Redress amendments, the Poston monument and the 442nd reunion

Vol. 115, No. 8, September 18, 1992. 8 pages. View this issue

Redress and the Civil Liberties Act led the news. The House passed H.R.4551 by voice vote, adding $400 million to pay about 20,000 more former internees, with Reps. Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta supporting it. JACL’s Dennis Hayashi and Karen Narasaki urged the Senate to follow. Also on the front page, the Poston monument was 80% complete, with a dedication set for Oct. 6, 1992, and veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team gathered in Honolulu for their 50th anniversary reunion.

Columns this week came from Bill Hosokawa, who wrote about speaking to a high school class as a witness to the World War II incarceration (often called internment), Bill Marutani, who looked at Japanese applicants for green cards, and JACL President Lillian C. Kimura, who set out a goal of 30,000 members by 2000. Other pages cover Kristi Yamaguchi turning professional, a Houston store closing, and golf and tennis tournament results.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• Poston Memorial Monument Nears Completion, page 1. The Poston Monument, a white marble concrete structure featuring a nine-foot stone lantern, is now 80% complete according to construction chief Ted Kobata. The monument will stand 29 feet tall on a 12-sided, 60-foot diameter plaza landscaped with palm trees, with a dedication ceremony scheduled for Oct. 6, 1992.
• Poston Monument Construction Update, page 2. Volunteers including Ted Kobata, Masateru Sunahara, Susumu Satow, Sid Arase, Masami Iwasa, Jim Kobata, Jim Namba and others have contributed over 3,000 hours to build the Poston monument over five weeks. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1992, with an estimated 1,400 former Poston internees expected to attend.

Military & Veterans

• For 442nd, It’s 50 Years and Counting, page 1. Veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from Hawaii and the Mainland are gathering in Honolulu for a five-day 50th anniversary reunion featuring a parade, banquets, golf tournament, fashion show and memorial service at Punchbowl crater. The reunion honors Nisei soldiers who enlisted from internment camps and Hawaii to serve despite facing discrimination and internment of their families.
• 442nd Veterans Reunion Marks 50th Anniversary, page 8. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team veterans reunion in Honolulu commemorates 50 years since Nisei soldiers enlisted from internment camps and Hawaii, facing discrimination even as they fought for a country that had stripped their families of constitutional rights. Nisei from camps joined Hawaiian counterparts at Camp Shelby, Mississippi for training before combat in Italy beginning June 1944.

National

• Redress Amendments Pass House Unanimously, page 1. The House passed H.R.4551 by voice vote, increasing redress funding under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by $400 million to cover a shortfall and pay an additional 20,000 former internees. Reps. Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta supported the bill, and the White House indicated President Bush would sign it if the Senate passes companion legislation.
• Income Drops for All—Including Asian Americans, page 1. Census Bureau data from a March 1992 survey showed real median income declined nationally due to slow economic growth, with Asian and Pacific Islander incomes also affected. The 1991 national poverty rate rose to 14.2 percent, with Asian-Pacific communities at 13.6 percent, not significantly different from the previous year.
• Ninth Arrest Made in Murder of Vietnamese Student, page 1. Florida police arrested a ninth suspect, Michael Barychko, in the racially motivated killing of Vietnamese American student Luyen Phan Nguyen, while two earlier-arrested men were released without charges. JACL National Director Dennis Hayashi and OCA’s Daphne Kwok expressed concern that the case could not be charged as a hate crime despite its clear racial overtones.
• Redress Funding Concerns Raised by Senator Fong, page 2. A letter from Senator Fong raised questions about whether Congress would need to reduce other entitlement programs to fund the redress expenditure if it is not treated as a true entitlement. JACL’s Karen Narasaki responded to concerns about the funding mechanism for the additional redress payments.
• Civil Rights Champion Joseph Rauh Dies, page 3. Joseph L. Rauh Jr., a prominent Washington civil rights attorney who served as general counsel for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, died of a heart attack at age 81. Rauh supported Japanese American redress and served as JACL counsel in Yen deposit claims cases, also receiving the Mike Masaoka Distinguished Public Service Award in 1972.
• N.Y. Times Renews Redress Support, page 4. The New York Times renewed editorial support for redress on Aug. 5, coinciding with the National JACL Convention in Denver. The Times declared that Congress has no excuse to underfinance the redress program given the small cost relative to the large moral imperative.

