Redress lobbying, hate crimes and Sen. Inouye in the 1987 hearings

Vol. 105, No. 3, July 24, 1987. 8 pages. View this issue

The campaign for redress ran through this eight-page issue. The Pacific Citizen reported that nine more co-sponsors had joined H.R. 442, bringing the total to 159, and Grayce Uyehara wrote about the push to reach 218 votes by September 17. William Hohri wrote on the extinguishment clauses in S. 1009 and H.R. 442 and their effect on the Hohri lawsuit. The front page also covered Councilman Michael Woo’s proposal for a full-time Los Angeles City Attorney to investigate hate crimes, and the racial slurs aimed at Sen. Daniel Inouye during the Iran-Contra hearings. The Minoru Yasui Memorial Fund and its coram nobis tie to redress had their own report.

Elsewhere in the issue: Harry Honda wrote about Japanese war brides and about the Japanese terms for the wartime camps, including Heart Mountain, Minidoka, Poston and Tule Lake. Bob Shimabukuro wrote on the paper’s own editor turnover. Other pages carried the 47th Nisei Week Festival in Little Tokyo, reviews of Jude Narita’s one-woman show and Great Leap’s musical Talk Story, and the JACL National Board’s motions.

What’s in this issue

National

• Los Angeles Task Force Proposes Full-Time Attorney to Fight Hate Crimes, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Councilman Michael Woo proposed hiring a full-time City Attorney to serve as a Victim Advocate Coordinator investigating hate crimes based on race, religion, sexual orientation and other factors. The proposal would allocate $44,787 to fund the position, which would identify and prosecute hate crimes and build a data bank on such incidents.
• Crime Report on Asian Gangs Misleading, Say Asian Leaders, by Carole Hayashino, page 1. California Attorney General John Van de Kamp met with Asian American leaders to clarify statements about organized crime and Asian gangs after community leaders criticized his remarks as alarming and irresponsible. Van de Kamp later apologized for not differentiating between the reported crime problem and law-abiding Asian communities, and a task force was formed to address the issue.
• AB37 Vetoed by Deukmejian, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Gov. Deukmejian vetoed a bill that would have revived California’s bilingual education program and six other school programs until 1992, saying each school district should fashion its own guidelines. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown called the veto a slap in the face to parents wanting a better future for their children.
• Inouye Target of Racial Slurs During Iran-Contra Hearings, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Senate committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair, received ethnic slurs calling him a ‘Jap’ in telegrams, letters and phone calls. Inouye, a decorated WWII veteran who lost an arm fighting with the 442nd Battalion, has faced similar ethnic attacks before, including during the Watergate hearings in 1973.
• House Bill Gets 9 More Co-Sponsors, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nine new co-sponsors were added to H.R. 442 in mid-to-late July, bringing the total to 159, as the JACL-LEC Washington office reported a steady increase in grassroots letter-writing campaigns. Grayce Uyehara stated the goal is to reach 218 votes by September 17 before Congress adjourns for recess.
• Matsui Bows Out of Senate Race, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Rep. Robert T. Matsui announced he is withdrawing from California’s 1988 Senate race, citing his underdog position among Democratic challengers and increasing workload in the House. The move strengthens the position of presumed front-runner Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, while Matsui may be positioning himself for a 1990 run for a different office.
• Co-Sponsors Update and Senate Mark-Up Delayed, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Grayce Uyehara notes the August congressional recess presents an opportunity for constituents to meet with legislators in their districts regarding H.R. 442. Senate mark-up of S. 1009 was postponed due to lack of quorum, with a possible rescheduling before the August recess or a wait until September.

Incarceration & Redress

• Yasui Fund Update, by P.C. Staff, page 2. 999 donations totaling $35,755 have been received for the Minoru Yasui Memorial Fund following a July 4th mailing, according to Fund Drive Chairman Shig Wakamatsu. Before his death, Yasui stipulated that remaining funds beyond legal expenses for his coram nobis case be forwarded to JACL redress legislation efforts.
• Hiroshima Program Slated, by P.C. Staff, page 7. A special Interfaith Commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima will be held at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, featuring author Dorothy Stroup discussing her novel about a Japanese family’s experience before, during and after the tragedy. The event, co-sponsored by Friends of Hibakusha, marks the 42nd anniversary of the bombing and includes religious leaders from Jewish, Christian and Buddhist traditions.
• Redress Donations Approach $20,000 as of June 30, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Pacific Southwest District’s JACL/LEC mail solicitation campaign for redress lobbying has raised $19,830 toward its $100,000 goal within two weeks. The article lists numerous individual donors and their contribution amounts, ranging from small gifts to $500 donations.

