After the L.A. riots: rebuilding and unity across communities

Vol. 114, No. 21, May 29, 1992. 8 pages. View this issue

The aftermath of the Los Angeles riots ran through this eight-page issue. Korean American storeowners and gang members from the Bloods and Crips met to plan joint ventures in South Central. Gwen Muranaka reported on Rev. Jesse Jackson’s talk to a crowd of 600 at Little Tokyo’s Japan America Theater, and on school board president Warren Furutani’s visit to a sixth grade class to teach about cultures. Nagoya, Japan, sent $22,313.13 toward rebuilding, and the Pacific Southwest District Council of the JACL took positions on two L.A. charter amendments.

Other items include a 1992 Nisei Week grand marshal announcement, a historian seeking former internees of the Santa Fe camp, and the JACL convention in Denver, with registration due June 25. Bill Hosokawa wrote about delivering wartime letters from a 442nd Regimental Combat Team soldier to his brother in Hawaii, and Bill Marutani described the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

What’s in this issue

National

• Koreans, Black Gangs Resolve to Rebuild Together, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Korean American storeowners and African American gang members from the Bloods and Crips met in a closed-door session and announced plans to work together to rebuild South Central and other communities. Ideas included hiring gang members at Korean-owned stores, starting new businesses, and establishing a Korean-owned bank in South Los Angeles.
• School Kids Get Lesson in Cultures, by Gwen Muranaka, page 1. Warren Furutani, board president of the Los Angeles Unified School District, visited a sixth grade class at 66th Street Elementary School to discuss the L.A. riots and promote cultural understanding. Furutani used Japanese foods like nori and manju to teach students about differences between cultures and the importance of not prejudging others.
• Jesse Jackson Preaches Togetherness Message to Asian American Groups, by Gwen Muranaka, page 1. Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to a crowd of 600 at Little Tokyo’s Japan America Theater, calling for empowerment of minorities through unity in the aftermath of the L.A. riots while criticizing police, big business, and the Reagan/Bush era. He also addressed the Japanese American internment experience and criticized the mistrial in the Samoan brothers’ shooting case and LAPD Chief Daryl Gates.
• Mistrial Called in Police Shooting of Samoans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A mistrial was declared in Compton, Calif., in the trial of police officer Alfred Skiles, accused of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two Samoan brothers during a domestic dispute call. The jury deadlocked 8-3 in favor of acquittal after Skiles testified he had been attacked prior to the shootings.
• Schools Work to Restore Normalcy After Riots, by P.C. Staff, page 4. All Los Angeles Unified School District schools closed for two days following the onset of the riots, a decision board president Warren Furutani said was weighed heavily. Furutani noted high attendance rates on the first day back as faculty and students worked to move past the unrest.
• Kids’ Letters Spark Controversy and Education Opportunity, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Students at 66th Street Elementary School had sent pictures and letters urging Supervisor Gloria Molina to rescind the Sumitomo contract to build Metro Green Line cars, sparking concern about racial scapegoating in the Japanese American community. Warren Furutani later visited the school during Asian Pacific Heritage Month to use the incident as a teaching opportunity about cultural tolerance.

