Redress at a critical point: lobbying, a veterans’ lawsuit and funding

Vol. 108, No. 9, March 10, 1989. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress was the main story of this eight-page issue. JACL’s Legislative Education Committee met in San Francisco to plan lobbying ahead of a House hearing on redress appropriations and to step up fundraising. Justice Department officials James Turner and Bob Bratt testified for more redress money, noting that 100 to 200 eligible persons die each month. The American War Veterans Relief Association announced plans for an injunction against the Civil Liberties Act, and Jerry Enomoto, Bill Yoshino, Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta called the suit frivolous. The front page also carried a Stockton schoolyard shooting, the reintroduced Hate Crimes Statistics Act, and Sen. Spark Matsunaga’s return to the Senate after a fall.

Elsewhere, five JACL chapters held a Day of Remembrance ceremony in Salinas for the 47th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, and Joanne Bertsche wrote about Pima guides at the Gila River Reservation. Bill Hosokawa collected Nikkei puns, and Cynthia Takano reported on Ron Takaki’s talk on Nikkei literature. The issue also covered the play Webster Street Blues at East West Players.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• Redress Campaign Continues at JACL-LEC Meeting, by Seriguchi, page 1. JACL’s Legislative Education Committee met in San Francisco to plan lobbying efforts ahead of a House hearing on redress appropriations and to step up fundraising, possibly through a summer banquet. The board also discussed eligibility requirements, state treatment of redress payments, and appreciation plaques for veterans groups that supported redress.
• JACL Credit Union Asks for Account Designations, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The National JACL Credit Union has been sending Membership and Account Agreement forms since November 1988 to members who have not designated a co-owner or beneficiary. Members are urged to complete and return the forms to help their families in the event of the member’s death.
• JACL-LEC Meeting: Redress Campaign Continues (cont.), by P.C. Staff, page 3. Continuing coverage detailed LEC’s efforts including surveying states’ tax treatment of redress payments, pushing the Office of Personnel Management to address wartime job discrimination, and presenting appreciation plaques to veterans groups. The board also elected new members and retained its slate of officers including chair Jerry Enomoto.
• Organizational Changes Are an Enormous Task, by Hank Tanaka, page 5. Hank Tanaka describes his appointment as chair of JACL’s Long Range Planning Committee and the challenge of ensuring the committee’s recommendations are implemented rather than shelved. The planning process will include workshops at district council meetings throughout 1989, culminating in a 1990 national strategic planning session.

Incarceration & Redress

• Vets’ Group Plans Injunction to Stop Redress, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The American War Veterans Relief Association announced plans to file an injunction challenging the constitutionality of the redress law, arguing it unfairly excludes German and Italian Americans who were also interned. JACL leaders including Jerry Enomoto and Cressey Nakagawa called the suit frivolous and an attempt to delay redress appropriations.
• Turner, Bratt Testify for More Redress Money, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Justice Department officials James Turner and Bob Bratt testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the need for timely redress payments, noting that 100-200 eligible persons die each month. The Administration’s proposed $20 million budget for fiscal 1990 falls far short of the $500 million requested by the Justice Department.
• Injunction Called Frivolous by JACL Leaders, by P.C. Staff, page 5. JACL National Director Bill Yoshino and Congressmen Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta strongly criticized the American War Veterans Relief Association’s planned injunction against redress as frivolous and part of a misguided campaign. They affirmed the constitutionality of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

National

• Sen. Matsunaga on Duty in Senate Despite Mishap, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Spark Matsunaga attended a Senate Finance Committee hearing and cast votes despite sustaining two broken ribs and a hairline leg fracture from a fall at his home. He voted to confirm several Cabinet nominees in the 101st Congress.
• Hate Crimes Bill Reintroduced in Congress, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. John Conyers and Sen. Paul Simon reintroduced the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, which would require the Justice Department to collect data on crimes motivated by race, religion, and sexual orientation. Reps. Norman Mineta and Robert Matsui voiced support, saying current statistics are inadequate to address the problem.
• JACL Urging State Investigation of Jan. Stockton School Shooting, by P.C. Staff, page 1. National JACL asked California Attorney General John Van de Kamp to investigate possible racial motivation behind the Stockton schoolyard shooting that killed five Southeast Asian children. JACL leaders cited rising anti-Asian violence and local law enforcement’s conclusion that no racial motive existed.
• Texas Bishops Denounce ‘Concentration Camp’ for Latins, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Catholic bishops of Texas denounced a new INS plan to detain Central American asylum seekers, comparing it to the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans. The bishops called for the U.S. to revise its Central America policy, citing civil war violence driving refugees to the border.
• Mineta Upset By Hotel’s Abbreviation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Rep. Norman Mineta objected after a hotel bill abbreviated the Japanese American National Museum as ‘Jap/Amer National Museum’ during a board meeting in Los Angeles. The hotel’s manager and a Stouffer Hotels executive responded with apologies, assuring Mineta the error was inadvertent and would not recur.
• Floyd Introduces Legislation to Distinguish Asian Pacific Groups, by P.C. Staff, page 5. California Assemblyman Richard Floyd introduced legislation requiring state agencies to use separate data categories for different Asian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups rather than lumping them together. The bill mirrors a recent U.S. Census Bureau policy change and a recommendation from the Attorney General’s Asian and Pacific Islander Advisory Committee.

