Redress bill sponsors, Hawaii’s House Speaker, and a Smithsonian exhibit

Vol. 104, No. 12, March 27, 1987. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress led the front page. Sen. Spark Matsunaga planned to introduce the Senate redress bill on March 26 with at least 60 co-sponsors, and six more senators had signed on. The same page told of the sudden death of Hawaii House Speaker Richard Kawakami at 56, a profile of Rep. Patricia Saiki, and the dedication of a plaque at Walerga Park in Sacramento, site of a World War II assembly center. It also reported that the Smithsonian’s coming exhibit on Japanese Americans and the Constitution had already drawn hate mail.

Inside, Bill Marutani wrote on crime, incarceration and racism, and Bill Hosokawa remembered Sim Togasaki. A column on admissions looked at Asian American students and the perception of overrepresentation. JACL chapter news covered Jerry Enomoto’s election as LEC chair, joint installations in Southern California, and St. Louis installing its 1987 officers. Page 8 carried a call for artifacts from the camp period and a benefit for the Asian Law Alliance featuring George Takei.

What’s in this issue

National

• Date Set for Introduction of Senate Redress Bill; Six Sponsors Added, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Spark Matsunaga planned to introduce the Senate redress bill on March 26 with at least 60 co-sponsors, with new senators including DeConcini, Sanford, Boren, Garn, Hatch and Stafford joining. LEC executive director Grayce Uyehara praised Matsunaga’s efforts as a model for advancing redress in Congress.
• Kawakami, Hawaii’s House Speaker, Dies Suddenly at 56, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Hawaii House Speaker Richard Kawakami died of an apparent heart attack while on a hunting trip in Lanai, just weeks after assuming the speakership. He was remembered by colleagues for his quiet, cooperative leadership style and decades of service on water and land issues.
• Congresswoman Saiki Is Three Minorities in One, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Patricia Saiki, the first Japanese American Republican woman in Congress, described herself as a minority within her party, her ethnicity, and her state’s political landscape. Speaking at a Gardena banquet, she discussed her electoral victory, her diverse Honolulu district, and issues like trade protectionism and education facing Congress.
• Smithsonian Gets Hate Mail on JA Exhibit, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Smithsonian Institution’s upcoming exhibit ‘A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the United States Constitution’ has already drawn hate mail from veterans and others prior to its October opening. Museum director Roger Kennedy and curator Tom Crouch defended the exhibit as a human story about constitutional rights and the ongoing process of redress.
• Smithsonian Exhibit Traces Constitutional Questions Raised by Internment, page 3. Continuing coverage of the Smithsonian’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ exhibit explains its origins in a smaller San Francisco show about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and its broader scope using oral histories. Attorney Angus MacBeth discussed opposition to redress rooted in wartime justification arguments and confusion between Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals.

Incarceration & Redress

• Walerga Park: WW2 Assembly Center Site Memorialized With Plaque, by P.C. Staff, page 1. More than 250 people attended the dedication of a bronze marker and shade structure at Walerga Park in Sacramento, site of a WW2 assembly center that detained nearly 4,739 Japanese Americans. Former National JACL president Jerry Enomoto gave the keynote address, noting redress progress at state and county levels while federal legislation remains pending.

Obituaries

• PC Contributor Take Beekman Dies in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Pacific Citizen contributor Take Beekman, 81, died in Honolulu after a long illness, having been a Japanese-language teacher and translator who collaborated with her husband Allan on articles about Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. She is best known for her short story ‘No Place Beneath the Rising Sun,’ based on an incident during the Pearl Harbor attack at a Japanese-language school.

Military & Veterans

• Alex Nobuo Yorichi, WW2 and Korea/Vietnam Veteran, Dies, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Alex Nobuo Yorichi, 66, a member of Japan JACL and veteran of WW2, Korea and Vietnam, died of cancer on Jan. 31. He was interned at Tanforan and Topaz before reentering the Army in 1942 and serving in the China-Burma-India theater, later becoming a retired Army major and DoD civilian.

