Redress bill stalled in the Senate, plus Asian American candidates in local elections

Vol. 106, No. 15, April 15, 1988. 8 pages. View this issue

The front page of this issue led with local elections in Southern California, where Dr. Judy Chu led the field for Monterey Park city council and incumbents Michael Mitoma and Dr. Paul Tsukahara fared well, while Jonathan Kaji lost his bid for Gardena city treasurer. Grayce Uyehara reported that Congress came back from Easter recess without voting on the redress bill, S. 1009, as JACL-LEC stepped up a letter and mailgram campaign to the White House. Rep. Robert T. Matsui announced an amendment to the census bill on how Asian American subgroups would be counted.

On the commentary pages, Marshall Sumida and Joe Oyama wrote about newly revealed details of the Hirabayashi case, and Bill Hosokawa described a memorial at the site of the Walerga Assembly Center. Clifford Uyeda wrote about ethnic Koreans in Japan, and Harry K. Honda reviewed a book on Japanese Texans. The Little Tokyo Service Center’s Nikkei Helpline also appeared in these pages.

What’s in this issue

National

• Asian Americans Look Good in Local Elections, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Asian American candidates had mixed results in April 12 Southern California elections, with Dr. Judy Chu leading the field for Monterey Park city council and incumbent Michael Mitoma leading in Carson. Jonathan Kaji lost his bid for Gardena city treasurer while incumbent Dr. Paul Tsukahara won his council race.
• Japan to Handle Issue of Re-entry Permits ‘Flexibly’, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Japan’s Justice Minister Yukio Hayashida announced that local offices will flexibly handle re-entry permits for foreign residents who refuse fingerprinting under Japan’s Alien Registration Law. The policy change comes ahead of newly revised fingerprinting rules and follows requests including those from Japanese American missionary Ronald Fujiyoshi.
• Matsui to Amend Census Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Robert T. Matsui announced he will amend H.R. 3828 to require the Census Bureau to use a check-off system rather than a fill-in-the-blank method for tabulating Asian American subgroups in the 1990 census. Matsui argued the check-off system used in 1980 would be more efficient and accurate given language barriers faced by many Asian Americans.
• Woo Running For U.S. Senate, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Delaware Lt. Gov. S.B. Woo plans to challenge incumbent Sen. William Roth, partly relying on fundraising from the Chinese American community. If elected, Woo would be the first Chinese American senator since Hawaii’s Hiram Fong.
• Asian Americans Examined in Article, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article examining Asian American influence on California’s higher education policies. The piece covered a February conference in Oakland where 350 Asian American leaders formed a statewide lobbying group.

Community

• Shoe Advertisement Insults Japanese, Chinese, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Florsheim shoe ad in Working Woman magazine conflating Japanese footwear with Chinese foot-binding angered San Francisco resident Nikki Bridges, who wrote letters of protest to the company and the magazine. Florsheim’s president replied acknowledging the complaint and agreed to discontinue the ad.
• Mother Kills Self, 2 Children, by P.C. Staff, page 1. In an apparent case of oyaku shinju, Mitsui Sakai and her two young daughters died of smoke inhalation after a house fire in Anaheim, California. The family reportedly had been experiencing marital problems.
• CSULB Scholarship Remembers Toshima, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A scholarship fund was established in memory of Karen Chikako Toshima, a CSULB design graduate killed by a stray bullet in gang crossfire in Westwood. The fund will award $500 annually to a design/art student at CSULB.
• LTSC Sponsors Nikkei Helpline, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Little Tokyo Service Center sponsors a 24-hour bilingual Nikkei Helpline staffed by nearly 30 volunteers to assist Japanese and Japanese Americans with various concerns. The free service, funded by donations and an AT&T grant, covers a wide area of Southern California and helps with referrals ranging from medical care to substance abuse.
• Native Americans’ Pleas to Ban Textbooks Are Rejected, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Utah State Textbook Commission rejected requests from Native Americans to remove a textbook containing stories depicting Native Americans as savages, instead opting to supplement it with material addressing changed perceptions. Critics including teachers Roger and Bimmer Horsen argued the decision fails to address the degrading content or promote self-esteem among Native American children.
• APSU Holding Berkeley Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Asian and Pacific Islander Student Union will hold its tenth annual statewide conference at UC Berkeley, featuring workshops on topics like anti-Asian violence and community empowerment. Keynote speakers include Mabel Teng and Rep. Norman Mineta, continuing APSU’s decade-long history of activism since its 1978 founding in response to the Bakke decision.
• JACL Chapters Offered Fund-Raising Premium, by P.C. Staff, page 8. JACL chapters will be offered a discount on Mike Masaoka’s autobiography ‘They Call Me Moses Masaoka’ for fund-raising purposes when ordered in bulk from the Pacific Citizen. Details were being mailed to chapters according to general manager Harry Honda.

