Asian American media makers meet at UCLA, and redress letters

Vol. 101, No. 6, August 9, 1985. 8 pages. View this issue

Asian American film, video and radio makers gathered at UCLA for the National Asian American Telecommunications Assn. conference, held July 26-28, and the front page carried J.K. Yamamoto’s report. James Yee, Wayne Wang and Loni Ding spoke on racism and sexism in media and on Asian Americans controlling their own public images. The front page also covered the Urban League debate over quotas and affirmative action, and 58 Pilipino veterans of World War II who became U.S. citizens in Los Angeles after a 40-year wait.

In the commentary pages, readers wrote about redress: Henry S. Sakai argued for individual compensation, and Naomi Kashiwabara wrote that the amount discussed had not kept pace with inflation. Bill Hosokawa answered reader responses on Japanese American identity, and the paper listed more redress endorsements. Other items include a fund named for the principal of the Topaz camp schools, and Visual Communications’ 15th anniversary plans.

What’s in this issue

Arts & Entertainment

• Asian American Media Makers Gather at NAATA Conference, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 1. Asian Americans involved in film, video and radio from across the country attended the National Asian American Telecommunications Assn. conference held July 26-28 at UCLA. Speakers including James Yee, Wayne Wang, and Loni Ding discussed combating racism and sexism in media and the need for Asian Americans to control their own public images.
• Ding, Nakamura Receive Steve Tatsukawa Award, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 2. Filmmakers Loni Ding and Robert Nakamura were honored as co-recipients of the first Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Award at a July 27 reception at Noguchi Plaza, recognizing achievement in media on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans. Tatsukawa, who died last year at 35, had worked with Visual Communications and other community media organizations.

National

• Urban League Debates Quotas, Affirmative Action, by P.C. Staff, page 1. At the annual Urban League conference, Harvard professor Glenn Loury attacked the use of racial quotas and inappropriate civil rights strategies for addressing low black educational achievement. Princeton fellow Bernard Anderson countered that government has a continuing responsibility to assure equality of opportunity for victims of discrimination.
• Pilipino WW2 Vets Become Citizens After 40-Year Wait, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Fifty-eight Pilipino veterans of WW2 became U.S. citizens in a Los Angeles ceremony Aug. 1 after a 40-year wait for benefits promised under a 1942 Act of Congress. A U.S. District Court only compelled the INS to implement the act this past January.
• Rape Statement by Japanese Bureaucrat Attacked, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Group Nawa, an organization of Japanese immigrant women in San Francisco, sent letters demanding the resignation of Japanese education official Shumon Miura after he made public statements approving of rape. Group Nawa member Fumie Watanabe called the official’s comments outrageous.

Community

• Working for Ethnic Press Discussed by Journalists, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 1. Local Asian American editors and reporters discussed the pros and cons of working in the ethnic press at a July 23 program sponsored by the Asian American Journalists Assn. Panelists including Naomi Hirahara, Cecile Ochoa, Daisy Tseng, Sophia Kim, Do Ngoc Yen and Tan Shih-ying discussed advantages like community proximity and disadvantages like limited resources and political pressure from home countries.
• Media Group Plans 15th Anniversary Celebration, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Visual Communications, an Asian American media resource and production center, will celebrate its 15th anniversary at the Japan America Theater on August 24 with the premiere of a documentary on actor Yuki Shimoda. The event will also feature a reunion of VC founding members Robert Nakamura, Eddie Wong, Alan Ohashi and Duane Kubo.
• JACCC Library Receives $40,000 Grant, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Times Mirror Foundation approved a $40,000 grant for expansion of the Franklin D. Murphy Library at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. The funds, combined with an earlier Ahmanson Foundation grant, will enable the library to expand services to children.
• L.A. Asians Present Anti-Apartheid Show, by P.C. Staff, page 3. East Wind magazine sponsored an anti-apartheid program August 16 at Little Tokyo Service Center featuring the film ‘Woza Albert’ and speakers including Evelyn Yoshimura. JACL Pacific Southwest District governor Harry Kajihara issued a resolution endorsing the program and condemning South Africa’s system of racial segregation.
• Singles Getting It Together, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Second National JACL Singles Convention, scheduled for Labor Day weekend in San Jose, will feature workshops, mixers, bowling, golf, sightseeing and a dinner/dance. Organizer Meriko Mori says singles groups from across Northern and Southern California are collaborating to put on the event.

