JACL budget cuts, a recalled cartoon and a Voting Rights task force

Vol. 120, No. 4, February 17, 1995. 12 pages. View this issue

JACL’s finances and staffing filled much of this 12-page issue. Headquarters staff chose not to reapply for revised positions and will separate on March 10, and Bill Yoshino was chosen to organize an interim staff in San Francisco. Opinion pieces followed from George Kodama, who criticized the budget committee’s report, and from former president Harry Kajihara, who explained why he did not sign the board’s letter and estimated the cuts needed in 1995. The front page also reported that Deval L. Patrick announced a Minority Language Task Force at the Justice Department, and that the Sacramento Chapter helped win the recall of a racist Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Elsewhere, Bill Hosokawa wrote about a Japanese magazine’s Holocaust denial, and Bill Marutani reflected on the stockade at Tule Lake. Other pages covered a Sacramento gathering for Chiune Sugihara, a Kobe earthquake telethon, Paul Igasaki’s welcome in Chicago, and a Reno JACL conference set for April 28-30.

What’s in this issue

National

• Justice Department Announces Minority Language Task Force, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick announced the formation of a Minority Language Task Force within the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to enforce language provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Patrick was honored by AALDEF alongside Japanese American community leader Midori Shimanouchi Lederer and South Asian advocate Shamita Das Dasgupta at the 1995 Justice in Action Awards ceremony.

Community

• Racist Bugs Bunny Cartoon Pulled After Sacramento Efforts, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sacramento Chapter of JACL successfully pressured Warner Brothers/MGM/United Artists to recall a racist Bugs Bunny cartoon containing slurs like “Jap” and “slant eyes.” Chapter members worked with MANAA and obtained a promise to pull the video worldwide within days.
• Sacramento Honors Sugihara Who Saved Jews During WWII, by Toko Fujii, page 4. A crowd of 1,000 gathered in Sacramento to honor the memory of Chiune Sugihara, who issued transit visas that saved thousands of Jews during WWII, and to meet his widow Yukiko. Holocaust survivors and Nisei veterans shared personal accounts of Sugihara’s courage and its lasting impact.
• N.Y. Chapter Talks to Education Board About J.A. Experience, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The New York Chapter of JACL led a conference for the NYC Board of Education focused on Asian American history, featuring a keynote by Dr. Sumi Mitsudo-Koide on the Japanese American experience. Workshops on curriculum and internment history were led by JACL’s Teresa Maebori and museum educator Elisa Kamimoto.
• On to Brazil in ’98, by P.C. Staff, page 5. At the 14th Nikkei International Sports Confraternity held in Lima, Peru, it was announced that Sao Paulo, Brazil will host the next games in 1998. Brazil won the most medals this year among seven participating countries, with U.S. judoist Jason Uno winning gold.
• Telethon, Media Raise Funds for Kobe Victims, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The International Channel’s Feb. 5 telethon raised more than $142,000 in emergency relief for survivors of the Kobe, Japan earthquake, reaching 25 million homes. Numerous cable networks and industry leaders also pledged financial contributions to relief efforts.
• Personally Speaking, by P.C. Staff, page 10. This roundup covers Japanese American achievements including Mike Honda’s election as Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chairman, John Okamoto’s appointment as Seattle’s Engineering Department superintendent, and honors for Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani in San Francisco. Also noted are Janice Nishida’s appointment to Maryland’s Department of Environment and poet Mitsuye Yamada’s upcoming

Military & Veterans

• Frenchman Who Boosted Redress Support Dies, by Harry K. Honda, page 1. Serge Carlesso, a French supporter of Japanese American WWII veterans and organizer of the 50th anniversary celebration at Bruy\u00e8res, died unexpectedly at age 65. He had helped rally support among French townspeople for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 after learning of the redress campaign from Sens. Inouye and Matsunaga.