Community

• 47th Nisei Week Festival Slated, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The 47th annual Nisei Week Festival will run from August 8 to 16 in Los Angeles, featuring opening ceremonies, a Coronation Ball, the Samurai 5K, a Grand Parade, exhibitions and a carnival in Little Tokyo. General Chair Alan Furuta leads a large committee organizing the various events, which will close with a benefit drawing and Ondo street dance.
• Nikkei Heads Cancer Society, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Dr. Yosh Maruyama, professor and chairman of Radiation Medicine at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, has been named the new president of the Kentucky Division of the American Cancer Society. Maruyama is a pioneer in the study and application of neutron radiation to cancer therapy.
• Variety Show Acts as Fundraiser, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Disappearing Moon Cafe variety show raised $1,770 for Colorado’s Asian Pacific Center For Human Development’s ‘Asian Youth at Risk’ program. The show featured music, magic, skits, puppetry, dance and lip-sync performances before an audience of about 300.

Arts & Entertainment

• Great Leap Preview Is Great, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A preview of Great Leap’s new musical ‘Talk Story,’ described as a musical odyssey of Asians in America, was held at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. The cast performed two vignettes, ‘Family Business’ and ‘Gaman,’ exploring Chinese and Japanese American immigrant experiences including internment.
• Narita Reviewed, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Jude Narita’s one-woman show ‘Coming into Passion/Song for a Sansei’ is reviewed as a moving portrayal of Asian women’s experiences through five vignettes depicting different female characters. The review praises Narita’s ability to reveal humanity beneath stereotypes, particularly in pieces about a Filipina mail-order bride and a Hiroshima bombing survivor story.

Commentary

• War Bride No Tomodachi, by Harry Honda, page 4. A columnist recounts receiving nearly 50 testimonial letters from Japanese war brides across the U.S. praising Grace Watson, who helped countless Japanese women adjust to life in America after marrying American servicemen. The letters describe Watson’s decades of assistance with language, cultural adjustment, and personal hardships, prompting the author to advocate for her recognition by the Japanese government.
• Changes Called For, by Bob Shimabukuro, page 4. The departure of acting editor J.K. Yamamoto prompts a column examining the Pacific Citizen’s chronic editor turnover and conflicting demands from different JACL factions on the paper’s content and direction. The author argues the P.C. Board must establish coherent policy and that the paper’s management structure needs serious reform to prevent the publication’s decline.
• Terms of Internment, by Harry Honda, page 4. The columnist explores the Japanese-language terminology used for WWII internment camps, researching the kanji breakdown of ‘shu-yoo-sho’ and ‘hibakusha’ after realizing his assumptions about their meanings were partly incorrect. He discovers that shu-yoo-sho specifically referred to facilities for holding civilian internees and prisoners of war, explaining why Issei used that term for camps like Heart Mountain, Minidoka, Poston and Tule Lake.
• Are We Ready for the Big Push?, by Grayce Uyehara, page 5. JACL-LEC’s Washington director describes the grassroots lobbying effort for H.R. 442, including outreach to constituents nationwide and the need to maintain momentum during the August congressional recess. She urges continued letter-writing and notes that California Republicans should be enlisted to persuade Republican colleagues to support redress.
• Letter: Redress Legislation Risks Hohri Lawsuit, by William Hohri, page 5. William Hohri, National Chairperson of NCJAR, writes to explain concerns about extinguishment clauses in the redress bills S. 1009 and H.R. 442 that could jeopardize the Hohri v. U.S. class action lawsuit. He argues these clauses create legal uncertainty for former internees and describes efforts to have Congress fix the problem while maintaining NCJAR’s support for legislative redress.
• The Redress Majority, by Grayce Uyehara, page 5. Responding to claims of a ‘silent majority’ opposed to redress, the JACL-LEC director argues that most Nisei actively support and financially back the redress effort. She contends that speaking out about the internment experience, rather than remaining silent, represents true patriotism and that the $20,000 payment symbolizes remedy for lost constitutional freedoms.

JACL

• National JACL Board Motions, by P.C. Staff, page 5. The JACL National Board, meeting June 20-21 in San Francisco, passed numerous motions including approval of a Personnel Advisory Committee, selection of San Diego as the 1990 convention site, and designation of the Japanese American Library as repository for redress documents. Other actions included scholarship fund allocations and endorsement of a study on long-term effects of the WWII experience.
• Board Motions Continued: Anti-Asian Violence Testimony and Convention Invitation, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The National JACL Board approved testimony by Floyd Shimomura on anti-Asian violence before Congress and printing of an updated report on the subject. The board also approved extending an invitation to the National Association of Japanese Canadians to attend the 1988 Seattle convention and accepted recommendations regarding a personnel matter involving Carole Hayashino.

Military & Veterans

• Artist Honored, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Seattle Mayor Charles Royer proclaimed July 13 ‘Paul Horiuchi Day’ honoring the artist’s contributions to the city’s cultural growth through his abstract paintings and collages. Horiuchi, a longtime Seattle resident, has had works displayed in public and private collections across the U.S., Canada and Japan.

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