Vol. 68, No. 1, January 3, 1969. 6 pages. View this issue
The San Francisco State College standoff led this six-page issue. Acting President S.I. Hayakawa had given students an extra long Christmas break, and a teachers’ strike loomed if negotiations with the trustees did not begin before January 6. The JACL Ethnic Concern Committee urged chapters to weigh any action on the Hayakawa issue with care. Taxie Kusunoki asked whether the Nisei would have stayed silent without him, and Ellen Endo, Harry K. Honda and Patti Dozen wrote on students, protest and Sen. Daniel K. Inouye’s call to listen to youth.
Elsewhere, a sketch of a memorial at Gold Hill for the Wakamatsu Tea & Silk Colony was reported, with Henry Taketa searching the 1870 census for Okei-san. A New York suit against the Emergency Detention Act drew on the wartime experience. Mike Masaoka looked back on the year, and William Hohri wrote on Selective Service.
What’s in this issue
Community
- Campus quiet, but SFSC crisis still at danger point, page 1. San Francisco State College remains quiet after Acting President S.I. Hayakawa extended the Christmas break, but a teachers’ strike looms if meaningful negotiations with trustees do not begin before January 6. Faculty leaders warn the strike could close the college as demands range from minority student grievances to faculty grievance procedures.
- Wakamatsu Tea & Silk Colony memorial sketched by local architect, page 1. A local architect presented a sketch of a planned memorial to be erected at Gold Hill to commemorate the Japanese pioneers who arrived there. The national JACL president was interviewed by Channel 13 TV on the historical significance of the event.
- Asian Studies 100X offered for winter quarter at UC Berkeley, page 1. UC Berkeley will offer an experimental course covering the history of Japanese in the United States with emphasis on the 1942 Evacuation. The course drew controversy but was approved and is being supported by AAPA funds.
- Japanese metering device aboard Apollo 8, page 1. The Apollo 8 spacecraft that orbited the moon carried a special photometer made by Minolta Camera Co. of Japan at NASA’s request. The device is designed to resist high heat and pressure.
- Downtown Los Angeles JACL installs Kiyoshi Kawai as president, page 2. The Downtown Los Angeles JACL held its installation banquet Dec. 5, installing Kiyoshi Kawai as president and recognizing outgoing president Al Hatate. Awards for membership and community service were presented at the event.
- Japanese carpenters to build teahouse at Wattle’s Garden, page 2. A 10-by-21-foot teahouse will be constructed by Japanese carpenters at Wattle’s Garden in Hollywood in October 1969 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Los Angeles-Nagoya sister city affiliation. The gift was offered by the City of Nagoya.
- Gold Hill grade school seeks name change to Okei San, page 3. Trustees of the Gold Trail Union School District asked the superintendent to investigate renaming the Gold Hill school after Okei-san, the first Japanese girl to die in America. A JACL monument to her is planned for dedication in June 1969.
- Listen to youth, Sen. Inouye warns; their credentials high, patience low, by Patti Dozen, page 4. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye called today’s youth concerned and well-educated, urging that their protests be heard and answered. He cautioned that violence and destruction should not be used as instruments of change.
Military & Veterans
- Tad Hirota stricken, page 1. Tad Hirota, 50, a Berkeley JACL leader and former district governor, suffered a stroke Dec. 15 and was under intensive care. He had been an active JACL member for many years.
Incarceration & Redress
- New York group challenges Emergency Detention Act, page 1. The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Citizens Committee for Constitutional Liberties filed a suit challenging Title II of the McCarran Internal Security Act on behalf of 16 plaintiffs. The suit argues the law could revive concentration camps for activists, citing the Japanese American wartime experience.
JACL
- Chapters cautioned against hasty action on Hayakawa issue, page 2. The JACL Ethnic Concern Committee urged chapters to weigh carefully any action on the Hayakawa issue at San Francisco State. The committee asked whether actions would enhance understanding among minorities or foster antagonism.
Arts & Entertainment
- Tree with 1,000 tsuru at Universal Studios Christmas pageant, page 2. Hollywood JACL contributed 1,000 origami cranes to decorate a Christmas tree at Universal Studios’ Christmas Around the World festival. The tree featured displays representing ten participating ethnic groups including Japan.
Obituaries
- Passing of two distinguished Nisei-related figures, page 2. Two distinguished figures, Raymond Gram Swing and a former JACL presidential candidate, passed away in late December. Both had supported Japanese American causes, including opposition to the wartime evacuation and efforts for resettlement and redress.
Commentary
- Old Year, New Year, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. Mike Masaoka reflects on the events of the past year, including the Apollo 8 lunar orbit and the release of the Pueblo crew, and looks ahead to the new Congress and Nixon administration. He urges JACL to remain vigilant on civil liberties, immigration equality, and Japanese American political participation.
- Student radicals too ‘radical’ for Socialists, Reds, by Jim Henry, page 3. Jim Henry reports that both the Japan Socialist Party and the Japan Communist Party have distanced themselves from student radicals in Japan. Despite shared goals such as opposing nuclear-powered submarine visits, the students’ disruptive behavior has drawn disapproval.
- Japanese Americans fuming while racist, says Nisei history prof, page 3. UCLA history professor Ronald Takaki discussed racism in a panel, arguing that people of color who advocate pride in their group are racist in a Caucasian-oriented society. The discussion also addressed the black experience and white racism.
- Listen to youth, Sen. Inouye warns, by Patti Dozen, page 4. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye told a national legislative leaders conference that young people’s protests must be given attention and listened to. He warned, however, that violence and destruction should not be used as tools of change.
- The color-conscious Asian, by Harry K. Honda, page 6. The editor examines Ceylonese journalist Lucien Rajakaruna’s observation that many Asians in America distance themselves from black Americans and sometimes support anti-civil rights positions. The editorial urges JACL committees to educate Asian Americans about the black struggle.
- Unhappy students in college riot rather than read, by Ellen Endo, page 6. Ellen Endo criticizes college students who resort to violence and disruption rather than working through grievances in class and other peaceful channels. She argues that those dissatisfied with college conditions are free to leave.
- Selective Service, by William Hohri, page 6. William Hohri rebuts Dr. John Kanda’s column on the Selective Service System, arguing the draft is unfair in its selectivity and lacks due process. He calls on JACL to support draft reform and a stronger stand on civil rights principles.
- Faces, by Joe Oyama, page 6. Joe Oyama reviews the film Faces, directed by John Cassavetes, which portrays the emptiness of middle-class marriages. He calls it a powerful film that tells a truthful story about how people fail to communicate.
- Would Nisei have stayed anonymous without Hayakawa, by Taxie Kusunoki, page 6. Taxie Kusunoki argues that S.I. Hayakawa’s controversial stance at San Francisco State prompted Japanese American organizations to speak up, which they might otherwise have avoided. The column criticizes the community’s previous silence on civil rights issues.
In-Depth
- Okei-san missing from 1870 census, by Henry Taketa, page 3. Pages of the 1870 U.S. census covering the Gold Hill Japanese colony do not list Okei-san, Matsunosuke Sakurai, or Kuninosuke Masumizu. The census records two births to a Japanese mother and shows the colony’s population in El Dorado County.
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