Bill Lann Lee, Paul Igasaki and a new year for JACL

Vol. 126, No. 1, January 2, 1998. 53 pages. View this issue

Appointments in Washington led the first issue of 1998. President Clinton named Bill Lann Lee acting assistant attorney general for civil rights and gave Paul Igasaki a recess appointment to a second term at the EEOC. Bob Sakaniwa looked back on 1997 and ahead to the civil rights fights of 1998, while National President Helen Kawagoe and National Director Herb Yamanishi wrote about JACL’s membership drives, finances and the upcoming national convention in Philadelphia.

Also inside: Grant Ujifusa’s redress conference speech on winning support for the Civil Liberties Act, and Harry K. Honda’s look at JACL’s postwar reparations campaign. A report on the Kooskia, Idaho internment camp sought detainees’ families for interviews, and the 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team were remembered in a combat retrospective. Chapter news came from Watsonville, Sonoma County, Seattle and Selanoco, and three pages carry holiday greetings.

What’s in this issue

National

• Recess Appointment Allows Igasaki to Serve Second Term as EEOC Commissioner and Vice Chair, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Clinton gave Paul Igasaki a recess appointment as commissioner and vice chair of the EEOC on Dec. 16, allowing him to begin a second term while awaiting full Senate confirmation. Igasaki previously served as JACL’s Washington representative and executive director of the Asian Law Caucus before joining the EEOC in 1994.RESPONSE
• Census Bureau Offers Asian American Profile, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Census Bureau report released Dec. 9 found Asian Americans are younger, more concentrated in the West, more likely to live in metropolitan areas, and more likely to hold college degrees than the general population. The report also found lower divorce rates and higher rates of never-married individuals among Asians compared to other Americans.
• New Year Ushers APA Hope for ‘Acting’ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, by P.C. Staff, page 1. President Clinton named Bill Lann Lee acting assistant attorney general for civil rights on Dec. 15, with plans to resubmit his nomination for full Senate confirmation. National JACL leaders Helen Kawagoe and Herbert Yamanishi praised the appointment as an important signal of support for APA political empowerment.
• APAs Organize National Voice on Public Policy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Over 20 Asian Pacific American groups gathered in San Francisco during the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Conference to form the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA). The new coalition, which includes JACL, aims to provide a unified national voice and has already passed a resolution supporting Bill Lann Lee’s confirmation.

Commentary

• What We Have Learned From 1997, by Bob Sakaniwa, page 1. The Washington JACL representative reviews 1997’s mixed record for the APA community, from record voter turnout efforts to the DNC’s damaging campaign finance scandal that scapegoated legal permanent residents. He warns that 1998 will bring continued civil rights battles including affirmative action, hate crimes legislation, and the fight to remove “acting” from Bill Lann Lee’s title.
• AALDEF and the Fight Against Discrimination at Denny’s and Beyond, by Bill Marutani, page 4. Marutani discusses the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s ongoing work, including a lawsuit against Denny’s after Asian American students were assaulted at a Syracuse restaurant and denied service while security guards allegedly stood by. He also details AALDEF’s successful lawsuit against a Chinatown restaurant for wage violations and reflects on his involvement in the organization’s founding.
• From the Frying Pan: Greater ‘Lives’ for Retired Nisei Unfolded, by Bill Hosokawa, page 4. Hosokawa reflects on a New York JACL chapter’s video interviews with veteran members and highlights several retired Nisei who took their skills abroad after retirement, including one who helped Saudi Arabia with forestry conservation and others who provided medical care in the Philippines and Africa. He notes these individuals disprove any notion that Nisei lives were “blah.”
• My Nisei Draft Board, by Akemi Kayleng Knight, page 4. Knight reflects on being “drafted” into leadership roles she never sought, including her chapter presidency and her Pacific Citizen column, despite having no prior formal experience. She discusses her generational identity as a postwar Japanese American navigating between traditional Japantown culture and mainstream American values.
• True Confessions: Now & Then, At 70, by Sachi Seko, page 6. In this reflective personal essay, Seko juxtaposes her life at 50 and at 70, recalling her demanding relationship with gardening, her complex bond with her mother, and cherished memories of her late husband and dog. The piece, revived by request for the New Year issue, closes with reflections on aging, friendship, and loss among her wartime incarceration-era community.
• 1997 in Retrospect, by Harry K. Honda, page 21. Honda presents a chronological compilation of memorable quotes and statements from 1997 issues of the Pacific Citizen, covering topics from civil rights to JACL governance to community achievements. The piece serves as a year-in-review capturing the voices and events that shaped Japanese American community discourse throughout 1997.

