Naturalization equality and the Masaoka alien land suit

Vol. 29, No. 24, December 10, 1949. 8 pages. View this issue

Equal treatment under the law ran through the news of this eight-page issue. The California Federation for Civic Unity, meeting at Asilomar, urged the Senate to pass naturalization equality for resident aliens of Japanese ancestry, and eleven Nisei took part in the convention. Five Masaoka brothers, four of whom served in the 442nd, filed suit to challenge California’s 1920 Alien Land law. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee praised a federal rule against financing homes under racial covenants. Larry Tajiri wrote about Col. Karl Bendetsen and about J. Parnell Thomas.

Also inside: a Salt Lake City evacuation claims clinic, a JACL share of the Minidoka Consumers’ co-op fund, and Bill Hosokawa’s column on Christmas shopping in Chicago. Chizu Iiyama profiled Noboru Honda in a pre-convention feature, and Dr. Wataru Sutow’s study of children who survived Hiroshima appeared on the front page. The sports page covered Nisei all-stars and basketball tournaments.

What’s in this issue

Community

• California Civic Unity Groups Urge Passage of Legislation for Equality in Naturalization, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The California Federation for Civic Unity, meeting at Asilomar, urged Senate passage of naturalization equality for resident aliens of Japanese ancestry and prioritized a state FEPC act and a statewide voter registration drive for 1950. Delegates also reviewed discrimination problems facing nearly a million Californians and laid plans for community-level efforts.
• Eleven Nisei Attend California Civic Unity Meet at Asilomar, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Eleven Nisei from JACL chapters and local civic unity councils were among more than 180 delegates at the fourth annual California Federation for Civic Unity convention at Asilomar. The convention adopted resolutions supporting a state FEPC law, naturalization equality, and prompt payment of evacuation claims.
• Plan Claims Clinic in Salt Lake City, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Salt Lake JACL will hold its final evacuation claims clinic on Dec. 16 at the Colonial hotel lobby to help members complete claim forms. George Mochizuki, chairman of the chapter’s evacuation claims committee, made the announcement.
• Insurance Company Issues Certificates, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Nisei-organized Western Pioneer Insurance company in Oakland announced its stock certificates were completed and approved for delivery. Vice president T. B. Mamiya said the selling agent would deliver certificates to purchasers.
• Parent Wins Damage Suit Over Accident, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Superior Court Judge McDonald awarded $10,000 to Charles Kawada in a suit over the death of his five-year-old daughter, struck by a truck after leaving a school bus in West Sacramento. The defendants included the truck driver, the truck line owner, the school bus driver, and a bus owner.
• Youth Sought for Theft from Philadelphia Hostel, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Nisei war veteran using the name Yoshio Ted Yamamoto is sought for check passing in Northern California and is also suspected of looting rooms at a Philadelphia hostel. The report links him to a Seattle florist cash register loss as well.
• Girl Recovers Lost Dog But Loses Tonsils, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Five-year-old Norma Carole Takaki grieved so deeply over her missing dog Skippy that she was hospitalized in Denver, where she had her tonsils removed. She was told the dog had been found and returned home after police recovered it.
• Hawaiian Nisei Girl Attends 4-H Convention in Chicago, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Fifteen-year-old Jane Kamisato represented Hawaii’s 4-H members at the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago. She was selected for her clothing construction project made from lauhala leaves.
• Nisei Girl Tops Sales Clerks in Rexall Chain, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Yasuko Takusagawa of the Fuji Rexall Drug Co. in Los Angeles was named the West Coast champion Rexall sales clerk. The store rose from 125th place in 1947 to third place in the 448-store chain.
• Pre-Convention Spotlight: Noboru Honda Says Insurance Should Be Counselling Service, by Chizu Iiyama, page 6. Noboru Honda, vice-chairman of the JACL National Convention Board, describes insurance as a counselling service rather than high-pressure sales. He also discusses his wartime work at Tule Lake and his family’s move to Chicago.
• Idaho Falls JACL Cagers Lose to Ririe, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Ririe team defeated the Idaho Falls JACL basketball squad 58 to 47 in the opening round of the Outlaw Basketball league. Shiro Ueda and Roy Kubosumi scored 14 points each for the JACL team, which was handicapped by height.
• Pacific Northwest Council Reactivated at Spokane Parley, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Pacific Northwest JACL district council was reactivated in Spokane with more than one hundred Nisei attending. Mike Masaoka spoke at the banquet on continuing the Nisei struggle for equal status and noted the group’s wartime loyalty.
• Student from Japan Recalls Role as Scout Guard for FDR, by P.C. Staff, page 7. George Imai, a Japanese national now studying at Whitworth College, recalls serving in a Boy Scout honor guard for President Roosevelt in Hawaii. He plans to train scout leaders in Japan after further training abroad.
• Otani Will Head Oxnard Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Toru Otani was elected president of the Ventura County JACL chapter for 1950 at the recent Oxnard elections. Other officers were chosen to serve alongside him.

JACL

• JACL Receives Part of Hunt Co-op Fund, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL National President Hito Okada announced receipt of a $1,288.16 surplus check from the Minidoka Consumers’ liquidating trustees, with JACL named as one of three beneficiaries. Okada expressed gratitude for the recognition of JACL’s work on behalf of Japanese ancestry persons.

