The 1993 March on Washington and the Ishibashi verdict

Vol. 117, No. 10, September 24, 1993. 8 pages. View this issue

Two stories shared the front page. A San Francisco jury ruled that Jean Ishibashi had been sexually harassed by a former American Friends Service Committee volunteer but that it did not create a hostile work environment, and Gwen Muranaka reported how each side read the verdict. The issue also followed the 30th Anniversary March on Washington, where JACL President Lillian Kimura co-chaired and met President Clinton. Kimura told the story in her own column, and news pieces covered the Coalition of Conscience and a rally of Asian Pacific American groups with speaker Yuri Kochiyama.

Elsewhere, Bill Hosokawa wrote on the film Rising Sun, and Stogie Toki’s column, continued on page 7, traced JACL’s advocacy through the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and urged gifts to the JACL Legacy Fund. Karl Nobuyuki proposed that chapters ratify the National Director. News items covered asylum law and immigrants, a hate crime in Lake Forest, and chapter notes.

What’s in this issue

National

• Jury’s Decision on Sexual Harassment Case Stuns Ishibashi; Appeal Is Uncertain, by Gwen Muranaka, page 1. A San Francisco jury ruled that Jean Ishibashi was sexually harassed by a former American Friends Service Committee volunteer but that it did not constitute a hostile work environment, leaving Ishibashi in shock and undecided about an appeal. Attorneys for both sides disagreed sharply over whether the jury applied the correct legal standard, with Ishibashi’s attorney calling the verdict gender-biased and AFSC’s attorney calling it complete vindication.
• Coalitions Among 200,000 in March on Washington, by P.C. Staff, page 1. More than 200,000 people gathered for the 30th anniversary March on Washington, where JACL President Lillian Kimura became the first Asian Pacific American to co-chair the event. The new Coalition of Conscience, an alliance of over 200 civil and human rights organizations, called for jobs, justice and peace.
• ALC Asks Congress to Maintain Asylum Laws, End Scapegoating of Immigrants, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Asian Law Caucus joined other Asian organizations to denounce proposed reforms to asylum procedures, warning that the Expedited Exclusion and Asylum Reform Act of 1993 could cause legitimate asylum seekers to be turned away. Attorney Bill Tamayo criticized the bill for barring class action lawsuits against INS abuse and for not consulting Asian American members of Congress.
• An Ethnic Coalition of Crime…, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Six men of mixed ethnic backgrounds are being sought for the Sept. 10 beating of an Asian liquor store clerk in Lake Forest, Calif., an incident being investigated as a hate crime due to racial slurs shouted during the attack. The victim was assaulted twice after the first suspect vowed to return with accomplices.
• 7th Asian Murder Galvanizes D.C. Citizens, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Korean storekeeper Mu Rim Hong, 55, was shot and killed in Washington, D.C., the seventh Asian merchant or clerk killed in the District this year. D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and police met with Asian community representatives amid demands for increased police presence in areas with small Asian-owned businesses.
• To No Avail, Thais Ask Life Sentence for Teen, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Thai Buddhist monks and community members in Phoenix asked prosecutors to seek a life sentence rather than the death penalty for convicted killer Johnathan Doody, citing Buddhist compassion and Doody’s age at the time of the 1991 temple slayings. Prosecutor Rick Romley said his office still plans to recommend the death penalty.
• March on Washington Draws Asian Pacific American Coalition, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Asian Pacific American organizations in the Washington area held a kickoff rally featuring keynote speaker Yuri Kochiyama before joining the larger 30th Anniversary March on Washington. More than 200 Asian Pacific Americans participated, including many APA organizations, and the event included a candle-lighting ceremony symbolizing passing the torch to youth.

Commentary

• Kimura to Clinton: What’s on Our Minds, by Lillian C. Kimura, page 1. JACL President Lillian Kimura recounts her visit to the White House to meet President Clinton as a co-chair of the 30th Anniversary March on Washington. She describes the briefing, the meeting logistics, and the participants including Coretta Scott King and Rev. Joseph Lowery.
• In-Sight: Meeting the President, by Lillian C. Kimura, page 3. Continuing her account, Kimura details the meeting between Coalition of Conscience leaders and President Clinton, including remarks by Rev. Joseph Lowery, Richard Womack, Jose Velez, Patricia Ireland and Rev. Jesse Jackson on jobs, justice, and health care. Clinton responded with his views on job creation and health care reform, and the coalition agreed to meet quarterly.
• Watching What We Watch, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. Hosokawa reflects on JACL’s role as a watchdog organization, using the controversy over the film Rising Sun as an example of how controversy can boost box office for a mediocre product. He cautions that while watchdog organizations serve a valuable function, over-reacting to warnings is the public’s own responsibility.
• What It’s All About, by Stogie Toki, page 6. Toki reflects on how redress payments and the post-war good life were made possible by JACL’s decades of advocacy, tracing the organization’s role in securing citizenship for Issei, repealing alien land laws and anti-miscegenation laws, and passing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. He urges readers who benefited from redress or JACL’s efforts to contribute to the JACL Legacy Fund.
• Not Surprised Suzuki of Cal Poly Exonerated, by Harry, page 6. A letter writer expresses no surprise that Dr. Bob Suzuki, president of Cal Poly Pomona, was cleared of wrongdoing by a state investigation into financial matters at the campus. The writer, who has known Suzuki for over 35 years, praises his integrity and criticizes the Los Angeles Times for implying wrongdoing before the investigation concluded.
• Let Chapters Ratify National Director, by Karl Nobuyuki, page 7. Former JACL national director Karl Nobuyuki proposes that chapters ratify the National Director to strengthen organizational accountability and improve communication between JACL leadership and its membership. He outlines seven reasons for the change and offers three tests—communication, interaction, and accountability—to evaluate current national leadership.