JACL

• JACL Applauds House Vote on Redress, page 1. JACL hailed passage of H.R.4551 as a major step toward full justice for interned Japanese Americans, with National Director Dennis Hayashi urging the Senate to pass companion bill S.2553. JACL Washington representative Karen Narasaki said constituent pressure remains crucial and credited Reps. Barney Frank and George Gekas for managing the bill.
• Reaching for 30,000, by Lillian C. Kimura, page 6. JACL National President Lillian Kimura discusses the organization’s goal of reaching 30,000 members by the year 2000, sharing ideas from her experience as New York Chapter president on recruiting and retaining members. She suggests strategies including telephone listings, membership brochures, gifting memberships to scholarship winners, and encouraging parents to involve their children in JACL.

Sports

• Kristi Goes Pro; Holds Option on Olympics, page 1. Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi has turned professional but remains undecided about competing in the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games, with a deadline of Feb. 19, 1993 to reapply for amateur status. She was also selected as grand marshal for the Fiesta Bowl Parade and will compete in World Professional Skating Championships.
• 1000 Club Golf Tournament Results, page 5. Mas Kinoshita and Kiyo Sakahara won the 1000 Club trophies at the annual Seattle and Puyallup Valley JACL-sponsored golf tournament at Allenmore Golf Club in Tacoma. The awards dinner followed at the Poodle Dog Restaurant in Fife, with support from local businesses providing prizes.
• San Jose JACL Tennis Tournament Draws 50 Pairs, page 5. Fifty pairs participated in the annual San Jose JACL doubles tennis tournament at West Valley College, organized by tournament director Sayeko Nakamura. Winners were listed across multiple flights in men’s and women’s divisions.

Community

• Ross Harano Named Illinois Elector, page 3. Ross Harano was confirmed as the Illinois elector for the Electoral College for the 1992 presidential election, becoming the first Asian American confirmed for this position by the Illinois Democratic Party. Harano, co-chairman of the Asian Pacific American Democratic Council of Illinois, will cast an electoral vote for Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
• Nikkei Caught in Hawaii Storm, page 3. Los Angeles municipal court judge Robert Hanki was vacationing in Kauai when Hurricane Iniki struck, rushing to be with his sister-in-law during the storm. Honolulu JACL Chapter president Bill Kaneko said steps were being taken to assist storm victims despite the chapter having no members on Kauai.
• Women’s Conference Set for Oct. 2-3, page 3. The Asian Pacific Women’s Network’s 1992 National Conference, themed ‘Shaping Our Future,’ will address sexual harassment, the glass ceiling, the L.A. riots and childcare issues. The event includes the annual Woman Warrior awards dinner honoring women including Sudha Pennathur, Helen Zia, Patricia Eng and Rosemary Danon.
• Asian Store Closes After Shooting, by Herb Ogawa, page 4. Vietnamese immigrant store owner Hung Nguyen closed his Houston minimart after months of protests following his fatal shooting of a Black youth over a stolen beer. His sister Paula Nguyen said the daily picketing and boycott calls became too much to bear despite efforts to resolve tensions with the community.
• Group Promotes Racial Unity, page 4. A Seattle councilwoman formed the Pacific-Black Coalition, a 20-member group of community, business and student leaders to address social, economic and cultural forces fueling racial misunderstanding. Formed in May following the Los Angeles riots, the coalition has been working quietly to develop a concrete action plan.
• Hawaii Court Rules on ‘Yen’ Evaluation, page 4. The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 26 that property value assessments should not depend on prices paid by Japanese buyers for comparable properties. The ruling came in a dispute over the appraised value of a Black Point lot owned by Mary G. Steiner, with the court setting a lower assessed value than the city’s appraisal.

Commentary

• As a Live Witness to Evacuation, by Bill Hosokawa, page 6. The columnist reflects on visiting a high school class to share his firsthand experience of the WWII Japanese American internment, quoting appreciative letters from students who learned about the injustice. He argues that having living witnesses share their stories has a greater impact than textbook lectures alone in teaching new generations about civil rights and constitutional principles.
• Green Card ‘Alien’ Residents, by Bill Marutani, page 6. The columnist discusses the surprising number of Japanese nationals—around 100,000 in 1991—applying for U.S. permanent resident status through the ‘Diversity Immigrant Visa’ lottery program despite Japan’s strong economy. He notes that businesses have emerged in Japan charging high fees to help applicants navigate the complex 20-plus form process, while questioning why Japanese would leave a prosperous homeland for America.

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.