Community

• Selanoco JACL Installation Rescheduled to Jan. 17, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Due to a scheduling conflict with Rep. Loretta Sanchez, the Selanoco JACL luncheon has been moved up one week to Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Anaheim Marriott. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students/youth, with a social hour starting at 10:30 a.m.
• Sansei Corporate Leader to Keynote Seattle JACL Installation Jan. 31, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Phyllis Campbell, president of U.S. Bank of Washington, will speak at Seattle JACL’s 76th annual installation dinner on Jan. 31 at the Seattle Sheraton Towers. Born and raised in Spokane, Campbell rose through the ranks of banking to become a top executive and serves on numerous philanthropic and corporate boards.
• San Mateo Calls for Scholarship Applicants, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Tomodachi Senior Women’s Group and San Mateo JACL are offering two $1,000 and four $500 scholarships for 1998 to graduating high school students from the San Mateo County area. Applications must be postmarked by March 1, 1998, and top local recipients will be nominated for the National JACL scholarship program.
• Cleveland JACLer Receives 33rd Degree, by Hazel Asamoto, page 3. Longtime JACLer Joe Kadowaki was conferred the 33rd Degree, the highest honor of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, on Sept. 23 at a Grand Rapids, Mich. convention complex. The honor recognized his outstanding service and significant contributions to humanity.
• Okura Mental Health Preps for 1998 Program, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The Okura Mental Health Foundation, established in 1988 using redress payments from its namesake K. Patrick Okura, will announce details for its 1998 program including a “Week in Washington” seminar and a six-month fellowship with the White House Office of Public Liaison. The foundation has provided 60 promising Asian American leaders with leadership training since its founding.
• Exceptional Programs for Watsonville JACL, by Mas Hashimoto, page 10. The 1996 chapter president recaps a busy year for Watsonville JACL including responding to newspaper criticism of Day of Remembrance programs, co-sponsoring a screening of “Beyond Barbed Wire” that drew nearly 1,000 attendees, and hosting a Smithsonian traveling exhibit panel discussion featuring author Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. The chapter also awarded scholarships funded by a $20,000 donation from Keiko Kitayama in memory of her husband.
• Sonoma County Chapter JACL Satisfied at 1997 Year’s End, by Mei Nakano, page 11. Nakano details Sonoma County JACL’s year of community events including a New Year’s banquet, community picnic, joint potluck dinner with the Redwood Empire Chinese Association, and the annual mochitsuki. The chapter also sponsored a Sugihara exhibit and supported a civil rights investigation into a controversial police shooting of a Taiwanese man.

JACL

• Happy New Year to All: Message from National JACL President, by Helen Kawagoe, page 1. National JACL President Helen Kawagoe reflects on the past 17 months of her tenure, praising the dedication of national officers, board, and staff, and highlighting successful membership drives at chapters like Santa Maria Valley and Intermountain District. She also outlines unfinished business including the upcoming 1998 JACL National Convention in Philadelphia and continued fundraising efforts for the Pacific Citizen through P.C. SAVE.
• Looking Over 1997 — JACL’s Finances, by Herb Yamanishi, page 3. National Director Herb Yamanishi details JACL’s efforts to rebuild its financial infrastructure over the past year, including a 16-month audit, new accounting software, and creation of an Investment Committee under Arnold Miyamoto. He notes that capital gains must now be reported as revenue, creating a dilemma for the Board on whether to cash out gains or move investments to safer holdings amid stock market uncertainty.
• Making a Difference Starts With Individuals, by Hiromi Ueha & Nicole Inouye, page 8. JACL’s National Youth/Student Chairperson and Representative discuss the need for the Asian American community to become more politically active and unified, citing the Bill Lann Lee nomination campaign as a model of successful coalition-building. They also promote the 1998 Min Yasui Oratorical Contest, a nationwide speech competition for high school and college students on APA political issues.

