INS disability waivers for naturalization and a National Review cover

Vol. 124, No. 7, April 4, 1997. 12 pages. View this issue

New rules for naturalization and a magazine cover that drew protest shared the front page. The INS published its final rule on disability waivers (Form N-648) for naturalization, and Harry K. Honda broke down its key provisions on page 6. Bob Sakaniwa, JACL Washington D.C. Representative, wrote about the National Review cover that showed political leaders as racist Asian caricatures, and about the editor’s responses to complaints. JACL National President Helen Kawagoe opened a National Board meeting in Little Tokyo, with coverage of the census multiracial category debate and a full summary of motions and actions.

Elsewhere in these 12 pages, Bill Hosokawa wrote about the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund grants, and the paper covered redress for Japanese Latin Americans. Arizona JACLers restored a Nisei war memorial at the Gila River camp. JACL filed an amicus brief against California Proposition 209, and also received an apology from a sportscaster for using a slur. Military Intelligence Service veterans appeared in several stories, including two Legion of Merit awards.

What’s in this issue

National

• INS Publishes Rule for Naturalization Disability Waivers (Form N-648), by P.C. Staff, page 1. The INS published its final rule on March 19 governing the ‘disability waiver’ exemption from naturalization testing requirements, replacing interim regulations from last August. The rule expands who can certify a qualifying disability and comes as thousands of SSI recipients, including elderly Issei, face losing benefits by August 22 unless naturalized.
• Governor Locke Criticized by Filipino Community, by Ed Suguro, page 1. Filipino Americans in Washington state expressed disappointment over the absence of Filipino representation in Governor Gary Locke’s cabinet despite being the largest Asian Pacific American group in the state. Columnist Michelle Malkin also raised questions about Asian campaign contributions to Locke’s gubernatorial campaign, including donations from Jane and John Huang.
• ‘English-Only’ Law Proposed in Olympia, page 4. A proposed constitutional amendment in Washington state to designate English as the official language was heard before the Senate Education Committee. Rep. Kip Tokuda testified against the amendment, arguing it sends an intolerant message and citing his own parents’ experience learning English with state support.
• JACL Files Amicus Brief Challenging California Proposition 209 on Appeal, page 5. JACL joined the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium in filing an amicus brief in the 9th Circuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 209, which sought to eliminate affirmative action programs. Professor Frank Wu of Howard University Law School argued Prop. 209 would cause irreparable harm to over 350,000 Asian Pacific Americans in California.
• JACL Receives Apology from Sportscaster for ‘Jap’ Slur, page 5. The JACL demanded and received a public apology from San Diego sportscaster Lee Hamilton after he called Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu a ‘fat jap’ on his radio show. JACL Regional Director Al Muratsuchi praised the community response and listeners who called to protest.
• INS Highlights of New Rule on Disability Waivers, by Harry K. Honda, page 6. A detailed breakdown of the seven key provisions of the INS’s new disability waiver rule for naturalization, including the new Form N-648 certification process and expanded list of qualified medical professionals. The rule also addresses reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants who don’t qualify for full waivers.
• Campaign Finance Reform Urged by Organization of Chinese Americans, page 7. The Organization of Chinese Americans passed a resolution calling on the President and Congress to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform legislation. The resolution also supported the continued right of legal permanent residents to make political contributions as allowed under current law.

Commentary

• The National Review Just Doesn’t Get It, by Bob Sakaniwa, page 1. JACL Washington D.C. Representative Bob Sakaniwa criticizes National Review editor John O’Sullivan’s dismissive responses to complaints about a magazine cover depicting Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore with racist Asian caricatures. He argues O’Sullivan’s attempts to deflect criticism and reframe the controversy as partisan fail to address the real harm of promoting negative Asian stereotypes.
• E-Mail and the First Amendment, by Hiromi Ueha & Nicole Inouye, page 3. The authors discuss two incidents of racist e-mail threats against Asian American students at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley, contrasting UCI’s swift response with UCB’s more lenient handling of a similar incident targeting the Hapa Issues Forum. They argue universities must enforce their codes of conduct against e-mail-based bigotry even though civil rights laws have not caught up with new technology.
• National Review Cover Controversy Continued, by Bob Sakaniwa, page 7. The continuation of Sakaniwa’s column details O’Sullivan’s shifting responses to criticism, including comparing National Review unfavorably to Texaco and attempting to frame the controversy as partisan by pointing to the Democratic National Committee. Sakaniwa argues that negative racial stereotypes validate bigotry regardless of satirical intent.
• From ‘Least-Known’ to ‘Most Documented’, by Bill Hosokawa, page 8. Hosokawa discusses how the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund’s $2.7 million in grants will transform Japanese Americans from one of the least-studied minority groups into one of the most documented, ironically as a result of the WWII incarceration tragedy. He reflects on how ignorance about Japanese Americans enabled the wartime hysteria and forced removal in the first place.
• P.C.’s Wish List, by Harry K. Honda, page 8. Honda discusses National Director Herb Yamanishi’s comments on JACL’s progress and reports that the P.C. SAVE campaign raised $17,275.98 from 182 contributors to support the newspaper. He details a wish list of computer equipment and other supplies needed to help move the Pacific Citizen back toward weekly publication.
• To Set the Record Straight: Letters to the Editor, by Various, page 9. A collection of letters to the editor addresses topics including James Oda’s promised book review on the ‘Lost Tribe of Israel,’ railroad worker redress efforts, membership statistics disputes, and praise for columnist Sachi Seko. Other letters discuss research on Japanese American identity and credit for early Day of Remembrance events.
• On Stagnant Water, by Akemi Kayleng, page 9. Kayleng reflects on a once-brilliant but ultimately isolated achiever she knew, using this as a metaphor for how societal meaning and achievement must evolve with changing times. She warns against segments of the Japanese American community becoming rigid and resistant to necessary change as the community approaches the 21st century.

