Gay Asian American activism and the JACL draft resister debate

Vol. 134, No. 10, June 7, 2002. 12 pages. View this issue

A new book by Eric Wat on the history of gay Asian American organizing in Los Angeles led the June 7, 2002 issue, with Tracy Uba reporting on a UCLA panel that discussed it. Also on the front page: Norman Mineta set to keynote a Las Vegas convention dinner honoring Mike Masaoka, Saburo Kido and George Inagaki, Martha Nakagawa on Secret Service agent Carter Kim’s EEO complaint, and Caroline Aoyagi on Detroit’s plans to remember Vincent Chin twenty years after his death.

The commentary page carried readers’ letters, including one from Heart Mountain draft resister Yosh Kinomiya, on JACL’s apology to WWII draft resisters. Bill Marutani began a three-part look at the Hirabayashi Supreme Court decision. Inside are the JACL national convention workshop schedule, chapter scholarship news, a story on state alien land laws, and a Heart Mountain draft resister’s note of thanks. The 12 pages also include a tribute to Hung Wai Ching.

What’s in this issue

Community

• New Book, Panel Discuss Emergence of Political Activism in Southern California’s Gay AA Community, by Tracy Uba, page 1. A new book by activist Eric Wat, ‘The Making of a Gay Asian Community: An Oral History of Pre-AIDS Los Angeles,’ examines the rise of gay Asian American political activism in Southern California. A panel of LGBT community members gathered at UCLA to discuss the book and the struggle to remain politically active and relevant today.
• CSUS JA Archival Collection Seeking Information, by CSUS Japanese American Archival Collection Advisory Board Member, page 2. The Japanese American Archival Collection at California State University, Sacramento is seeking biographical information about Dr. Teru Togasaki, a physician interned at Poston during WWII. The collection also seeks information about Kazue Togasaki’s life after camp.
• APAs in the News, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This roundup highlights achievements including French Camp JACLers named Woman and Man of the Year, Russell Hom’s appointment as a Sacramento judge, Takafumi Ideta’s promotion to captain in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, and honors for Nisei WWII-era graduates, cultural exchange volunteers, NBC’s Sassa, Soka University’s new provost, and an Army colonel’s Soldier’s Medal.
• Chapter News Roundup, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Arizona JACL held its 41st annual scholarship luncheon featuring keynote speaker John Tateishi, while Berkeley JACL awarded scholarships to six East Bay students at its 12th annual banquet. The Mount Olympus/Salt Lake, Intermountain District Council, and Mountain Plains District Council chapters also held scholarship dinners and oratorical contests honoring student achievement.
• California National Guard Dedicates Torrance Armory in Honor of Medal of Honor Recipient Ted Tanouye, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Torrance California National Guard Armory was rededicated in honor of Tech. Sgt. Ted Tanouye, the only Torrance resident to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. Tanouye served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was posthumously upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2000 after decades of delay attributed to anti-Japanese sentiment.

JACL

• Mineta to Highlight WWII Salute Dinner, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta will keynote a dinner during the JACL national convention in Las Vegas honoring WWII leaders Mike Masaoka, Saburo Kido and George Inagaki. The event will also feature JACL President Floyd Mori, Congressman Mike Honda, and presentations from past national JACL presidents to family members of the honorees.
• JACL Lauds Victory for Affirmative Action, by P.C. Staff, page 3. JACL praised a U.S. District Court decision upholding the University of Michigan’s use of ethnicity in admissions, calling it a win for affirmative action. JACL leaders said such tools remain necessary to ensure equal opportunity in American society.
• JACL Announces JAs of the Biennium, by P.C. Staff, page 6. JACL named Wayne Nakamura, Daniel Tani and Lindsey Yamasaki as the Japanese Americans of the Biennium, to be honored at the national convention in Las Vegas. Nakamura is recognized for diversity work at State Farm, Tani for his achievements as a NASA astronaut, and Yamasaki for her basketball career and WNBA draft selection.
• JACL Announces National Convention Workshops, by P.C. Staff, page 6. JACL announced a schedule of workshops for its national convention in Las Vegas covering topics such as leadership development, Social Security benefits, media advocacy, hate crimes response, Asian Pacific women’s health, bicultural marriages, planned giving, and the census. Each workshop features specific presenters and is scheduled for June 28 at the Riviera Hotel.