Incarceration & Redress

• Kooskia, Idaho Internment Camp Project Calling for WWII Detainees’ Experiences, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Researcher Priscilla Wegars is seeking descendants of the roughly 265 Japanese detainees held at the obscure Kooskia Internment Camp in Idaho between 1943-1945 to interview them about their experiences. The Justice Department camp, distinct from WRA relocation centers, held detainees who worked on construction of the Lewis and Clark Highway, and Wegars received a CLPEF grant to support the research project.
• Genesis, 1946: JACL – Reparations – Redress, by Harry K. Honda, page 7. Honda traces the early postwar history of JACL’s reparations campaign, beginning with the 1946 National JACL Convention’s push for evacuation claims legislation and continuing through the passage of the 1948 Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act. The piece details congressional testimony, key legislative figures like Mike Masaoka, and the eventual settlement of claims including the notable Koda family case that took 17 years to resolve.
• Genesis, 1986: JACL Continued – Koda Claim and Other Historic Settlements, by P.C. Staff, page 20. This continuation piece details the Keisaburo Koda claim for $2,497,500 in property losses that took 17 years to resolve, noting ironic connections between the case’s legal figures and historical WWII internment decision-makers. It also mentions Hashime Saito’s 1967 claim regarding his father’s allegedly illegal 1942 discharge from Union Pacific Railroad.

In-Depth

• ‘Go for Broke, Boys’: A Redress Conference Speech on the Legislative Campaign, by Grant Ujifusa, page 5. Ujifusa recounts his strategy for building bipartisan support for the redress bill by framing it as a constitutional issue rather than a partisan one, and details the key political maneuvers that moved the bill through Congress, including recruiting conservative Republicans like Pat Swindall, Newt Gingrich, and Dick Cheney as co-sponsors. He also describes the crucial role of Governor Tom Kean in personally delivering June Masuda Goto’s letter to President Reagan, which helped secure the president’s support for signing the Civil Liberties Act.
• Tales of the Truk Lagoon, by Stanley N. Kanzaki, page 9. Kanzaki recounts his SCUBA diving expedition to Truk Lagoon, site of the massive WWII naval battle “Operation Hailstorm” that destroyed Japan’s 4th Fleet in 1944. He describes exploring sunken Japanese ships including the Shinkoku Maru and Fujikawa Maru, reflecting on the human cost of war memorialized in the underwater wreckage.
• The J.A. Kamon: A Kamon to Eternally Commemorate Our Issei Forefathers, by Kay Yoshida, page 18. The article explains the history and significance of Kamon (Japanese family crests) and their connection to Japanese American genealogy, describing the author’s decades-long effort to preserve this heritage through bronze J.A. Kamon artworks. It details the origins of Kamon among nobility and warrior classes, and provides historical facts about the relationship between Kamon, Myoji (surnames), and Chimei (place-names).

Military & Veterans

• 1942-1946: 100th Bn.-442nd RCT in Action, by P.C. Staff, page 16. This historical retrospective details the combat history of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team through seven major campaigns in Italy and southern France, including the famous rescue of the Texas “Lost Battalion” and the liberation of Bruyeres. The piece chronicles the unit’s exceptional combat record, including over 18,000 individual decorations and one Medal of Honor awarded to Pfc. Sadao Munemori.

Obituaries

• In Memoriam – 1997, by P.C. Staff, page 22. This extensive listing memorializes Japanese Americans who died in 1997, including many WWII veterans of the 100th/442nd and MIS, community leaders, and notable figures such as author and journalist Lyn Crost and civil rights advocate Yori Wada. The list spans multiple pages and includes brief biographical details for each individual.

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