Pittsburgh shootings and an apology to the Heart Mountain resisters

Vol. 130, No. 18, May 5, 2000. 8 pages. View this issue

Racially motivated shootings in suburban Pittsburgh led the news. A gunman killed five people, and JACL leaders including Helen Kawagoe, Lori Fujimoto and John Tateishi condemned the attacks. Kristine Minami urged letters to every U.S. Senator in support of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The Nikkei 2000 Conference in San Francisco’s Japantown also got wide coverage. An interfaith coalition there apologized to the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee resisters and asked JACL to do the same at its Monterey convention. Martha Nakagawa reported on the resolution and on the Rev. Lloyd K. Wake and Frank Iritani, who led it.

Also inside: convention plans featuring Helen Zia and Harry Fukuhara, a teacher workshop on the Japanese American incarceration, and Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga as keynote speaker for the Gila River Reunion. Brian Niiya wrote about the film “Pearl Harbor” leaving out Japanese Americans, and Harry Honda took up General Eric Shinseki. The Arizona Memorial film was edited, and the “Beyond Barbed Wire” documentary was set to air again on PBS.

What’s in this issue

National

• JACL Denounces Pittsburgh Shootings, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A gunman went on a racially motivated shooting spree across suburban Pittsburgh communities, killing five people including a person of Indian descent, two Chinese restaurant employees, a Black man, and a Jewish woman. JACL leaders including Helen Kawagoe, Lori Fujimoto, and John Tateishi condemned the attack as a hate crime and called for passage of stronger federal hate crimes legislation.
• Anti-Asian Lyrics in Band’s Song Causes Concern, by Martha Nakagawa, page 1. A coalition of University of Maryland students is planning a non-violent rally during the campus’s Art Attack concert on May 5 to protest the inclusion of the Bloodhound Gang band, whose songs they say promote harmful Asian stereotypes. Suparna Paul of the Asian American Student Union said the coalition, including several student groups, takes offense to the band’s lyrics.
• Applauds Continued Efforts to Monitor Diversity in Network Television, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The National Asian Pacific American Media Coalition met with Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and Hollywood union and network executives to discuss the lack of diversity in prime-time television casting. Norman Mineta, chair of the coalition, said the meeting was a positive step, though only one of 26 new prime-time shows in 1999 featured a minority lead and none featured an Asian Pacific American.
• Arizona Memorial Film Trimmed to Remove Offensive Scene, by Associated Press, page 3. The National Park Service edited the film shown to visitors at the USS Arizona Memorial to remove a segment depicting a suspicious-looking Japanese American field worker glancing at ships in Pearl Harbor. The change came after complaints from Japanese Americans who said the scene unfairly portrayed them during World War II given Hawaii’s large Japanese population.
• Lee Gets Clearance to Review Evidence, by Associated Press, page 3. The federal government restored Wen Ho Lee’s top-secret security clearance so he can assist in his own defense against charges of security breaches at Los Alamos National Laboratory. His attorney John Cline said the restored access allows Lee to review classified evidence ahead of his November trial, though he remains in custody under strict conditions.
• White House Marks APA Heritage Month, by P.C. Staff, page 3. President Clinton issued a proclamation designating May 2000 as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, citing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to American society and referencing his Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The proclamation highlighted challenges facing the community, including low-paying jobs, lack of healthcare, and lack of educational opportunity for many.
• Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Nippon Express, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Korean man’s widow filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Nippon Express U.S.A. Inc., alleging her husband Myungsub “Mike” Lee endured ongoing racial harassment at work before his death. The lawsuit contends the company retaliated against Lee after he complained, similar to a prior discrimination case brought by another Korean and Latina employee.

JACL

• N2K Conference Apologizes to Resisters, Asks JACL to Do Same, by Martha Nakagawa, page 1. At the Nikkei 2000 Conference in San Francisco, an interfaith coalition passed a resolution apologizing to the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee resisters of conscience and urged the national JACL to pass a similar resolution at its June convention in Monterey. Mitsuru Koshiyama, a former resister who spent time in federal prison, expressed hope after decades of feeling alienated from his church following the war.
• Harry Fukuhara, War Hero and ‘Survivor,’ Named Honorary Co-Chair of Veteran’s Tribute Event, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Harry Fukuhara, a Military Intelligence Service veteran who served as an interpreter and interrogator in the Pacific during WWII despite his family being interned, was named honorary co-chair of the veteran’s tribute event at the JACL national convention. After the war, Fukuhara located his mother and family in bombed Hiroshima and went on to serve 29 years in military intelligence before retiring as a colonel.
• JACL National Convention to Feature Award-winning Author Helen Zia During Youth Luncheon, by Roger Minami, page 4. Award-winning journalist and activist Helen Zia will speak at the youth luncheon during the JACL national convention in Monterey on June 29. Zia, a former Ms. Magazine executive editor, has been a longtime activist on civil rights, hate violence, and women’s issues, and her work is documented in the Academy Award-nominated film “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”
• Resisters Documentary Nearing Completion, by P.C. Staff, page 7. After eight years of work, a documentary about the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee resisters who refused to be drafted from the concentration camp is nearing completion. The film examines the resisters’ fight for their constitutional rights before being asked to serve in the military.

