Proposition 227 and the ‘Ties That Bind’ conference

Vol. 126, No. 8, April 17, 1998. 12 pages. View this issue

California’s Proposition 227, the Unz Initiative on bilingual education, led the April 17, 1998 issue. Mika Tanner wrote about its possible effect on Asian American schoolchildren, quoting JACL Vice President of Public Affairs Lori Fujimoto, and continued her argument on page 6. Coverage of the ‘Ties That Bind’ conference in Los Angeles followed, with Caroline Aoyagi reporting on the debate over what the Japanese American community is today. Tanner also reported from the conference’s Hapa workshop.

Redress and the World War II incarceration (often called internment) ran through the paper. A judge delayed his ruling in the Japanese Latin American redress case, and San Francisco State University was looking for 19 students who left in 1942 under Executive Order 9066. Notices announced the Manzanar Pilgrimage, the Tule Lake reunion in Sacramento and a final Topaz reunion. Columns came from Bill Hosokawa, Bill Marutani and Harry K. Honda, and Mei Nakano reviewed Memoirs of a Geisha.

What’s in this issue

National

• Prop. 227, An Asian American Perspective, by Mika Tanner, page 1. The article examines California’s Proposition 227, the Unz Initiative, which would eliminate bilingual education programs in favor of a one-year English immersion approach. It explores how JACL and Asian American advocacy groups worry about the initiative’s impact on the 1.4 million schoolchildren classified as limited English proficient, including a large number of Asian American students.

Community

• ‘Ties that Bind’ Conference Brings Together National Japanese American Community, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 1. The historic three-day ‘Ties That Bind’ conference in Los Angeles brought together over 400 individuals and 70 sponsoring organizations to discuss the future and redefinition of the Japanese American community. Participants debated issues of identity, diversity, and community amid the increasingly diverse makeup of JAs including postwar immigrants, multiracial individuals, and Hawaiian Japanese.
• Breaking the Silence, Breaking New Ground, page 3. A teacher workshop held on March 7 at the University of Pennsylvania drew 120 teachers to learn about the Japanese American internment experience through presentations, documentary film, and interactive lesson-planning sessions. Organized by multiple Philadelphia-area institutions, the workshop provided educators with curriculum tools and personal accounts to teach students about civil rights violations during WWII.
• Redefining the JA Community at ‘Ties That Bind’, page 3. Continuing coverage of the Los Angeles conference details panel discussions and youth workshops exploring Japanese American identity across generations, from Issei to Yonsei and multiracial members. Youth participants pushed for greater inclusion and equal voice in shaping the community’s future, while organizers planned to develop a vision statement from the conference’s conclusions.
• State Assembly Candidate Mike Matsuda Receives Teacher of the Year Award, page 5. Orangeview Junior High School teacher and 68th state assembly candidate Mike Matsuda received the 1998 Teacher of the Year Award from the Anaheim Chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Matsuda, known for community-engagement programs connecting youth to neighborhoods, dedicated the award to Anaheim Union High School District teachers and emphasized investing in children’s futures.
• Smithsonian Exhibit at Salt Lake City, page 5. The Salt Lake City Public Library is hosting the national traveling exhibit ‘A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the United States Constitution’ from April 30 through June 11. The opening reception will feature Ogden Buddhist Taiko Drummers, koto music, and a keynote speech, with the exhibit supported by Utah JACL chapters and other community organizations.
• Beyond Barbed Wire Educates Idaho Community About the Japanese American WWII Experience, by Daniel Teraguchi, page 10. The Pocatello-Blackfoot JACL Chapter organized a Day of Remembrance screening of ‘Beyond Barbed Wire’ at Idaho State University, drawing over 200 attendees including teachers and students from as far as 56 miles away. The event successfully educated the southeastern Idaho community about Japanese American history, sparked interest in JACL membership, and highlighted that civil rights issues extend beyond just Black and white communities.

Incarceration & Redress

• San Francisco State Seeks 19 Students Interned During WWII, by P.C. Staff, page 1. San Francisco State University is searching for 19 Japanese American students who were forced to leave the university in 1942 due to Executive Order 9066, inviting them back for the May commencement. The university has enlisted help from the Office of Redress Administration and Bay Area Japanese American community organizations to locate the former students.
• Judge Delays Ruling on Japanese Latin American Redress Case, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Chief Judge Loren Smith of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims delayed his ruling on Mochizuki vs. the United States after government attorneys requested more time to consider a settlement in the Japanese Latin American redress case. The lawsuit, filed in 1996, seeks redress for the roughly 2,200 Japanese Latin Americans abducted and imprisoned in U.S. camps during WWII.
• Manzanar Pilgrimage and Campout Planned, page 5. The 29th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage will include an overnight campout at Lower Gray Meadows Camp near Independence, featuring an intergenerational program with former Manzanar internees leading discussions. Prepaid reservations were required for the campout, which was open to the public of all ages with adult supervision required for minors.
• Tule Lake Reunion VI Set for Sacramento, page 5. The Tule Lake Reunion VI will be held May 16-17 at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento, featuring music presentations by George Yoshida, a documentary video, and a health panel from University of Colorado researchers on Nisei internees’ health. Honorees at the event will be recognized for their contributions to passing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
• Forum on ‘Lasting Effects of Camps’ on Nikkei Set for ‘Last’ Topaz Reunion, page 5. The final Topaz Reunion, to be held over Memorial Day weekend in San Jose, will feature a special forum on the lasting effects of internment on Nikkei who experienced WWII incarceration in Topaz, Canada, Mexico, and Peru. Panelists will include John Tateishi and others discussing the historical and personal impact of these experiences.
• Breaking the Silence: Oregon Audience Learns About the Past, by Robert H. Kono, page 6. The play ‘Breaking the Silence,’ written by Nikki Nojima Louis, received a standing ovation from a multiethnic audience at the University of Oregon, telling the century-long story of Japanese American experience through music, poetry, and drama. Originally conceived in 1985 to support Gordon Hirabayashi’s legal case, the play continues touring colleges and communities to educate about JA history and civil rights.
• Japanese Latin American Redress Case Continues, page 7. The article details the ongoing legal battle in Mochizuki vs. the United States, where Japanese Latin American internees were initially denied redress because they weren’t U.S. citizens at the time of imprisonment. Advocacy groups like Campaign for Justice continue pushing President Clinton to use executive power to resolve the matter before the Civil Liberties Act sunsets in August 1998.