National

• Korean American Secret Service Agent Files EEO Complaint Against Agency, by Martha Nakagawa, page 1. Secret Service agent Carter Kim filed an EEO complaint alleging he was singled out and punished based on race after exposing evidence mishandling at the Las Vegas field office. JACL and an attorney representing multiple minority agent groups say the case may reflect a broader pattern of racial discrimination within the Treasury Department’s law enforcement agencies.
• Detroit APA Community Remembers Vincent Chin, by Caroline Aoyagi, page 1. Twenty years after Vincent Chin was beaten to death by two auto workers who never served jail time, Detroit’s APA community is organizing a three-day remembrance event including workshops, a film screening, and a pilgrimage to his gravesite. Organizers hope to educate a new generation about Chin’s legacy and its lasting impact on pan-Asian American civil rights organizing.
• JA Vets Group Voices Concern Over Shinseki Replacement Announcement, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Japanese American Veterans’ Association of Washington, D.C. sent a letter to President Bush expressing concern over Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s early announcement to replace Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki. The group called Shinseki a war hero and role model whose leadership should not be undermined before his term ends.
• States Respond to Eliminate Racist Alien Land Laws, by Associated Press, page 3. Kansas, New Mexico and Florida remain the only states with alien land laws that once barred Asian immigrants from owning or inheriting property, with Kansas moving to repeal its statute and New Mexico voters deciding in November. The effort was driven by the Alien Land Law Project at the University of Cincinnati Law School, which sent legal memorandums to lawmakers documenting the discriminatory history of the laws.
• California’s Proposed Budget Includes Cuts to CCLPEP and Increased Competition for Prop. 40 Monies, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Governor Gray Davis’ May budget revision proposes cutting the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program from $1 million to $250,000 amid a state budget deficit. The cuts, along with increased competition for Proposition 40 conservation funds, could affect efforts to preserve California’s historic Japantowns.
• GAO Probes Discriminatory Practices at DOE Labs, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A GAO report found troubling disparities in pay, promotions and awards for minorities and women at national weapons labs including Lawrence Livermore, Sandia and Los Alamos. Rep. Mike Honda, who requested the report, called for a meeting with the Energy Secretary and a congressional hearing on the issue.
• Hirabayashi Camp Site Safe from Wildfire Threat, by P.C. Staff, page 3. A wildfire that closed access to the Coronado National Forest did not threaten the Hirabayashi camp site, which was named after Gordon Hirabayashi and once held Nisei draft resisters. The blaze burned for about a week and a half before being contained, with firefighting costs expected to reach $16 million.
• National Newsbytes, by Pacific Citizen Staff and Associated Press, page 4. A roundup of national news briefs covers a Democratic convention delegate controversy in Massachusetts, a Chinese-language Sept. 11 coping pamphlet in New York, first-time Hmong veteran honors in Milwaukee, a class-action discrimination lawsuit against Boeing, and a Muslim community appreciation picnic for Japanese Americans in Los Angeles.
• Secret Service Agent’s Case Details Alleged Retaliation and Racial Bias, by P.C. Staff, page 9. This continuation article details Carter Kim’s career and the specific allegations underlying his EEO complaint, including evidence mishandling cover-up attempts and racially insensitive incidents at the Secret Service. Kim’s attorney argues the case is built on substantial circumstantial evidence of retaliation and racial bias within the agency.

Commentary

• An Open Letter, by Yosh Kinomiya, page 2. A Heart Mountain draft resister writes to thank the many supporters, including those who anonymously donated to the Fair Play Committee for legal counsel, following JACL’s recent apology to WWII draft resisters. He expresses lasting gratitude to those who supported the resisters despite bleak circumstances and destroyed records.
• Apology Not Representative, by Shiosaki, page 2. A letter writer whose friend Roy R. Shiozawa was killed serving in the 442nd RCT argues that JACL’s apology to draft resisters does not represent all veterans and their families. He suggests a symbolic handshake of reconciliation rather than an apology.
• Hopefully to Help Reconciliation, by Fides Tachibana, page 2. A letter writer cites Dr. Daniel Okimoto’s 1973 book on Japanese Americans in Japan versus America to support the recognition of draft resisters of conscience. The writer argues that Nisei GIs who opposed the resisters were reacting more like Japanese society than embracing the American recognition of conscientious objection.
• Washington D.C. Leadership Conference Reflections, by Kenji M. Treanor, page 8. Marin County JACL president Kenji Treanor reflects on his eye-opening experience at the JACL/OCA Washington D.C. Leadership Conference, describing how it reshaped his understanding of grassroots activism versus policy-level engagement. He credits organizers and various speakers, including a House tour with Rep. Bob Matsui, for expanding his sense of possibility as a young leader.
• East Wind: The Trilogy: Part One, by Bill Marutani, page 8. Columnist Bill Marutani examines the 1943 Hirabayashi Supreme Court decision, arguing that its reasoning constituted guilt-by-racial-association against Japanese Americans during WWII. He previews a follow-up column that will review the positions of individual justices and the timing of the Endo decision alongside the government’s revocation of the exclusion order.

Obituaries

• Remembering Hung Wai Ching, by Don Matsuda, page 2. A tribute to Hung Wai Ching, an honorary member of the 100th Infantry Battalion Veterans who died at age 96, recounts his role vouching for AJA loyalty in Hawaii and helping form the Varsity Victory Volunteers during WWII. The writer credits Ching’s efforts with helping lead to the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
• Longest-serving Legislator, Opponent of Internment, Dies, by Associated Press, page 11. Former California state Sen. Ralph Dills, one of two legislators who protested the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, died at age 92. Dills, the state’s longest-serving lawmaker, faced an expulsion effort for his stance but was honored by the Legislature last year for his protest.
• Retired Gen. Francis Takemoto Dies at 89, by Associated Press, page 11. Francis S. Takemoto, the first Japanese American to achieve the rank of general and a retired Hawaii educator, died at age 89. He served with the 100th Infantry Battalion in WWII, was wounded in Italy, and later commanded the Hawaii National Guard’s 29th Infantry Brigade.
• Death Notice: Fumiko Emily Takei, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Fumiko Emily Takei, 89, a Florin, Calif.-born Nisei resident of Los Angeles, passed away on May 25, with funeral services held at Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. She is survived by her husband, daughter, grandson, and other relatives in Japan and Canada.

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