Incarceration & Redress

• S. 1009: No Action Yet, by Grayce Uyehara, page 1. Congress returned from Easter recess without voting on redress bill S. 1009, as the Senate dealt with other legislation including a filibuster and Contra-aid package. JACL-LEC is ramping up a letter and mailgram campaign to the White House, with legal strategists noting the Justice Department’s position on redress is now under review.

In-Depth

• AA Studies Prize Established at Yale, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Yale University established the Henry Kazumi Hayase Prize in American Studies, the first undergraduate prize in Asian American Studies in the nation, honoring Hayase’s pioneering contributions to Asian American student life at Yale. Hayase, who died young after a distinguished career bridging U.S.-Japan relations, inspired changes to admissions policies and counseling programs for minority students.

Commentary

• A Conspiracy to Commit Fraud on the Court, by Marshall Sumida and Joe Oyama, page 4. This article examines newly revealed details from Peter Irons’ ‘Justice at War’ about collusion between the War Department and West Coast officials to misrepresent facts to the Supreme Court during the Hirabayashi case. It traces how Deputy Attorney General Herbert Wenig secretly assisted Gen. DeWitt’s legal team while nominally working with the California Attorney General’s office, concealing his dual role from the Justice Department.
• Saito: Distinguished Alumnus, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This editorial honors John J. Saito, completing ten years as JACL regional director at the Pacific Southwest District Office, who will be recognized by Loyola Marymount University’s Asian Pacific Alumni Association as its 1988 distinguished alumnus. The piece recounts his decade of work on employment discrimination cases, chapter outreach, and community service on various commissions.
• Appealing to Lungren, by Mas Odoi, page 4. In this letter to the editor, Mas Odoi describes meeting with Dr. S.I. Hayakawa to urge him to reconsider his opposition to redress legislation, and shares his letter to Rep. Dan Lungren appealing for support of H.R. 442. Odoi, a Purple Heart veteran of the 442nd RCT, outlines the financial and psychological toll of internment and urges compassionate consideration of redress.
• Urging Support for Hamamoto and Choe, by Gunnar Olsborg, page 4. A Seattle reader writes expressing astonishment at the four-year delay in addressing discrimination against police officers Won Nok Choe and Gary Hamamoto, urging greater media and public campaign efforts on their behalf. The letter calls for Southern Californians to support these qualified young officers and questions why they face different treatment than other ethnic groups.
• Koreans in Japan, by Clifford Uyeda, page 5. This column details the long, interwoven history between Japanese and Korean culture and highlights the ongoing discrimination faced by ethnic Koreans living in Japan despite generations of residency. It also profiles missionary Ronald Fujiyoshi’s activism against fingerprinting requirements and recounts the rejection of a Golden Gate JACL resolution on the issue at the 1984 convention.
• Building a Memorial to a Mutual Ordeal, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Columnist Bill Hosokawa recounts visiting the site of the former Walerga Assembly Center near Sacramento, now a small park, where community members raised funds for a memorial plaque honoring the 4,739 Japanese Americans detained there in 1942. He also reminisces about his time working on the Tulean Dispatch camp newspaper at Tule Lake and an upcoming reunion of its staff.
• For the Record, by P.C. Staff, page 5. This correction notes that an earlier article misstated that the mainland contributed only 80 internees to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, when the correct figure was 800. Pacific Citizen regrets the error.

Arts & Entertainment

• The Eyes of Texas, by Harry K. Honda, page 4. This book review covers Thomas K. Walls’ ‘The Japanese Texans,’ a history of Japanese communities in Texas including the WWII internment camps at Crystal City, Seagoville, and Kenedy. The reviewer notes the book’s omission of El Paso’s prewar Japanese community and highlights the story of Texas-born Nisei POW Sgt. Frank Fujita.

JACL

• JACL Is Not the Organization for U.S./Japan Relations, by Hank Tanaka, page 8. In this opinion piece reprinted from the Cleveland JACL Chapter Newsletter, Hank Tanaka criticizes proposed plans, dubbed the ‘Yasuhara Plan,’ for JACL to take on a new role improving U.S.-Japan relations after redress passes. He argues JACL lacks competence in international trade issues and that stereotyping of Japanese Americans is a domestic public education issue, not an international one.

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