Vol. 26, No. 6, February 7, 1948. 8 pages. View this issue
President Truman’s ten-point civil rights message was the main news of this issue. Tosuke Yamasaki reported that Truman asked Congress to speed up the evacuation claims bill and to remove racial and national barriers to naturalization. JACL-ADC director Mike Masaoka praised the President’s stance. Other front-page stories followed the courts: California Attorney General Fred Howser began dismissing pending alien land escheat cases after the Oyama ruling, and U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark agreed to back the JACL’s fishing license petition in the Takahashi case.
Inside are a report that about 7,000 stranded Nisei in Japan have lost or will lose U.S. citizenship, and a suit by three former Tule Lake residents seeking to regain citizenship they renounced. Lawrence Nakatsuka covered General Mark Clark’s tribute to the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team at a luau in Honolulu. Chapter news came from Alameda, Ventura, Milwaukee, Chicago and Denver.
What’s in this issue
National
- Truman Urges Evacuee Claims Bill Passage, Proposes Removal of Racial, National Bars to Naturalization, by By TOSUKE YAMASAKI, page 1. President Truman asked Congress to speed up evacuation claims legislation and remove racial and national barriers to naturalization for Japanese and other Asian residents. The recommendations were part of a ten-point civil rights message, and JACL-ADC director Mike Masaoka praised the President’s stance.
- Attorney General Clark Asks Invalidation of Restrictive California Fishing Statute, by P.C. Staff, page 1. U.S. Attorney General Tom Clark agreed to file an amicus curiae brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down California’s law barring licenses for commercial fishing to aliens ineligible for citizenship. The brief supports the JACL’s petition in the Takahashi case.
- Digest Article on Nisei Cited by Legislator, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Representative Robert J. Twyman inserted a condensed Reader’s Digest article about Nisei success in the Midwest into the Congressional Record. The article praised how Nisei in Chicago found opportunity and were regarded as honest and loyal Americans.
- Permanent Stay Bill Signed for Ohio Issei Wife, by P.C. Staff, page 2. President Truman signed a private bill allowing Yoneko Nakazawa, wife of a Japanese American Ohio resident, to remain permanently in the United States. She had been held in camps during the war and faced deportation since 1944.
- Civil Rights Program Continued from Page 1, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Congressional reaction to Truman’s civil rights message included angry outbursts from Southern Democrats, while the JACL ADC pressed for an early Senate hearing on the evacuation claims bill. Naturalization measures were pending a Senate subcommittee review due March 1.
Incarceration & Redress
- State of California Initiates Steps Toward Abandonment of Alien Land Law Cases, by P.C. Staff, page 1. California Attorney General Fred Howser began dismissing pending alien land escheat cases following the Oyama Supreme Court ruling, starting with the Enomoto case in Santa Ana. Similar dismissals were scheduled in other counties including San Luis Obispo, San Diego, and Fresno.
- Renunciants File Suit to Regain Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three former evacuees filed suit in Federal court seeking restoration of American citizenship they renounced at the Tule Lake center, arguing the renunciations were made under duress. The case follows Judge Cavanagh’s ruling in the Inouye case that renunciations must be decided individually.
Community
- Report 7,000 Stranded Nisei in Japan Have Forfeited American Citizenship Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago Daily News correspondent Keyes Beech reported that about 7,000 of 15,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry stranded in Japan at the war’s outbreak have lost or will lose U.S. citizenship. Most lost it through conscription, employment, or voting in postwar elections without understanding the consequences.
- Reactivated Alameda Chapter to Hold General Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The recently reactivated Alameda JACL, with 68 members, will hold its first general meeting on February 6 at the Japanese Methodist hall. Membership efforts continue to sign up additional eligible Nisei.
- Issei Invited to Hear Wirin in Ventura, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Ventura County JACL invited Issei to hear attorney A. L. Wirin discuss the Oyama land case and its likely effect on the California Alien Land Law. Eiji Tanabe will translate the talk into Japanese.
- Mari Sabusawa Talks on Civil Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Chicago JACL president Mari Sabusawa addressed the Milwaukee chapter on the President’s Committee on Civil Rights report. More than fifty members and friends attended the January 30 meeting.
- Chicago JACL Takes Poll on Political Preference, by P.C. Staff, page 2. An informal poll by the Chicago chapter’s legislative committee found that 90 percent of registered Nisei voters participated in the 1947 elections and leaned Democratic about two to one. Most members had not yet decided how they would vote in the 1948 presidential election.
- 159 More Nisei Return Home from Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Fifty Nisei and one Issei stranded in Japan during the war returned to the United States aboard the Marine Swallow, arriving in San Francisco January 30. A passenger list by state was provided.
- Crusaders Study Race Relations, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Fresno Teen Crusaders will study race relations during February. The month will conclude with a joint meeting with the Tee Fellowship of the Fresno Seco Avenue Baptist church.
- JACL Board Elections Named at Denver Annual Meeting, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yoshiko Ariki was among six new directors elected at the Denver JACL annual meeting. The report also covered related board business from the chapter.
- Fresno Nisei Loses Appeal for California Liquor Permit, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Thomas Kawasaki failed to win reversal of a license revocation before the State Board of Equalization after it was found he had not disclosed a 1944 draft conviction on his application. Kawasaki said he had been imprisoned for refusing induction while held in a relocation camp.
Military & Veterans
- Gen. Clark Hails Nisei War Record at Luau in Hawaii, by Lawrence Nakatsuka, page 2. General Mark Clark praised the Nisei veterans of the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team at a luau in Honolulu before departing Hawaii. He described them as the best men he ever had to fight for and with him.
- Quick Thinking Credited to Nisei Doctor in Saving Skiers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. James Taguchi, resident physician at the Denver National Jewish hospital, saved University of Denver skiers from carbon monoxide poisoning at Arapahoe Basin. He located oxygen tanks and improvised oxygen tents to treat the students.
- Marine Hero Hails Loyalty of Nisei in Japanese Prison Camp, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Col. James P. S. Devereaux praised Kenichi Maeda, a Nisei seaman held in a Shanghai prison camp, who refused Japanese army enlistment and kept his American loyalty despite harsh treatment. Maeda was released after V-J Day and returned to Hawaii.
Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.