Community

• Nikkei 2000 Conference Draws Community Members from Around the World, by Lyndsey Shinoda, page 1. The Nikkei 2000 Conference, held April 27-30 at the Radisson Miyako Hotel in San Francisco’s Japantown, brought together Nikkei community members from the U.S. and abroad under the theme “Empowering Our Community for the 21st Century.” Jon Osaki of the Japanese Community Youth Council opened the general session, emphasizing the potential of young Japanese Americans as future community leaders.
• Diablo Valley/Tri-Valley Chapters Host Teacher Training Workshop, by Cheryl Yoshimura-Thompson, page 5. Teachers gathered at Pine Hollow Middle School in Concord, Calif. for a workshop titled “An American Story: From the Bill of Rights to Redress” to learn about incorporating the Japanese American internment experience into multicultural curricula. Panelists including internees Mollie Fujioka and Jack Nakashima and MIS veterans Noby Yoshimura, Harry Fukuhara, and Marvin Uratsu shared personal wartime experiences.
• ‘Beyond Barbed Wire’ to Have Encore National PBS Airing, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The documentary “Beyond Barbed Wire,” narrated by Pat Morita and profiling Japanese American WWII soldiers of the 442nd, 100th, and MIS units, will re-air nationally on PBS during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May. The film has received critical praise, including from the Hollywood Reporter, for its portrayal of JA soldiers’ contributions despite facing prejudice at home.
• Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga to Keynote Gila River Reunion, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, whose archival research significantly contributed to the 1983 “Personal Justice Denied” report, will keynote the 2000 Gila River Reunion in Las Vegas June 2-3. Herzig-Yoshinaga, who was incarcerated at Manzanar, Jerome, and Rohwer during the war, later worked as a researcher and consultant on landmark redress and coram nobis cases.
• Nikkei 2000 Held in San Francisco, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Nikkei 2000 conference featured break-out sessions exploring generational identity, community inclusiveness, and intergenerational mentorship, alongside a banquet featuring Senator Daniel Inouye and live music. Stanford student Steven Yoda noted that youth dialogues focused on re-examining and reclaiming Japanese American history, expressing optimism that the conference raised consciousness about community challenges.

Commentary

• Supporting the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, by Kristine Minami, page 4. JACL Washington representative Kristine Minami urges chapters and individuals to send letters to every U.S. Senator on May 19th supporting the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 622), part of a coordinated coalition effort. The piece includes a sample letter explaining how the bill would strengthen hate crime laws and enable federal jurisdiction in cases where state law is inadequate.
• Army’s Chief of Staff General ‘Ric’ Shinseki Is in the News; So Was President Fujimori, by Harry Honda, page 6. Harry Honda discusses General Eric Shinseki’s challenges as the first Asian American Army Chief of Staff in modernizing the military amid budget constraints exposed by the Kosovo campaign delays. He also analyzes Peru’s presidential primary, noting President Fujimori’s strong track record but narrower-than-expected primary win over challenger Alejandro Toledo.
• Troubled in Paradise: Invisible Again, by Brian Niiya, page 6. Brian Niiya critiques the upcoming $145 million film “Pearl Harbor” for apparently omitting Japanese Americans from its narrative despite JAs comprising 40 percent of Hawaii’s population at the time of the attack. He highlights untold stories of JA civilian casualties and the Hawaii Territorial Guard’s Nisei members who were dismissed after Pearl Harbor despite their service, later forming the Varsity Victory Volunteers.

In-Depth

• Interfaith Resolution of Reconciliation Born from Nikkei 2000, by Martha Nakagawa, page 7. Rev. Lloyd K. Wake and Frank Iritani spearheaded an interfaith resolution apologizing to WWII draft resisters of conscience, aiming to elevate the divisive issue to a spiritual and theological level to promote healing. The resolution, passed at the Nikkei 2000 conference, urges the national JACL convention to also apologize for not recognizing the resisters’ stand as a valid form of protest.

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