Obituaries

• Canadian Author Ken Adachi Found Dead at Home, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Nisei author and former Toronto Star book critic Ken Adachi, 60, was found dead at his home from an apparent drug overdose, days after leaving the Star amid plagiarism allegations. He authored ‘The Enemy That Never Was,’ a history of Japanese Canadians, and had been an outspoken critic of Canada’s wartime treatment of Japanese Canadians.

Community

• 5 JACL Chapters Co-Sponsor Kinen-hi Ceremonies at Salinas Assembly Campsite, by Fred Oshima, page 2. Five area JACL chapters sponsored a Day of Remembrance ceremony at the Kinen-hi Japanese Garden in Salinas, marking the 47th anniversary of Executive Order 9066. The garden memorializes the site of a temporary assembly center for Central California Coast Japanese Americans during WWII.
• Urgent Need to Preserve Nikkei Artifacts, Information Stressed, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Irene Hirano, director of the Japanese American National Museum, spoke at the St. Louis JACL Chapter installation dinner about the urgent need to catalog and preserve Nikkei artifacts and information. She suggested families preserve their own items while a national data bank could track locations for future research.
• Mt. Olympus JACL Planning Reunion for July 21-22, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Mt. Olympus JACL Chapter is organizing a reunion in Salt Lake City for July 21-22, including a Friday banquet and Saturday picnic with the Old Farmers Group. Organizers are gathering addresses of former area residents to send notices.
• Greater Portland Area Reunion in 1990 Slated, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A Greater Portland Reunion is planned for August 3-5, 1990, featuring golf, fishing, sightseeing and a banquet. Organizers seek to hear from anyone who lived prewar in the greater Portland area including Vancouver, Hood River, Salem, Gresham and Hillsboro.
• Gila River Butte High ’45 Reunion Set Oct. 6-7, by P.C. Staff, page 5. A 40th year reunion for the Butte High School Class of 1945 from Gila River, Arizona is planned for October 6-7 in Torrance, California. General chairperson May Higa said about half of the classmates have responded so far, with regional contacts listed for further details.
• Velina Houston to Speak at UPAC Dinner on May 6, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Playwright Velina Hasu Houston will be the featured speaker at the Union of Pan Asian Communities’ sixth annual dinner in La Jolla, discussing her experience as an Amerasian living between two cultures. Houston, known for her acclaimed play ‘Tea,’ was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and an American serviceman.
• Nisei Week Queen Candidates Sought, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center is seeking candidates for its 1989 Miss ESGV JCC queen contest, with the winner representing the center at the Nisei Week queen pageant. Applicants must be 19-25, never married, of partial Japanese descent, and residents of the greater San Gabriel Valley area.
• Sacramento Crab Feast Benefits New JACL Office, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Sacramento JACL’s annual crab feed drew more than 300 attendees to the Sacramento Betsuin Hall, raising funds for the chapter’s newly opened office. Numerous local businesses and individuals made cash donations ranging from $25 to over $100 for the office fund.
• The Newsmakers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. This roundup covers several Japanese American appointees and honorees, including Sumi Kobayashi’s appointment to the Pennsylvania Heritage Affairs Commission, Judge Ida K. Chen’s campaign for a full term on Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, and Dr. Allan Seid’s recognition by the Pathway Society in San Jose. It also notes John Sugihara’s appointment to a Contra Costa agricultural association and Gary Locke’s new role chairing Washington State’s House Appropriations Committee.

Commentary

• Editorial: Do They Know? Do They Care?, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial discusses a Pete Hironaka cartoon illustrating the double standard applied to Japanese investment in the U.S. compared to British, Dutch, and French investments. It notes the irony that JACL’s fight against anti-alien land laws made it possible for Japanese nationals to buy American property today.
• Pima Indians Recall Injustice Against Japanese Americans, by Joanne Bertsche, page 4. The author recounts a visit to the Gila River Reservation where Pima guides spoke about the WWII internment of Japanese Americans on their land, showing more concern for that injustice than their own. She reflects on the lack of a memorial at the Butte internment camp site despite the harsh conditions endured there.
• Everyday Nikkei Humor or A Pun in Mai Asa, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa revisits the topic of Japanese American humor, sharing reader-submitted jokes and puns involving Japanese words, including stories from Nikki Sawada Bridges, Mas Odoi, and Ryo Uchida. He recounts the story of Rev. Ichiro Noda, who became a minister after misunderstanding a word from evangelist Toyohiko Kagawa.
• Japan’s Era from Showa to Heisei, by Masaru Ogawa, page 4. The author reflects on the 62-year Showa Era, marked by wartime turbulence followed by postwar peace and economic recovery, and the debates over Emperor Showa’s war responsibility. He expresses hope that Emperor Akihito’s new Heisei Era will continue the emperor’s role as a peaceful symbol of the nation.

In-Depth

• Ron Takaki Talks About Nikkei Literature, by Cynthia Takano, page 5. UC Berkeley professor Ron Takaki spoke at Pasadena City College about Japanese American literature, drawing on the work songs and poetry of early Issei immigrants to illustrate their struggles and resilience. Takaki emphasized the importance of listening to immigrants’ own voices to reclaim their history, in a lecture launching a series on Asian/Pacific Americans.

Arts & Entertainment

• ‘Webster St. Blues’ Ready for Run at East West Players, by P.C. Staff, page 5. East West Players presents the Los Angeles premiere of the late Warren Sumio Kubota’s play ‘Webster Street Blues,’ directed by Nobu McCarthy, about four friends growing up in 1970s San Francisco Japantown. The play was voted best new play by San Francisco-area critics and features Susan Haruye Ioka, John Miyasaki, Yuji Okumoto and Marilyn Tokuda.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.