Incarceration & Redress

• Fund Named After Topaz Principal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The family of the late Dr. C. Laverne Bane, a University of Utah speech department faculty member who served as principal of Topaz internment camp schools during WW2, has established a memorial fund in his name. The fund will assist graduate students in the Dept. of Communication.

Commentary

• East Asian Cultures, by Marutani, page 4. The columnist recounts a conversation with Korean American community leaders at a reception for a visiting Korean university president, discussing the historical relationship between Japanese, Korean, and Chinese cultures. He argues that Japanese writing systems, despite claims of originality, were derived from Chinese characters.
• Aids For Holiday Issue, by Bob Shimabukuro, page 4. The columnist previews the upcoming Holiday Issue, which will focus on interracial families with an emphasis on children, grandparents, and community relationships. He also comments on the Live Aid concert and notes that the song phrase ‘We are the children’ originated with Nobuko Miyamoto and Chris Iijima in 1973.
• Rights as Individuals, by Henry S. Sakai, page 4. A letter writer responds to a suggestion for a community trust fund instead of individual redress compensation, arguing that because individual civil rights were violated, individuals should be compensated and have the right to choose what to do with the money. He notes that over 80% of polled respondents wanted individual monetary compensation.
• Dwindling Down, by Naomi Kashiwabara, page 4. A letter writer points out that the redress amount discussed by JACL leaders has not kept pace with inflation, noting that $25,000 proposed in 1981 would be worth over $30,000 in 1985 dollars. She questions whether redress leaders have forgotten basic arithmetic.
• A Concerned Citizen, by Glenn Asakawa, page 4. A letter writer urges Japanese Americans and JACL to take an active role addressing the U.S.-Japan trade imbalance, given their potential positive influence on the issue. He believes JACL and Pacific Citizen should vigorously address this national problem to reinforce their image as Americans.
• Good Try, But No Cigars, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. The columnist shares reader responses to his earlier column questioning whether Japanese Americans’ emphasis on their Japanese heritage hinders their identity as unhyphenated Americans. Correspondents including Philip Tajitsu Nash and a retired Sansei veteran offer differing views on assimilation and ethnic identity.
• Dangerous Precedent, by G. Tim Gojio, page 5. The columnist expresses concern over a Pentagon proposal to give the U.S. military a greater role in combating illegal drug trafficking in Central and South America. He argues this sets a dangerous precedent reminiscent of the military’s unconstitutional role in the WW2 internment of Japanese Americans, and should be rejected.

Military & Veterans

• Hosokawa to Be Honored, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Denver Press Club and Daniels & Associates will hold a luncheon August 14 to honor PC columnist Bill Hosokawa as Colorado’s Outstanding Communicator. He will be recognized for his 37 years as a Colorado journalist with a bronze plaque displayed permanently at Daniels Communications Commons.

JACL

• More Redress Endorsements, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Pacific Northwest District JACL office continues compiling resolutions endorsing redress that were not previously listed in earlier Pacific Citizen issues. New endorsements come from religious and ethnic/civil rights organizations including the American Lutheran Church, Asian Pacific American Advocates of California, and others.
• JACL Hosts Reception for LDP Official, by P.C. Staff, page 6. JACL members attended a dinner reception for Michisada Hiraizumi, a member of the International Bureau of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, who visited the U.S. on a friendship mission July 27. The LDP International Bureau is responsible for programs educating Americans about Japan, including annual Sansei delegation visits.

Obituaries

• Ed Yamamoto, PNWD JACL Leader, Dies, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Edward Masakiyo Yamamoto, a longtime JACL leader in the Pacific Northwest who helped repeal Washington’s Alien Land Law and was an early advocate for redress, died July 24, 1985 at age 67. Despite being a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years of his life, he remained devoted to JACL until his death.
• Dr. William Inouye, Surgery Professor, Dies, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. William Inouye, emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, died July 20 at his Elkins Park home of cancer at age 65. Interned at Tule Lake during WW2, he later did pioneering work in kidney dialysis and served as chief of surgery at Philadelphia General Hospital until 1975.
• Dr. Terry Hayashi, San Francisco Dentist, Dies, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. Terry Hayashi, a San Francisco dentist and community leader, died July 27 at age 91. Born in Kauai, he was the first Nisei to graduate from the University of California dental school in 1917 and was a founding JACL member in 1928.

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