Vol. 29, No. 9, August 27, 1949. 8 pages. View this issue
The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee answered a charge made at a temperance convention in Philadelphia. Speaker H. Cecil Heath tied drunkenness among military personnel in Honolulu before Pearl Harbor to Japanese Americans, and Mike Masaoka called it a lie by inference and pointed to the loyalty and combat record of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans. Karl Bendetsen’s reported nomination as Assistant Secretary of the Army drew an editorial and a report on Democratic opposition. The Ninth Circuit’s criticism of Gen. DeWitt was covered on page 1 and in an editorial. Marion Tajiri reported from the Iva Toguri d’Aquino trial.
Other pages follow the Fujii Alien Land Law case, the Issei citizenship bill, and the Kawakita trial ruling on Meiji Fujizawa. Larry Tajiri, Iwao Kawakami and Togo Tanaka contribute columns and a poem. A Nisei Quaker facing jail for a tax refusal appears on page 1, and a former Kamikaze pilot seeking to bring his family from Japan appears on page 7.
What’s in this issue
National
- Masaoka Declares ‘Heath Circulates Old, Threadbare Charge Reflecting on Loyalty of Japanese Americans in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee refuted H. Cecil Heath’s charge at a WCTU convention that drunkenness among military personnel in Honolulu before Pearl Harbor was linked to Japanese Americans. Mike Masaoka called the inference a lie and noted the loyalty and combat record of Hawaii’s Japanese Americans.
- ‘Tokyo Rose’ Defense Witness Contradicts Own Story; Alleges Intimidation by FBI Agents, by Marion Tajiri, page 1. Defense witness Norman Reyes repeatedly contradicted earlier testimony under cross-examination by prosecutor Tom De Wolfe in the Iva Toguri d’Aquino trial. Reyes said FBI agents intimidated him into signing statements he later disowned.
- Court Criticizes Gen. DeWitt in Decision on Renunciants, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals restored citizenship to three Nisei who renounced it at Tule Lake in 1945. The court sharply criticized the mass evacuation and the racial reasoning of Gen. DeWitt.
- District Appeals Court Will Hear Fujii Land Law Case, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The California appellate court will hear the test case challenging the Alien Land Law, brought by Los Angeles publisher Sei Fujii. The case was remanded from the state supreme court.
- Urge Senator Lucas to Take Lead in Securing Passage of Issei Citizenship Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Mike Masaoka urged Senate Majority Leader Scott Lucas to press for passage of the Walter resolution granting naturalization to legal immigrants. The measure has stalled in Senator McCarran’s subcommittee despite House passage.
- National Democratic Group Will Oppose Nomination of Karl Bendetsen to High Army Post, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Oliver Carter of the California Democratic Committee said the party will oppose Karl Bendetsen’s appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Army. Opposition rests on Bendetsen’s wartime evacuation statements about Japanese American loyalty.
Incarceration & Redress
- Nisei Quaker Faces Jail for Tax Refusal, by P.C. Staff, page 1. James Katsuki Otsuka, a Nisei Quaker, refused to pay the military portion of his income tax and was threatened with a year in jail or a $1,000 fine. He said he would accept punishment rather than pay the tax.
- Federal Court Rules Nisei Witness in Kawakita Trial Did Not Lose U.S. Nationality, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Judge Jacob Weinberger ruled that Meiji Fujizawa never lost his American citizenship while serving as an interpreter in Japan during the war. The judge relied on testimony describing Fujizawa’s humane treatment of Allied prisoners.
Community
- Memorial Honors Buddhist War Dead, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A memorial plaque unveiled on the Hongwanji grounds in Honolulu lists about 400 Buddhist soldiers who died in World War II. Rev. Newton Ishiura checks the names against the reference book In Freedom’s Cause.
- Togo Tanaka’s Postscript: Paul Rusch Will Go Back to Japan in Civilian Garb, by Togo Tanaka, page 6. Paul Rusch leaves the Army and returns to civilian life to continue his work in Japan. Tanaka recounts Rusch’s reputation and his belief in helping rebuild Japan.
Commentary
- Karl Bendetsen and Mass Evacuation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial opposes the reported appointment of Karl Bendetsen as Assistant Secretary of the Army because of his role in the 1942 mass evacuation. It cites his racist statements about Japanese American loyalty.
- Court Criticism of DeWitt’s Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises the Ninth Circuit’s denunciation of the mass evacuation as a contrast to the Supreme Court’s wartime decision. It notes that judicial views are shifting toward the President’s Committee on Civil Rights.
- A Cloak and Dagger Story, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri discusses Admiral Zacharias’s disclosure of Japanese peace overtures before Hiroshima and the Fairbanks plan that might have used Nisei agents. He speculates on the wartime role of Nisei intelligence operations.
- Nisei Inarticulate, by Iwao Kawakami, page 5. This poem sets fragments of Nisei courtship and childhood against images of evacuation and resettlement. It uses interleaved lines to suggest a divided inner life.
- On This Matter of Pigment, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column reports Walter White’s comments on a chemical that could lighten skin and Jackie Robinson’s rejection of the idea. Robinson said he was proud to be a Negro.
- In Which Susan Learns a Lesson, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A father recounts his daughter Susan learning that she is yellow and that God loves all people. She concludes it does not matter what color she is.
- A Vacation Creates Its Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The columnist describes the many household details that must be handled before a family vacation. He notes how much routine a household depends on.
Arts & Entertainment
- Drama in a Boston Courtroom, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A custody case over a child adopted by an interracial couple, Jack and Berthilde Ho, drew national attention in Boston. The child chose to go to Mrs. Ho, and the judge was impressed by her.
- Hollywood Looks at Race Discrimination, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The column traces Hollywood’s treatment of race from silent-era East-West romances to postwar films like Home of the Brave and Lost Boundaries. It notes Southern censorship of these films.
Military & Veterans
- Robert Nishiyama, Ex-Kamikaze Pilot, Seeks Way to Bring Family from Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Robert Nishiyama, a former Kamikaze pilot now studying at Lafayette College on a GI-funded scholarship, seeks to bring his wife and daughter to the United States. Immigration problems have blocked the child’s entry.
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