews the wartime mass hysteria that led to the evacuation and praises the Japanese American community’s conduct. He calls for restitution of property losses and urges readers to read Mine Okubo’s Citizen 13660.
• Radio Debate Scheduled on Proposition 15, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A. L. Wirin and Mike Masaoka will argue against Proposition 15 in a KMPC radio debate on September 29. Walter Odemar and Hector Vaida will argue in favor.
• California’s Second Chance, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri argues that Proposition 15, which would validate amendments to the Alien Land Law, revives the state’s race-based restrictions on Japanese farmers. He urges a campaign to defeat it in November.
• Mystery Book Written by Chicago Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Reviewer praises Milton K. Ozaki’s mystery novel The Cuckoo Clock, which follows a psychology professor and his secretary investigating a death. The review notes the rarity of Nisei-authored mystery fiction.
• One Nisei’s Plaint: Mike Becomes a Full-Fledged Schoolboy, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa describes his six-year-old son’s transition from kindergarten to first grade, including his discomfort with rest periods and shoe-tying. The column reflects on the author’s own early struggles with English as a Nisei child.
• I’m Tired of Being a Guinea Pig, by A. A. N., page 6. An anonymous Nisei complains of being constantly studied and categorized by social scientists and writers. The essay argues that Nisei want to be treated as individuals rather than subjects of analysis.
• United States Prestige in Asia Undermined by Discrimination Against Japanese Americans, by Selden Menefee, page 6. Menefee argues that discrimination against Japanese Americans, including unresolved evacuation claims and land law enforcement, damages American prestige in Asia. He cites a poll showing most Americans wrongly believe Japanese committed wartime sabotage.

JACL

• Mac Kaneko Leaves Presidency of Milwaukee JACL, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Mac Kaneko resigned as president of the Milwaukee JACL chapter because he planned to move to Seattle. Vice president Lynn Wells will succeed him through December 31.
• Dillon Myer Commends JACL for Activities During Wartime, by John Kitasako, page 5. Former WRA director Dillon Myer praised the JACL for its courage during the war, especially its cooperation on evacuation and its call to restore Nisei selective service. He urged the organization to keep fighting discrimination against all minority groups.

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