Community

• National Japanese American Historical Society Receives $25,000 Grant, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The San Francisco-based National Japanese American Historical Society received a $25,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. NJAHS representatives thanked foundation officials, and the funds will be used to expand the organization’s collection.
• JA Heads Salt Lake City Human Resources Office, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Karen Suzuki-Hashimoto was appointed director of Salt Lake City’s newly created Office of Human Resources, which merges personnel, risk management, and labor relations divisions. She previously managed human resources at FHP and served as director of the Utah Division of Personnel Management.
• Redress Booklet Available to JACL Chapters, by P.C. Staff, page 5. JACL chapters can order copies of the pictorial booklet ‘Redress: The American Promise’ for $1 each through the Washington JACL Office. Checks should be made payable to JACL-LEC.
• Law Caucus to Hear Veteran Rights Activist, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Asian Law Caucus will celebrate its 15th anniversary with keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, a former Wilmington Ten defendant, at a San Francisco event. ALC has grown from a storefront office into a nationally recognized organization handling housing, immigration, employment and community education cases, including work on Fred Korematsu’s coram nobis case.
• Rising Stars Honored by State Senate, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Mas Fukai, chief deputy to LA County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, and Dennis Nishikawa, member of the LA Board of Public Works, received California Senate resolutions from Sen. Art Torres recognizing their promotions. The presentation occurred at a reception at the New Otani Hotel sponsored by the Asian Pacific Planning Council.
• Nominations Being Taken for Tatsukawa Memorial Award, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Nominations are open for the 1987 Steve Tatsukawa Memorial Fund Award, a $1,000 honor recognizing community service and creative achievement in Asian Pacific American media arts. Tatsukawa was involved with Gidra newspaper, Visual Communications, and produced the film ‘Hito Hata’ before his death in 1984.
• Center Seeks Artifacts From Camp Period, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The San Jose Commission on the Internment of Local Japanese Americans is seeking camp art, handicrafts, and other wartime internment objects for an archive and resource center. The commission’s final report, ‘With Liberty and Justice for All,’ has led to a high school curriculum now being taught in local schools.
• Asian Law Alliance Benefit to Honor Four for Community Work, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Actor George Takei will speak at a San Jose benefit dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of Asian Law Alliance, which provides low-cost legal services to Asian Pacific and low-income communities. Four honorees include Masuo Akizuki, Michael Honda, Jacinto Siquig, and Connie Young Yu for their community contributions.

Commentary

• JACL Personnel Manual: A Framework for Discussion, page 4. A legal analysis column examines a proposed JACL personnel manual that would shift authority from the national director to a new three-member personnel committee appointed by the national president. The piece outlines concerns about legal compliance, procedural changes, and reductions in staff benefits, urging careful board deliberation.
• Crime, Incarceration, and Racism in America, by Bill Marutani, page 4. Columnist Bill Marutani examines U.S. incarceration statistics showing racial disparities, noting Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are imprisoned at far higher rates than whites. He argues racism is a primary driver of these disparities, citing the lesser recognition given to 442nd soldiers compared to white soldiers for similar valor.
• Sim Togasaki: Pragmatic Visionary, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Bill Hosokawa remembers Sim Togasaki, an early JACL leader and fundraiser who died after years of declining health, highlighting his remarkable family and his pivotal role at the 1942 JACL emergency conference urging military service. Togasaki later worked with Heifer Project to help Japanese and Okinawan farmers rebuild after the war.
• Asian Student Admissions and the Perception of Overrepresentation, page 5. A commentary examines growing tensions over Asian American student admissions at universities like UC Berkeley, where introduction of ‘supplemental criteria’ coincided with a decline in Asian enrollment. The author calls for clear distinctions between academic admissions debates and separate special admissions programs for other minorities.

JACL

• Florin JACL Awards Scholarship to Mark Shigeo Alicaya, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Florin JACL’s $200 scholarship was awarded this year to Mark Shigeo Alicaya of Elk Grove High School. He plans to study accounting at UC Santa Cruz or CSU Sacramento.
• So. California Chapters Hold Joint Installation Program, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Eight Southern California JACL chapters co-sponsored a joint installation dinner-dance at the Wilshire Hyatt attracting 300 attendees. The event featured officer installations by Pacific Southwest regional director John Saito and an award presentation to Joyce Enomoto for coordinating the ‘Conquer the Bridge’ 8K run.
• Credit Union Has New Rates, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Chicago JACL Federal Credit Union announced a new lending rate of 8.5 percent for all new loans at its March 5 meeting. All loans are covered by credit life insurance, free life insurance, and deposit insurance from the National Credit Union Association.
• Enomoto Named LEC Chair, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Former National JACL president Jerry Enomoto of Sacramento was elected chairman of the Legislative Education Committee for 1987 during a board meeting at JACL National Headquarters. Other new officers include Grant Ujifusa, Cherry Kinoshita, Shig Wakamatsu and Mollie Fujioka, while Gary Glenn filled the vacancy left by the death of Minoru Yasui.
• St. Louis Installs ’87 Officers, by P.C. Staff, page 7. St. Louis JACL held its 41st inaugural dinner, installing George Sakaguchi as president along with a full slate of officers. Guest speakers William Yoshino and James Shimoura addressed JACL’s future direction and anti-Asian violence.

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