Military & Veterans

• A Nikkei Gift to the Nation: The Washington DC Monument, by Bob Sato, page 4. The Pacific Northwest Committee of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation reports over $454,800 raised toward the national monument as of April 13. The author reflects on his family’s WWII experience, including his own military service with the 100th Battalion, to underscore the monument’s purpose of educating future generations about Japanese American history and sacrifice.
• Iwata: Mass’ Iwata Obituary, page 11. This tribute covers the life of a scholar who studied at the Heimushakai, the prewar Japanese Foreign Office school for bilingual Nisei, and went on to earn multiple degrees from UCLA. His major published work included a biography of Meiji-era politician Okubo Toshimichi and a two-volume history of Issei in U.S. agriculture titled ‘Planted in Good Soil.’

JACL

• Fellowships II and CLPEF Repositories Available, page 5. The Civil Liberties Public Education Fund announced applications are open for its National Fellowships II program, offering $10,000 awards to graduate-level students researching the Japanese American incarceration. The CLPEF is also seeking institutions to host National Repositories for completed CLPEF-funded projects, with application deadlines in May and June 1998.

Commentary

• Prop. 227, The Unz Initiative, by Mika Tanner, page 6. This continuation piece delves deeper into criticisms of Proposition 227, highlighting concerns from educators about the one-size-fits-all English immersion approach and the difficulty of obtaining waivers for alternative instruction. It also addresses how the initiative’s framing has created division within the Asian American community regarding bilingual education’s relevance to their children.
• Instructing Instructors, by Bill Hosokawa, page 7. Bill Hosokawa reflects on judging a high school essay contest on the theme ‘Freedom Lost,’ comparing Japanese American incarceration to the Holocaust, finding that many students lacked deep understanding of the malevolent forces behind both tragedies. He argues that more must be done to properly educate teachers about the internment so that history is taught accurately rather than superficially.
• Something for Nothing, by Bill Marutani, page 7. Bill Marutani writes about the vulnerability of elderly Nisei to fraudulent investment schemes, recounting a story of a friend who was scammed after receiving an initial fraudulent ‘return’ on an oil investment. He warns readers to be wary of get-rich-quick schemes targeting seniors.
• Happy Hapas: A ‘How To’ Handbook, by Mika Tanner, page 8. Reporting from the Hapa issues workshop at the ‘Ties That Bind’ conference, the author discusses themes of identity, acceptance, and self-esteem among mixed-race Japanese Americans. She emphasizes that there’s no single formula for raising children with a strong JA identity, but that love, communication, and understanding are key regardless of racial background.
• Keeping Track of ‘My’ Congressman in Washington, by Harry K. Honda, page 8. Harry Honda examines the political situation of Rep. Jay Kim in California’s 41st Congressional District, detailing campaign finance controversies involving illegal contributions from Korean companies. The piece discusses speculation about whether Democrats might strategically vote for Kim in the primary to face a weaker general election opponent.
• Information Management, by Akemi Kayleng, page 8. This column, part of the ‘Voice of a Sansei’ series, discusses how the Japanese American community is becoming increasingly diverse and fragmented, with new chapters and issues emerging that would have been inconceivable in earlier decades. The author suggests that successful Nikkei will become independent information managers who synthesize their own realities rather than relying on community consensus.
• Age Discrimination? Railroad Workers’ Families Denied Redress, page 9. The article reports on former railroad and mine workers and their families finally becoming entitled to redress, though many have received rejection notices from the Office of Redress Administration based on age discrimination claims. Jeanne Konishi of Salt Lake City is highlighted for her advocacy work helping former railroad and mine workers document their internment experiences and submit claims.

Arts & Entertainment

• Amazing: Memoirs of a Geisha, by Mei Nakano, page 9. Mei Nakano reviews the novel ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ initially skeptical due to past disappointments with Western authors’ portrayals of Japanese characters, but ultimately praising Arthur Golden’s authentic and detailed depiction of geisha life in 1930s-40s Japan. The review highlights the novel’s rich character development and accurate depiction of gender and status hierarchies in Japanese society.

Obituaries

• Shiro Kashiwa, 85, the First Nisei Federal Jurist, page 11. Shiro Kashiwa, the first Nisei appointed as a federal judge by President Nixon in 1972, died March 13 at age 85. Born in Hawaii, he served as Hawaii’s first Nisei attorney general and later worked in the Justice Department’s Land and Natural Resources Division before retiring to Honolulu.
• Roy Higashi, 75, Missile Base Commander, page 11. Roy Yoshiyuki Higashi, believed to be the first Nisei officer in charge of a military missile base, died of heart failure on March 19 at age 75. The Seattle-born WWII evacuee served in the U.S. Army for over two decades, commanding a Nike Hercules Missile Base in San Francisco before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

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.