JACL

• JACL Leader Addresses Concerns of Asian Pacific American Community to the President, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Leaders of the 30th Anniversary March on Washington met with President Clinton to discuss key civil rights legislative issues, with JACL National President Lillian Kimura representing the Asian American community. Discussion included the Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act, which would restore civil rights protections to Asian Pacific American and Native Alaskan cannery workers.
• Jonathan Kaji Appointed to California Foreign Trade Office, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Jonathan Kaji, JACL national secretary/treasurer and Gardena Valley Chapter member, was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson as director of the California Foreign Trade Office in Tokyo. Kaji said he plans to remain active in JACL and cited encouragement from Mike Masaoka and Bill Hosokawa in taking the position.
• Clinton Meeting Addresses Legislative Priorities, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The article details additional legislative issues discussed at the Clinton meeting, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1993, the Violence Against Women Act, and the New Columbia Admission Act. Kimura expressed appreciation that Clinton took time to listen to Asian Pacific American concerns.
• D.C. Office Welcomes New Interns, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The JACL Washington, D.C., office announced new fall interns Donna Shioya and Anthony Chang, who will work on legislative and public policy issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community. Shioya will work on an educational curriculum project while Chang will research Asian Pacific Americans in politics and write legislative proposals.

Community

• PSW Opposes Private School Voucher Move, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Pacific Southwest District JACL joined a coalition of more than 35 civil rights and government groups opposing Proposition 174, a California ballot measure to provide vouchers for private school education. JACL leaders Carol Kawamoto and Trisha Murakawa argued the measure would undermine public education and disadvantage poor families.
• JACL Agenda: Washington, D.C., Chapter, by Lily A. Okura, page 5. About 200 Japanese Americans, Caucasians and Black adults and children served as extras filming Karate Kid IV starring Pat Morita near Gen. Colin Powell’s residence in Fort Myer, Va. Senator Daniel Inouye made a personal appearance in the film scene at Morita’s request, and older Nisei extras were cast as WWII veterans.
• Portland Chapter Notes, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Portland JACL chapter secretary Ann Shintani, a 1991 Oregon State University graduate, teaches Sunday school and plays piano at the Oregon Buddhist Church while volunteering extensively with the chapter. She works as a public utilities specialist for the Bonneville Power Administration.
• Lake Washington Chapter Notes, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Lake Washington chapter board meetings are now held at the Oki Foundation Headquarters Building in Bellevue, the historic Sacred Heart Church site. Chapter president James Nohara thanked Scott Oki, who is also exploring the feasibility of a Japanese community center for Nikkei organizations.
• Personally Speaking, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A roundup of notable Japanese Americans includes entrepreneur Tomio Moriguchi, LA Gear designer Mel Matsui, Peace Corps volunteer Kimberly Beer in Namibia, theater director Judith Nihei in Seattle, pathologist Robert M. Nakamura, retiring civil servant Sho Nojima, and youth achievers Emi Oki and Blayne Nagata. Each item highlights a different individual’s career or community achievement.

Incarceration & Redress

• Legacy Fund: What It’s All About (Continued), by Stogie Toki, page 7. This continuation details JACL’s historic advocacy efforts, including securing Nisei enlistment leading to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and pushing for redress under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Toki urges both redress recipients and non-recipients to contribute to the JACL Legacy Fund to secure the organization’s future advocacy role.

Obituaries

• Okamoto, Raymond Y., 65, San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Raymond Okamoto, a Philadelphia-born architect and urban designer who served as city planning director under Mayor Moscone and planned Oakland’s downtown Civic Center and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center, died July 7. He was the son of Issei architect Francis Yuki Okamoto and taught at several universities including Princeton, Cornell, and UC Berkeley.
• Nishikawa, Richard K., 82, New York, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Richard Nishikawa, a Honolulu-born restaurateur and prewar Los Angeles resident who was interned at Manzanar, died June 8. He worked as a chef at Gurney’s in Montauk before operating Cherry Restaurant until his 1990 retirement.

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