JACL’s $30,000 deficit, refugee aid and Prime Minister Miki’s visit

Vol. 81, No. 7, August 15, 1975. 6 pages. View this issue

A projected $30,000 deficit set the tone for this six-page issue. Harry Honda reported that National JACL faced the shortfall at the close of fiscal 1975, and that Executive Director David Ushio outlined a 20 percent budget cut. In his “To the Point” column, National President Shigeki Sugiyama wrote about relying on volunteers and proposed that chapters help sponsor Indochinese refugee families. A 1973 JACL memo on reparations alternatives also continued from earlier weeks, and a plaque honoring Mike Masaoka and Mas Satow was dedicated at Headquarters.

Also on the front page: appointments for Robert M. Takasugi, Paul S. Sakamoto and William M. Marutani, and the FBI’s secret security index. Inside are Prime Minister Takeo Miki’s homecoming to Los Angeles, the National JACL Bowling Tournament, a proposal for a Little Tokyo shopping center, and Kets Kunitsugu’s Chin-Kon-Ka column on a Japanese wartime film.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• To the Point: Executive Committee Priorities and Refugee Assistance, by Shigeki Sugiyama, page 1. JACL National President Shigeki Sugiyama previews the EXECOM meeting and notes financial constraints requiring reliance on volunteers. He also outlines a proposed JACL initiative to help sponsor Indochinese refugee families through chapters.
• National JACL Facing $30,000 Deficit, by Harry Honda, page 1. JACL faces a projected $30,000 deficit at the close of fiscal 1975, prompting staff cost reductions and a freeze on out-of-district travel. Executive Director David Ushio outlined a 20 percent budget cut to balance expenditures with income.
• Masaoka-Satow Dedication at JACL Headquarters, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A plaque honoring Mike Masaoka and Mas Satow for their work with the JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee was dedicated in the National Executive Director’s and National Board rooms at Headquarters. The honor recognizes their roles in legislative achievements including immigration and naturalization reform and the Evacuation Claims Act.

Incarceration & Redress

• 1973 Memo on Reparations Alternatives, by JACL National Headquarters, page 1. A 1973 JACL memo continued from earlier weeks examines alternative reparations proposals, including extending payments to Nikkei not evacuated or detained. It also considers a reparations-funded general or scholarship fund as an alternative to individual payments.

National

• FBI Kept Security Index of Targeted Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The FBI admitted maintaining a secret list of about 15,000 Americans targeted for detention in a national emergency until Congress repealed the emergency detention provisions in 1971. A New York Times report said the list was apparently still maintained, raising constitutional concerns.
• Ford Signs Seven-Year Extension of Voting Rights Act, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Ford signed a seven-year extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which the 1974 amendments broadened to cover language minority groups including Asian Americans. The JACL joined civil rights groups in welcoming the extension.

Community

• Miki-Ford Talks Productive, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Prime Minister Takeo Miki and President Ford met in Washington for talks covering Asia, trade, energy, nuclear nonproliferation, and the Middle East. Both leaders reaffirmed the strength of the US-Japan relationship.
• Takasugi Named to Superior Court, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Gov. Brown appointed East Los Angeles Municipal Judge Robert M. Takasugi, a former National JACL legal counsel, to the superior court. Takasugi had earlier been named presiding judge of the East LA Court.
• Paul S. Sakamoto Named District School Superintendent, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Paul S. Sakamoto, a San Jose JACLer, was promoted to superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District. He becomes the only Asian American school superintendent in Santa Clara County.
• Marutani Sworn In as Judge in Philadelphia, by P.C. Staff, page 1. William M. Marutani was sworn in on June 26 as judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania’s First Judicial District, becoming the first Asian American jurist on a court of record east of the Rockies. A former Pacific Citizen contributing columnist and JACL leader, he was honored as JACLer of the Biennium.
• Shimada, Asami Capture JACL Bowling Honors, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Fuzzy Shimada of Santa Clara and Nobu Asami of East Bay won the all-events championships at the National JACL Bowling Tournament held at Golden Gate Lanes. The new midsummer event drew about 160 bowlers competing in both handicap and scratch categories.
• Prime Minister Miki Makes Sentimental Homecoming to Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki visited Los Angeles, where he had lived and studied English in the early 1930s and taught Japanese to Nisei children at Showa Gakuen. He received a key to the city and spoke of his enduring ties to Nisei friends from that time.
• Asian American Small Entrepreneurs Overlooked in Minority Aid, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Asian American business owners have received little attention from federal minority enterprise programs, with the Commerce Department funding only two Asian American business development organizations in six years. Advocates say the community has not articulated its needs and lacks representation in top federal administration posts.
• Kagero Golfers Mark Golden Jubilee in Sacramento, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Kagero Golf Club of Sacramento, founded in 1925 by 14 Issei and Nisei golfers, celebrated its 50th anniversary at a banquet. Members recalled playing a nine-hole course they built during wartime incarceration at Tule Lake.
• Little Tokyo Shopping Center Proposal Sought, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Development proposals were solicited for a specialty shopping center in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. The Little Tokyo Community Development Advisory Committee heard from the Asian American National Business Alliance on relocation and financial assistance opportunities.

Commentary

• Chin-Kon-Ka, by Kets Kunitsugu, page 6. The columnist reflects on the Japanese film Senso to Ningen and on Japan’s wartime atrocities in China that he was unaware of while living in Japan in the 1930s. He concludes that under similar circumstances he might have participated in such violence.
• Slavery and Its Legacy: Review of a Historical Study, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The review discusses a historical account of the institution of slavery, covering its ancient origins, justifications rooted in Aristotle’s views, and organized resistance including revolts and abolitionist movements. The author argues that slavery’s racist legacy continues to exert a harmful influence.

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