Salt Lake City installs JACL officers, and a new book on the incarceration

Vol. 39, No. 22, November 26, 1954. 8 pages. View this issue

Salt Lake City’s senior and junior JACL chapters held their first joint installation, with Mayor Earl J. Glade swearing in the 1955 officers at El Gaucho Inn. The front page also covered a new University of California Press book, Prejudice, War, and the Constitution, which assigned responsibility for the wartime forced removal and incarceration (often called internment) of Japanese Americans to the President, the military, Congress, the Supreme Court and the public. Mike Masaoka announced a month-long trip to Japan to look into the Refugee Relief Act and immigration law. Columns by Masaoka, Bill Hosokawa and Harry Honda marked Thanksgiving.

Elsewhere in the eight pages, a judge went to a dying Issei’s home in Turlock to grant him citizenship, and another judge did the same for a bedridden man in Hollywood. Larry Tajiri wrote on fraternity restrictions, JACL pushed for fair employment legislation in California, and Tats Kushida wrote on old age pensions for Issei.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Salt Lake City Mayor Installs New Officers of Senior and Junior JACL Chapters, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Newly elected officers for the 1955 term of the Salt Lake City senior and junior JACL chapters were installed by Mayor Earl J. Glade at El Gaucho Inn on Nov. 19. The joint installation was the first in the chapter’s 20-year history.
• BYU Dean of Students to Head Japan Study, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Wesley P. Lloyd, dean of students at Brigham Young University, will lead a team of American specialists conducting a Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored training institute in student personnel work at the University of Tokyo in March 1955. The institute will focus on student counseling and administration.
• Naturalization Court Goes to Bedside of Dying Turlock Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Merced County judge and officials traveled to the Cortez District home of dying 77-year-old Hachizo Kajioka to grant him citizenship. His wife Riu was sworn in at the same ceremony with 59 other new citizens.
• Issei Banquet at Sacramento, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Sacramento JACL chapter held a banquet honoring new Issei citizens and was praised for its citizenship program and relations with the local immigration office. The column commends chapter leaders for their work.
• Nevada’s Lone JACL Outpost: Reno, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The writer visited the Reno chapter, the only JACL chapter in Nevada, and met with Issei and Nisei leaders at a dinner. The column highlights the importance of the small chapter for legislative advocacy in the state.
• Bedside Swear-In, by Henry Mori, page 7. Federal Judge Peirson M. Hall traveled to the home of bedridden 66-year-old Ichinosuke Omatsu to administer his naturalization oath. The arrangement was made after his failing health prevented attendance at the Hollywood Bowl ceremony.

Incarceration & Redress

• Blame Japanese Evacuation on FDR, Congress, Supreme Court, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A new University of California Press book, Prejudice, War, and the Constitution, assigns responsibility for the wartime evacuation of Japanese Americans to President Roosevelt, War Department officials, Congress, the Supreme Court, and the public. The authors conclude that military necessity did not justify the removal and imprisonment.

National

• Masaoka to Visit Japan to Investigate Operations of Refugee Relief Act, Immigration and Stranded Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Washington JACL representative Mike Masaoka departs Dec. 6 for a month-long trip to Japan to examine laws he helped pass, including the 1953 Refugee Relief Act and the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act. He will also address stranded Nisei citizenship and wartime vested property matters.

Commentary

• Comparing Prejudices, by Harry Honda, page 2. Honda reflects on racial prejudice, noting that many Nisei have little contact with American Indians and drawing parallels to prejudice among Indians against whites. He argues that Americans should not rest on the laurels of the past but attend to the future.
• Thanksgiving, 1954, by Mike M. Masaoka, page 2. Masaoka offers a Thanksgiving message counting blessings of freedom and prosperity amid Cold War tensions. He notes the significance of naturalization for Issei and the end of legal discrimination against Americans of Japanese ancestry.
• Another Book on Evacuation, by Mike M. Masaoka, page 2. Masaoka critiques the University of California Press’s earlier evacuation books, The Spoilage and The Salvage, as biased. He argues that a Nisei with JACL leadership experience should write the authoritative account of evacuation before memories fade.
• Bastion in the East, by Seattle Post-Intelligencer, page 2. Reprinted editorial warns that Japan is a vulnerable ultimate prize for communism in Asia. It recommends continued defense spending, expanded trade, and UN support for Asian nations to keep Japan strong.
• Nameless White Book, by Tamotsu Murayama, page 2. Murayama reports on a celebration of Iwao Tomimoto’s 70th birthday and the publication of his book Mymei no Hakusho, which introduces Nisei leaders to Japanese readers. The book includes a foreword by Vice President Richard M. Nixon.
• Fair Employment, by P.C. Staff, page 5. JACL attended a statewide meeting in San Francisco to plan California Fair Employment Practices legislation for 1955. The organization pledged support for equal employment rights for Nisei, Issei, and other minorities.
• Old Age Pension Eligibility for Issei, by Tats Kushida, page 6. Now that naturalized Issei are eligible for California old age pensions, the editorial expects many to hesitate due to pride and a sense of stigma. It urges Issei to understand that Social Security benefits are earned insurance rather than public assistance.
• War and Civil Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The editorial comments on the new book Prejudice, War and the Constitution, which blames officials and the Supreme Court for the evacuation. It warns that future wars could again erode civil liberties in the name of security.
• We Are Thankful, by Bill Hosokawa, page 8. Hosokawa reflects on gratitude for health, peace, plenty, friends and family, and the freedoms of American life. He concludes that being grateful for the ability to feel gratitude is itself a blessing.
• Frat Restrictions, by Larry Tajiri, page 8. Tajiri examines racial and religious restrictions in national fraternities and sororities. He describes the University of Colorado regents’ divided vote on an anti-discrimination resolution and New York’s law barring such groups from state campuses.

Military & Veterans

• Airman Jimmy T. Izu Cited as Distinguished Airman of the Month, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Airman First Class Jimmy T. Izu of Honolulu was named Distinguished Airman of the Month at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton. He was recognized for his work in the physiological training unit and for saving a fellow airman’s life.
• Japanese American Baby Faces Deportation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Congressman William Dawson received assurance that 24-year-old Guy Robert Gordon, born in Japan to a U.S. serviceman and a Japanese mother, would not face deportation proceedings until March 1, 1955, allowing time for a private bill. The Immigration commissioner agreed to hold action for Congress to study the case.

Sports

• Ty Saito’s Suggestion for Olympic Benefit Grid Game Countered, by Iwao Kawakami, page 6. Columnist Iwao Kawakami responds to UCLA alumnus Ty Saito’s proposal for a benefit college football game to fund the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. Kawakami suggests professional football might donate a portion of its championship gate instead.

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