Sigma Chi, an anti-miscegenation brief and the JACL bowling tournament

Vol. 64, No. 9, March 3, 1967. 6 pages. View this issue

Racial barriers in American institutions ran through this six-page issue. Nine Whitman College students resigned from the Sigma Chi fraternity after a Sansei pledge was rejected, while a Japanese American engineering student from Boring, Oregon was set to be initiated at Oregon State. JACL also filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Virginia’s and sixteen other states’ anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional, with anthropological arguments prepared by William Marutani and Donald Kramer. National President Jerry Enomoto previewed the National JACL Bowling Tournament in Los Angeles, and Mike Masaoka analyzed President Johnson’s 1967 Civil Rights Bill.

Elsewhere, Elmer Ogawa wrote about a Seattle grocer’s 16-year campaign to lift the ban on fresh Japanese mikan oranges. Chapter news came from Detroit, Portland and Contra Costa, where a panel on Sansei teenagers drew about 120 people. Bill Hosokawa described a day’s mail, and Jim Henry profiled Sadao Araki. Applications for the JACL-JAL summer fellowships were due April 7.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Wapato Sansei Denied Entry in Sigma Chi Frat, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nine Whitman College students resigned from Sigma Chi fraternity to protest its racial discrimination after a Sansei pledge was rejected. The Rhodes Scholar among them said he could not remain while the national charter permitted such practices.

Community

• Oregon Sigma Chi to Initiate Sansei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Japanese American engineering student from Boring, Oregon will be initiated into the Oregon State Sigma Chi chapter after a long delay caused by a 1966 objection from a San Diego alumnus. Sigma Chi removed its whites-only clause five years earlier.
• Detroit Hears Talk on Japanese Noh Drama Music, by Doris Fusioka, page 1. The Detroit JACL installation dinner-dance featured a talk by University of Michigan professor William Malm on Japanese music and the koto and samisen. Officers including Art Morey were installed and chapter members were honored.
• Growing Pains Hit Portland Jr. JACL, by Rick Saito, page 4. Portland JR. JACL membership has grown to include members from high school to college age, creating divisions. Saito proposes either mixing activities across age groups or subdividing the chapter into separate groups.
• Contra Costa Youth Trade Views With Nisei Parents, by Ken Yoshida, page 4. A Contra Costa JACL panel discussion on problems of Sansei teenagers drew about 120 attendees and highlighted generational gaps in dress, music, and values. Panelists agreed that mutual understanding and trust between Nisei parents and Sansei youths is needed.

JACL

• Japanese Banks to Entertain JACL Japan Tour Group, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Bank of Tokyo and Sumitomo Bank will host the upcoming JACL Japan tour with visits to the Kabuki Theater and Takarazuka. Mike Masaoka will serve as special consultant to arrange unique visits for the group.
• JACL-JAL Summer Fellowship Application Deadline Set April 7, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Applications are now available for four JACL-Japan Air Lines fellowships for summer study at Sophia University in Tokyo. Applicants must be 21 by April 30, 1967 and must submit forms through their district council by April 7.
• Enomoto: Bowling Tournament, by Jerry Enomoto, page 2. JACL National President Jerry Enomoto previews the National JACL Bowling Tournament in Los Angeles and discusses the importance of the event to Nisei bowlers. He also responds to reader reactions to his earlier columns and clarifies his political views.

National

• Anthropological Arguments Used in JACL Anti-Miscegenation Brief, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging that Virginia and sixteen other states’ anti-miscegenation laws be declared unconstitutional. The brief relies on anthropological arguments prepared by William Marutani and Donald Kramer.

Commentary

• Crusader for Mikan, by Elmer Ogawa, page 1. Seattle supermarket operator Minoru Kimura has spent an estimated $50,000 over 16 years to lift the federal ban on fresh Japanese mikan oranges imposed in 1946. The ban was linked to a citrus canker epidemic now considered unrelated to the fruit.
• Civil Rights Bill, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. Mike Masaoka analyzes President Johnson’s 1967 Civil Rights Bill and the National JACL Board’s endorsement of it. He outlines the bill’s three-stage fair housing provisions and quotes the President on equal justice for Negro Americans.
• The U.S. Mail, by Bill Hosokawa, page 3. Bill Hosokawa humorously describes the day’s mail delivery at his rural Denver home, including junk mail, a Crossroads newspaper, and a dues reminder from JACL 1000 Club chairman Frank Sakamoto. He closes by hoping for a kinder mailman tomorrow.
• Reorganization, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Pacific Citizen editor reports on a National JACL executive reorganization paper that categorizes national officers into general and specific areas. The column also advocates creating a president-elect office to ease transitions and improve planning.
• Extrovert Survivor, by Jim Henry, page 6. Jim Henry profiles Sadao Araki, a 89-year-old former Japanese general and war criminal suspect who still insists Japan did not lose the war. Araki argues the United States broke the rules of war by dropping atomic bombs.
• Free Advice, by S. Stephen Nakashima, page 6. A San Jose attorney argues that JACL’s political statements, including opposition to tuition for state universities, risk its tax-exempt status and should be curtailed. He also suggests forming a separate civil rights organization to accommodate political activists.
• Vietnam Issue, by Dick Gima, page 6. Dick Gima reports that Hawaii’s Vietnam War death toll rose to 72 men out of 7,353 nationwide, a higher share than its population warrants. He also notes that Hawaii lost more men than the national average in the Korean War.

Incarceration & Redress

• Footnotes to History, by Shig Wakamatsu, page 6. Shig Wakamatsu announces that Joe Grant Masaoka will write a regular column on the Japanese American Research Project, the JACL history project being conducted with UCLA scholars. The column will provide informal updates on the project’s work.

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