JACL

• NCWNPDC to Host April 28-30 Tri-District Event in Reno, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Northern California-Western Nevada Pacific District Council will host the 1995 tri-district JACL conference in Reno, Nevada, April 28-30, themed “Eye on the Future.” Dr. Harry Kitano will deliver the keynote address, with workshops on leadership, membership, and community issues.
• HQ Staff Resigns, Interim Staff to Continue Services, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Following the December 1994 Reorganization Plan, current JACL national headquarters staff chose not to reapply for revised positions and will separate from service March 10. Bill Yoshino, Midwest regional director, was selected to organize an interim staff in San Francisco to maintain operations.
• Chicago Lawyers Greet Paul Igasaki, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago held a reception for Paul Igasaki, new vice-chairman of the EEOC and a Chicago native and AABA founding member. Igasaki previously worked with JACL, Rep. Robert Matsui, and the Asian Law Caucus before his Senate confirmation.
• Masaoka Fellowship Seeks Candidates, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Mike M. Masaoka Fellowship Fund is seeking applicants for its fourth Congressional Intern Program for 1995-1996, offering a $6,000 stipend for an internship with an Asian Pacific American member of Congress. The fellowship honors the late Mike Masaoka’s legacy of public service and civil rights advocacy.

Commentary

• Ad Hoc Budget Committee Report Clarified, by George Kodama, page 7. Former JACL national treasurer George Kodama critiques the JACL National Budget Analysis Committee Report, disputing its conclusions about deficits, staff responsibility, and financial mismanagement that led to the December 1994 decision to downsize national staff. He argues the report contained errors, omissions, and an anti-staff bias that misrepresented JACL’s true financial position.
• A Mistake Heard Round the World, by Bill Hosokawa, page 8. Hosokawa discusses the Japanese magazine Marco Polo’s publication of Holocaust denial as fact, which led to its shutdown after protests from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He connects this to broader issues of Japanese attitudes toward outsiders and historical revisionism, including denial of Japanese American WWII incarceration realities.
• The Stockade, by Bill Marutani, page 8. Marutani reflects on visiting the stockade structure at the Tule Lake concentration camp site, pondering the injustice of imprisoning Nikkei men there during WWII. He questions the treatment of those who answered the loyalty questionnaire’s Questions 27 and 28 negatively, comparing them to resisters like Hirabayashi, Korematsu, and Yasui.
• Former President Explains His Non-Support to Letter, by Harry Kajihara, page 8. A former JACL national president explains why he did not sign a letter supporting the National Board’s budget-cutting decision, criticizing the lack of transparency and staff input in the process. He calls for an open meeting to address chapter concerns about the board’s recent decision.
• Collective Effort Overcomes Racist Cartoon, by Michael A. Sawamura, page 9. Sawamura details how the Sacramento Chapter, working with JACL’s national network including NCWNP and PSW offices and MANAA, achieved the recall of the racist “Nips the Nips” Bugs Bunny cartoon within 24 hours of contact with the studios. He credits the JACL’s collective structure across chapters, districts, and national staff for the swift success.
• How Much Belt-Tightening for 1995?, by Harry Kajihara, page 9. Former JACL national president Harry Kajihara analyzes JACL’s cash flow statements from 1991-1994 to estimate that expenditures need to be cut by approximately $200,000 in 1995 to avoid deficit spending. He calculates projected income of $1.3 million against expected expenditures of $1.5 million.
• Firebombings Reveal Increasing Racism, by Andy Noguchi and Randy Imai, page 9. Noguchi and Imai reflect on lessons learned from the 1993 Sacramento firebombings targeting Jewish, Black, and Japanese American organizations, which led to the conviction of skinhead Richard Campos. They call for stronger hate crime laws, community coalitions, and grassroots efforts to combat rising racism against Asian Americans and others.
• Sacramento Accuses PC of Failure to Publish Chapter News, by Dick Fukushima, Randy Imai, Michael Sawamura, page 10. Sacramento Chapter board members allege that Pacific Citizen has failed for two years to publish their submitted articles, including pieces on firebombings and the Bugs Bunny cartoon recall. They demand a written response from the National Board and greater transparency in editorial decisions.
• PC Responds to Charges Leveled by Sacramento Board Members, by P.C. Staff, page 10. Pacific Citizen’s editor responds point-by-point to Sacramento Chapter’s accusations, providing a detailed list of chapter news stories published in 1994, including six on the Sacramento firebombings. The editor explains publication deadlines and defends the paper’s editorial judgment regarding timing of the Noguchi-Imai column and Bugs Bunny story.

Obituaries

• Death Notice: Ichiko Jane Horiuchi, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Ichiko Jane Horiuchi, 93, of Los Angeles passed away Feb. 2 at Japanese Retirement Home, with memorial services held Feb. 11 at Fukui Mortuary Chapel. She is survived by her husband Kenji, daughter Bebe Toshiko Reschke, granddaughter Kristina, and other relatives.

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