JACL

• Optimism Reigns at National Board Meeting, page 1. JACL National President Helen Kawagoe opened the National Board Meeting in Little Tokyo on March 22 emphasizing looking toward the future, while National Director Herb Yamanishi reported a budget surplus of $107,831 for 1996 and increased membership. The board also discussed health insurance offerings, the census multiracial category debate, and various fundraising initiatives including the Legacy Fund.
• Motions and Board Actions, page 3. A detailed summary of motions passed at the JACL National Board meeting held March 22-23, 1997, covering committee appointments, financial reports, investment policy, welfare reform resolutions, railroad worker redress, and the Legacy Fund. The board also addressed the Mitsue Takahashi amicus curiae request and convention committee appointments.
• All-Day PSW Retreat Proves Fruitful, by Jennifer M. Sato, page 4. JACL Pacific Southwest District Board members and South Bay Young Adult Group representatives attended a retreat at LEAP in Little Tokyo to define the district’s role, facilitated by LEAP president J.D. Hokoyama. The retreat produced ideas for a mentoring program and a press fact sheet to increase the district’s visibility.
• National Board Report Continued: Welfare Reform, Campaign Finance, Redress and Youth Concerns, page 6. The continuation of National Board meeting coverage details discussions on welfare reform’s impact on elderly Issei, the Asian American community’s scapegoating in campaign finance investigations, ongoing redress efforts for Japanese Latin Americans and railroad workers, and plans for the National Youth Conference at UC Irvine. Membership figures and scholarship programs, including the new Patricia & Gail Ishimoto scholarship, were also reported.

Community

• Census Multicultural Category Debated at National Board Meeting, page 1. Steven Ropp of the Hapa Issues Forum discussed the current five-category census format that forces multiracial persons to choose a single ethnic identity, noting a 260 percent increase in multiracial births since the 1970s. JACL’s National Board voted to collaborate with HIF to investigate the census multiracial category issue for the 2000 census.
• Lodi and Stockton JACL Chapters Install ’97 Cabinet, page 4. The Stockton and Lodi JACL chapters held their fifth joint installation on Jan. 17 at the Omega Restaurant, with Georgiana White of the Japanese American History Project at CSU Sacramento as guest speaker. New officers and committee chairs for both chapters were listed.
• For Your Information: Hero Shiosaki Promotes Educational Video in Idaho, page 5. Hero Shiosaki of Pocatello has spent years promoting the video ‘A Personal Matter: Gordon Hirabayashi v. the United States’ to schools throughout Idaho and Montana at reduced educational pricing. He is credited with over 40 video purchases and nearly 100 JACL Curriculum and Resource Guides being distributed to schools in the Intermountain District.
• East San Gabriel Valley JCC Officers Installed, page 5. The 1997 officers of the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center were installed on Jan. 18, with Dr. Roy Takemura as president. Guest speaker Dr. Glenn Masuda discussed his work with delinquent children at the Asian Pacific Family Center, and scholarship awards were presented to two students.
• AADAP Celebrates 25th Anniversary, page 5. The Asian American Drug Abuse Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a gala dinner on April 10 at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Los Angeles.

Incarceration & Redress

• Advertiser Supports Redress for Japanese Latin Internees, page 4. The Honolulu Advertiser’s March 14 editorial called for quick redress for the 2,264 Japanese Latin Americans interned in U.S. camps during WWII, urging President Clinton to correct the situation via executive order. Rep. Patsy Mink and Rep. Xavier Becerra support new claims for these internees, who were denied redress due to a legal technicality regarding their residency status.
• DOR Program Dedicated to Rev. Nagafuji, page 5. The Day of Remembrance commemoration held Feb. 20 by the Berkeley Unified School District was dedicated to Rev. Gyosei Nagafuji, a 98-year-old former Poston I resident. The program included a proclamation from the mayor, a keynote speech, and remembrances from El Cerrito human rights commissioner Chizu Iiyama.
• ORA Booklet Lists 3,100 WRA Evacuees, page 5. The Department of Justice’s Office of Redress Administration has issued a booklet listing 3,100 internees, relocatees and evacuees still being sought for redress purposes. The booklet is available upon request from JACL Headquarters.
• CLPEF Grant Funds ‘Transforming Barbed Wire’ Project in Arizona, page 7. The Arizona Humanities Council received grants totaling $85,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation and Civil Liberties Public Education Fund for a project interpreting the WWII internment of Japanese Americans in Arizona. The multi-format project will include site tours, public art exhibits, and a publication building on the Smithsonian’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ exhibit.
• Graffiti-Marred Gila River Camp Monument Restored, by Joe Allman, page 10. Arizona JACLers and author Lane Nishikawa restored the Butte Camp #2 Nisei war memorial at the former Gila River Relocation Center after it was vandalized with graffiti for the third time since 1995. The bronze plaque bears the names of 22 Nisei killed in action during WWII while their families were interned at the camp.
• Permits Needed to Visit Gila River Campsite, page 10. Visitors to the former Gila River Relocation Center sites must obtain permits from the Gila River Indian Community, though fees are waived for former internees and their families. The article provides contact information and notes the presence of cattle grazing and citrus groves at the former camp sites.

