Redress bill gains co-sponsors as the Supreme Court sends NCJAR suit back

Vol. 104, No. 22, June 5, 1987. 8 pages. View this issue

The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that the NCJAR class action lawsuit must go back to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Pacific Citizen reported on it across its front page. William Hohri called the decision an avoidance of the central constitutional issues, while Reps. Mineta and Matsui pledged continued efforts for redress. The front page also followed the Senate redress bill, S. 1009: Sen. J. Danforth Quayle became its 74th co-sponsor, and Sen. Brock Adams explained in a letter why he backs it. Grayce Uyehara described the hearing and mark-up for H.R. 442 in her column.

Elsewhere in the issue: letters to the Detroit Free Press reacting to the Vincent Chin verdict, a report on anti-redress material mailed to Congress and the media, and the passing of aviator Henry Ohye. Bill Hosokawa reviewed a book on Japanese American women in domestic service, and the paper thanked readers for reaching its $40,000 typesetter goal. JACL chapters announced scholarship winners.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• High Court Sends NCJAR Suit Back to Lower Court, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that the NCJAR class action lawsuit must be remanded to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals rather than ruling on the merits. William Hohri called the decision an avoidance of the central constitutional issues, while Reps. Mineta and Matsui expressed disappointment but pledged continued efforts for redress.
• Ind. Senator Becomes 74th Co-Sponsor, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. J. Danforth Quayle of Indiana became the 74th co-sponsor of Senate redress bill S. 1009 on May 20. He joins fellow Indiana Republican Richard Lugar, who was an original co-sponsor when Sen. Spark Matsunaga introduced the bill.
• Sen. Adams Explains Why He Backs Bill, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Brock Adams of Washington wrote a letter to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer explaining his support for redress bill S. 1009, citing memories of classmates being taken to internment camps during WW2. He argued the government must provide restitution for the injustice despite the impossibility of fully undoing past harm.
• Anti-Redress Material Sent to Members of Congress, Media, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A letter opposing redress, signed by former Sen. S.I. Hayakawa and others, was sent to Congress and media outlets along with wartime photographs and a commentary attacking redress legislation. The material made disputed claims about wartime espionage and loyalty among Japanese Americans, which Rep. Norman Mineta dismissed as ‘entirely fiction.’
• Photo Exhibit on Internment to Be Displayed in N. Carolina, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The touring exhibit ‘Executive Order 9066,’ featuring photographs of WW2 internment camps mostly by Dorothea Lange, will be displayed at The Light Factory in Charlotte from June 5-30. The exhibit is co-sponsored by the Washington D.C. Chapter JACL, which will hold a reception for chapter members.

Military & Veterans

• Pioneer Nisei Aviator Henry Ohye Dead at 77, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Henry Ohye, founder of the Japanese American Aeronautics Association and the first Nisei to fly solo across the Pacific, died May 12 at age 77 after a fall. He overcame racial barriers to become a pilot and later organized air races open to flyers of all races.
• Five Memorial Scholarships Presented by Seattle Chapter, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Seattle JACL awarded four $500 Minoru Tamesa Memorial Scholarships and a Rev. Emery Andrews Memorial Scholarship during its annual scholarship awards dinner. A special scholarship from the Min Masuda Memorial Fund was also given to a graduate student from Japan.