National

• California’s Alien Land Statute Challenged in New Suit Filed by Members of Masaoka Family, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Five Masaoka brothers filed a Los Angeles Superior Court suit challenging the validity of California’s 1920 Alien Land law so their mother could receive property as a gift. Four of the brothers served in the 442nd, and a national coalition of JACL-affiliated groups announced support for the case.
• JACL ADC Lauds Government Move Against Housing Bias, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee praised a Federal Housing Administration rule refusing financial aid for properties covered by written racial restrictive covenants. The FHA commissioner and HHFA administrator notified national legislative director Mike Masaoka of the change.
• Anti-Negro Threats by Chicago Crowd Told by Nisei CIO Leader, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Hawaiian ILWU delegate Yasuki Arakaki reported that a Chicago crowd threatened Negro shop stewards and white hosts at a union meeting, and later stoned the home. He said the incident appeared to be part of an organized campaign to block minority families from moving into the neighborhood.

In-Depth

• Nisei Doctor Studies Children Who Survived Hiroshima Blast, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Wataru Sutow, a Nisei pediatrician on the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission staff, examined children who survived the Hiroshima bombing and found them sturdy and cheerful. He cautioned against conclusions but reported no evidence that they were physically or mentally inferior.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Mechanic, Family Leave China City With Consul Ward, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Angus Ward and his American consulate staff, including six persons of Japanese ancestry, reportedly reached Tientsin after a year of isolation in Communist-held Manchuria. Shiro Tatsumi, a mechanic on the staff, was among those who left with his family.
• 23 Nisei War Dead Will Be Named on Memorial Shrine, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The names of 23 Nisei war dead from Seattle will be inscribed on a memorial shrine at the entrance to Garfield High School. Most were members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team who died in action in Italy and France.

Commentary

• Bendetsen’s Job, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri argues that Col. Karl Bendetsen, who directed the mass evacuation, should not be appointed Assistant Secretary of the Army because his racist conduct of the evacuation disqualifies him. He says the opposition was not about personal vindictiveness but preventing bias in public policy.
• A Scoundrel in Politics, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri recounts how Rep. J. Parnell Thomas, a Dies Committee member, sought to wreck the War Relocation Authority and attacked Japanese Americans with false charges. He notes Thomas’s later conviction for misusing public funds.
• Nisei USA: Australian Discrimination Against Nisei Servicemen, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri examines the JACL ADC’s complaint about Australian discrimination against Nisei service members and reports the responses from the UK, the State Department, and others. He wryly observes the matter has gone nowhere.
• Reflections on December 7th, by Boku Suehane, page 5. The writer reflects on the losses of the evacuation years, the government investigations that followed, and the Issei and Nisei who rebuilt their lives. He notes that many Nisei have relocated east of the Rockies and found new opportunities in cities like New York.
• The Spirit of Commerce, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa observes Christmas shopping crowds in Chicago and laments how commercialism has overtaken the religious meaning of the season. He notes that Salvation Army kettles drew little money as shoppers passed by.
• Race Discrimination in U.S. Damages National Prestige, by Cletus Ralph Hayes, page 6. Walter White of the NAACP told a Seattle audience that American racial discrimination undermines U.S. prestige abroad and pushes darker-skinned peoples toward Russia. He cited a Washington restaurant refusing service to a group that included Mrs. Edith Sampson.

Arts & Entertainment

• Vagaries, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A brief column notes Nisei achievements in film and opera, including Henry Ushijima’s color film, Tomi Kanazawa’s Madame Butterfly performances, and Kinuyo Tanaka’s Hollywood role. It collects short items on Nisei entertainers.

Sports

• A Typical Nisei All-Star Team, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The sports column assembles a 1949 all-Nisei high school football team from players across California and Washington. It notes the scarcity of Nisei tackles and ends and profiles several standout players.
• Stanley Uriu Named at Guard Post on All-Star Eleven, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Stanley Uriu, guard for Fremont high school’s championship team, was named to the Mercury Herald’s Santa Clara Valley Athletic League all-star football team. Richard Kishimoto of Santa Clara high was picked at halfback on the second team.
• Zebras Defeat Placer to Win Drakes Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The San Jose Zebras defeated Placer AC 48 to 40 to win the third annual San Francisco Drakes basketball tournament. George Goto of Placer was named the tournament’s outstanding player after scoring 22 points against the Zebras.
• San Francisco’s Chinese Saints Will Defend National Oriental Crown, by Phil Matsumura, page 6. St. Mary’s Mission of San Francisco will defend its national Oriental basketball title at the San Jose State gym from Dec. 22 to 25. Challengers include the Chicago Huskies and the Hawaii All-Stars.
• Asato Stars as Hawaii Beats Fresno in 442nd Bowl Game, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Jimmy Asato scored three touchdowns as the University of Hawaii defeated Fresno State 41 to 14 in a game sponsored by the 442nd Veterans Club to fund a war orphans’ scholarship. The fund will eventually support more than 100 children of men killed in World War II.

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