Obituaries

• Ronald M. Katsuyama, 53: Dayton Psychologist’s Survey Seen as Being ‘Optimistic’ About Race Relations, page 4. Ron Katsuyama, a developmental child psychologist and Dayton JACL chapter president, conducted research showing blacks experience prejudice six times more often than whites in everyday encounters. His research was informed by his own family’s internment at Minidoka and his father’s story of losing his architectural career after Pearl Harbor.
• Rev. Andrew Kuroda, Retired Library of Congress Official, Dies at 86, page 11. Andrew Yoshinobu Kuroda, a retired Library of Congress official and longtime Washington D.C. JACL member, died Feb. 19 at a nursing home after a career that included wartime internment at Tule Lake and Amache, service with the Office of Strategic Services, and decades at the Library of Congress. He founded the Joseph Heco Society of America and received the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Japanese emperor in 1985.
• Mrs. Morimitsu: Wartime Resettlement Worker, page 11. Virginia Morimitsu, a wartime resettlement worker who assisted West Coast evacuees relocating to Chicago, died March 17 after a heart attack. She had worked with the Brethren Service Committee and JACL’s resettlement team led by Dr. Tom Yatabe, and was married to Art Morimitsu for 50 years.

In-Depth

• AIA Honors Texas Nisei for His Social Goals and Achievements in Architecture, page 5. The American Institute of Architects awarded its 1997 Whitney M. Young Jr. Citation to Alan Y. Taniguchi, a California-born Nisei architect and educator recognized for his lifelong commitment to social activism and minority involvement in architecture. His career included disaster relief work in Corpus Christi, community outreach at Rice University, and a WWII internment camp memorial project in Crystal City, Texas.

Military & Veterans

• Rokki Taiken, by Bill Marutani, page 8. Marutani reflects on the late Richard ‘Dick’ Oguro, a 100th Battalion veteran and MIS member, and his book ‘Senpai Gumi’ documenting men who trained at Camp Savage. The column also announces the upcoming MIS veterans reunion set for September 1997 in Denver, themed ‘Rokki Taiken.’
• MIS Northwest Endorses Four Nikkei Vet Monuments, by Art Gorai, page 11. The Military Intelligence Service Northwest veterans voted at their annual March meeting to support four national monument projects honoring Japanese Americans in WWII, including the Go For Broke monument in Los Angeles and the Brothers in Valor monument in Honolulu. The group made monetary commitments to two of the projects and plans further support this year.
• Unique World War II Story of MIS Nisei Imbedded at Presidio San Francisco, page 12. The National Park Service and National Japanese American Historical Society will hold a May 4 ceremony at the Presidio of San Francisco’s Hangar 640, where the 4th Army Intelligence School first taught Japanese language to Nisei soldiers in 1941-42. The event will honor MIS veterans and include a living history program, tours, and screening of the film ‘Fifty Years of Silence.’
• Army Decorates Two WWII MIS Veterans with American Infantry, by Harry Akune, page 12. Former Sgt. Shigeru Yamashita and former Sgt. Jim Masaru Ariyasu were awarded the Legion of Merit in early 1997 for their intelligence work during WWII, made possible by legislation from Senator Daniel Akaka. Both veterans emphasized the team effort of their original six-member Nisei linguist team, with Ariyasu deferring credit to teammate Yamashita and hoping for recognition of remaining team members.

Arts & Entertainment

• Aftermath of a Tour: Crost’s ‘Honor by Fire’ Seen as ‘A Startling Revelation’, by Ted S. Hashimoto, page 10. Hashimoto recounts a 1995 tour of Britain where he shared his WWII experiences with fellow travelers, leading to him sending Lyn Crost’s book ‘Honor by Fire’ to a new friend, Vic Galgowski. Galgowski’s grateful reply expresses amazement at learning about the wartime contributions and struggles of Japanese American soldiers.
• Ex-Floriculturist Turns to ‘Mac’, by Naomi Kashiwabara, page 10. Gene Kira, a former Encinitas flower grower turned San Diego micro-publisher, used Macintosh computers to create successful books including ‘The Baja Catch’ fishing guide and ‘Understanding Soccer.’ His debut novel ‘King of the Moon,’ set in a Baja fishing village, received early praise from bestselling novelist Victor Villaseñor.

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