Community

• Nagoya Helps L.A. to Rebuild, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nagoya, Japan, sister city to Los Angeles, donated $22,313.13 to help rebuild Los Angeles following the riots, with the funds earmarked for the Rebuild L.A. organization headed by Peter Ueberroth. Mayor Tom Bradley met with Nagoya officials to accept the contribution, which was accompanied by a letter from Nagoya Mayor Takeyoshi Nishio.
• PSW Takes Position on L.A. Amendments, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Pacific Southwest District Council of the JACL announced support for Charter Amendment F, a police reform measure, and opposition to Charter Amendment G, a local preference and domestic content requirement for city purchases. PSW leaders argued Amendment G could lead to discriminatory interpretations harmful to Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
• Richard Murakami Named Nisei Week Grand Marshal, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Richard M. Murakami, California’s assistant commissioner of corporations, was announced as Grand Marshal for the 1992 Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo. Murakami has served on the Nisei Week board of directors and holds leadership roles with state credit union associations and the Nagoya Sister City Affiliation.
• Chapter Sponsors Children’s School, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Selanoco chapter of JACL is sponsoring Chibi no Gakko, a two-week summer session to teach Nikkei children about their cultural heritage, running July 20-30 in Garden Grove, Calif. Organizer B.J. Watanabe said the program aims to help children develop their Japanese American identity.
• Monterey History Project Announced, by P.C. Staff, page 4. A composite history of Japanese Americans on the Monterey Peninsula has been launched as a chapter project coordinated by Dr. David Yamada, covering the period from the 1900s. The project received a matching grant of $3,500 from the Community Foundation for Monterey Peninsula toward a $7,650 budget, with plans to publish 500 copies.
• Newsmakers: Watanabe, Kawasaki and Others Honored, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Hawaii Gov. John Waihee named Corrine Watanabe to the intermediate court of appeals, the highest judicial appointment of a woman he has made, while Cal State-Los Angeles honored Lillian Kawasaki with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Other honors included Toshiko Okamoto being named a Woman of the Year and George Kiriyama receiving a Community Recognition Award from the El Camino Lions Club.
• Koreisha Chushoku Kai Honors Community Volunteers, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The Little Tokyo nutrition program for the elderly honored Paul Oda, Shogo Suzuki, and Eddie Okita for their community work, including van donations used for escort services and meal delivery to home-bound seniors. The 16th anniversary celebration was held April 5 in Montebello with KCBS-TV anchor Tritia Toyota emceeing.
• Roger Obata Receives National Association of Japanese Canadians Award, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Roger Obata of Toronto received the National Association of Japanese Canadians’ Biennial National Award recognizing five decades of leadership on behalf of the NAJC and human rights causes. His campaign for Japanese Canadian redress and his 1990 Order of Canada honor were also cited.
• Business Briefs: PG&E, Pacific Business Bank, and More, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Pacific Gas and Electric reported spending approximately $251 million with minority- and women-owned businesses in 1991, an increase of 51.1 percent over 1990. Other business news included Pacific Business Bank’s new Gardena office, Kyoichi Aoyama’s appointment at Russell Reynolds Associates, and Rent-A-Wreck’s plan to expand franchises into Asian communities.

JACL

• Sign Up: Convention Registration Deadline Approaches, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The deadline for advance registration for the 32nd JACL biennial convention in Denver, Colo., Aug. 3-8, is June 25. Additional deadlines include June 25 for youth/student delegate hotel reservations and July 2 for adult delegate hotel reservations.
• ’94 Convention Committee Selected, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Floyd Mori will chair the 1994 JACL National Convention with Tom Shimizu as assistant and Shake Ushio as advisor, all from the Mount Olympus JACL chapter. The National JACL Board has selected the Salt Lake City Marriott Hotel as the convention site, though exact dates in August 1994 remain unconfirmed.

Arts & Entertainment

• He’s Back: Godzilla Invades Little Tokyo Exhibit, by Gwen Muranaka, page 2. The Doizaki Gallery in Little Tokyo is showing ‘Godzilla Invades Little Tokyo,’ an exhibit of Japanese toy robots, monsters and superheroes running through June 17. Gallery curator Maria Kwong assembled the exhibit from contributors including Billy Shire, Bandai Toys, and Kimono My House, noting Godzilla remains the most enduringly popular character.

Incarceration & Redress

• ‘Comfort Women’ Stories Sought from Japan Army Veterans, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Nine Japanese and South Korean citizen groups opened a hotline in January to collect testimonies from Imperial Japanese Army veterans regarding their experiences with ‘comfort women’ during World War II. Following Prime Minister Miyazawa’s visit to South Korea, the Japanese government expressed willingness to compensate Korean women forced into wartime prostitution.
• Historian Seeks Santa Fe Internees, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Richard Melzer, a history professor at the University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus, is researching the WWII Japanese American internment camp in Santa Fe, N.M. He is seeking former internees willing to be interviewed about their experiences after completing research at the National Archives and interviewing the camp commander.

Commentary

• Letters from Camp Shelby Finally Delivered, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Columnist Bill Hosokawa follows up on the story of Jim Remsen, who found wartime letters from Cpl. Senji Sugawara of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and sought to return them to his family. Through a chain of contacts, Hosokawa located Sugawara’s surviving brother Yoshito in Waimea, Hawaii, and mailed him three letters including one written by Yoshito himself decades earlier.
• In Memoriam: Arlington Cemetery, by Bill Marutani, page 6. Columnist Bill Marutani describes the Washington D.C. Chapter JACL’s annual Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, honoring nearly 40 Nikkei servicemen buried there. The piece highlights the participation of Major General James H. Mukoyama Jr. and details the tradition of placing flowers at gravesites, including that of Master Sergeant Kaname Matsuura.

Obituaries

• Obituaries, page 7. This week’s obituary listings include tributes to numerous Japanese Americans including WWII and Korean War veterans, community leaders, and business owners across the country. Notable entries include Kina Isert, a 103-year-old Kumamoto-born pioneer resident of Ontario, Oregon, and Kaz Umemoto, a Los Angeles architect and 442nd veteran who served as a Democratic National Committeeman.

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