Community

• Discrimination Charges Are Dropped in N.Y. Assault Case, by from a report by New York Nichibei, page 2. Three teenagers arrested for a January attack on three Chinese American high school students in Brooklyn were sentenced to community service and fines after pleading guilty only to harassment. Discrimination charges were dropped because victims could not identify which assailant had shouted racial slurs.
• Actor, Congressman to Speak at AAJA Scholarship Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Actor Sab Shimono and Rep. Robert Matsui will headline the Asian American Journalists Association Sacramento chapter’s scholarship banquet on June 6. Shimono will present scholarships to journalism students at the event.
• AP Women to Hold 4th State Conference, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Asian Pacific Women’s Network will hold its fourth biennial state conference, ‘Making Waves,’ June 27-28 at the Airport Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles. Keynote speakers include Jean Shinoda Bolen and Adele Scheele, with seminars on career and legal issues for women.
• Bill to Fund Internment Film Passed by Second Committee, by P.C. Staff, page 3. California Assembly Bill 1375, authored by Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Roos, was approved by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee to fund educational films on the Japanese American internment and the Armenian genocide for use in public schools. Leaders from both communities testified in support of the bill.
• Funds Being Raised for Chicago Nursing Home, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese American Service Committee launched a campaign to raise roughly $7.8 million to build the 150-bed Chicago Keiro Nursing Home, which will be the only ethnically-oriented facility of its kind east of the Rockies. The project has been endorsed by numerous Chicago-area Japanese American organizations and churches.
• Tennis Tourney, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Central California District Council JACL will hold a tennis tournament June 20 at Clovis High School to raise funds for the Nikkei Service Center, with a goal of about $4,000. Chapter sponsorship goals and entry fees were outlined for participating teams.
• Asian American Educators Honored During Heritage Week, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 8. Nine individuals active in education were honored at Los Angeles’s ninth annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Week dinner, with awards presented by Mayor Tom Bradley. The late astronaut Ellison Onizuka was remembered as a role model, and honorees included educators and administrators from across Southern California school districts.

Arts & Entertainment

• East West Offering ‘Classics’, by P.C. Staff, page 3. East West Players in Los Angeles will present Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Hughie’ starring Benjamin Lum and Sab Shimono, and Edward Albee’s ‘The Zoo Story’ starring Merv Maruyama and Keone Young, as part of its American Classic Series. The productions run through July with matinee and evening performances.

Commentary

• The Days of Domestic Service, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Bill Hosokawa reflects on his mother’s experience working as a domestic servant after immigrating, a common path for Issei seeking income and American cultural knowledge. He reviews Evelyn Nakano Glenn’s book ‘Issei, Nisei, War Bride,’ a sociological study of three generations of Japanese American women in domestic service.
• AIDS and AFSC, page 4. The columnist reflects on personal biases regarding AIDS and praises the American Friends Service Committee’s efforts to address the epidemic through education and health care. The piece cites alarming statistics on AIDS’s spread and urges the Japanese American community not to be complacent about the disease’s reach.
• Appointee’s Viewpoint, by William B. Allen, page 4. William B. Allen responds to criticism of his appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, defending his qualifications and expressing regret over the reaction. He raises concerns about racial quotas in college admissions and calls for broader Asian American civic engagement in civil rights issues.
• Women of Color and Reproductive Rights Conference, by Chizu Iiyama, page 5. Chizu Iiyama reports on the first National Conference on Women of Color and Reproductive Rights, sponsored by NOW, where she participated in panels on child care and empowerment. The conference featured keynote speaker Patsy Mink and highlighted the needs of immigrant and refugee Asian families alongside those of other communities of color.
• With a Little Help From Our Friends, by Grayce Uyehara, page 5. Grayce Uyehara recounts the successful April 29 hearing and May 13 mark-up session for redress bill H.R. 442, which advanced to the full House Judiciary Committee. She credits volunteers Richard Tani and John Nakahata for research assistance and details chapter fundraising and lobbying efforts across the country.
• Local Reaction to Vincent Chin Verdict, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Letters to the Detroit Free Press express outrage over the May 1 acquittal of Ronald Ebens on federal civil rights charges in the 1982 beating death of Vincent Chin. Writers condemn the verdict as a miscarriage of justice and criticize the original judge’s lenient sentencing in the case.

National

• Three Years — and $40,000 — Later, by J.K. Yamamoto, page 4. The Pacific Citizen’s three-year fundraising campaign for a new typesetting machine has surpassed its $40,000 goal, thanks to donations from individuals, chapters, and organizations. The paper thanked its readers for their support, which allowed it to purchase an upgraded Mergenthaler CRTronic 200 machine in 1985.

JACL

• Calif. Japanese Alumni Assn. Scholarship Recipients Named, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The California Japanese American Alumni Association announced 16 scholarship winners for 1987-88, totaling $15,000, selected from 91 applicants across UC campuses. Funds come from the 1974 sale of the UC Japanese Students Club, which was built to combat housing discrimination against JA students.

In-Depth

• University of Nebraska Professor Gets Award, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Dr. Peter Suzuki, professor of public administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, received the UNO Excellence in Teaching Award. Suzuki, who was interned during WW2, pioneered research on anthropology projects conducted in the camps and testified before the CWRIC in 1981.

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