Gold Medal for Nisei veterans, and a dairy feedlot near Minidoka

Vol. 151, No. 8, October 15, 2010. 16 pages. View this issue

President Obama signed the Congressional Gold Medal bill honoring Japanese American veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service, and veterans and JACL leaders spoke of long-overdue recognition. Christine McFadden reported on the coalition appealing a permit for a large dairy feedlot near the Minidoka site, with Friends of Minidoka and JACL worried about the pilgrimage experience. Nalea J. Ko wrote about Little Tokyo property owners filing for bankruptcy, and Peter Rouse, a Sansei, became interim White House chief of staff.

The commentary page brought Helen Kawagoe’s argument against changing JACL’s name and John Tateishi’s column on eBay’s use of the word “Jap.” Ron Katsuyama profiled cartoonist Pete Hironaka on his retirement after more than 53 years. Akemi Dawn Matsumoto Ehrlich described her grandfather’s pre-war photographs of Hiroshima, and Nalea J. Ko visited Ryman Arts, which trains young artists in Los Angeles.

What’s in this issue

Commentary

• Young People Represent the Best in Us, page 2. The writer reflects on a documentary about Caucasian teenagers who risked danger to protect the Enmanji Buddhist Temple from vandals and bigots during WWII. The temple still stands today, and the author praises the youths’ courage and loyalty as an example of religious freedom and tolerance.
• Changing JACL’s Name is an Insult, by Helen Kawagoe, page 2. The former National JACL President argues against proposals to change JACL’s name, comparing the organization to the NAACP which has kept its historic name despite changing circumstances. She urges JACL to focus on membership growth rather than rebranding.
• Let’s Get Involved, by John Yasumoto, page 2. A San Francisco JACL member responds to the National President’s efforts to increase membership, recalling that membership was also an issue in 1958 when he joined. He suggests JACL create new initiatives similar to the JACL Health Plan established in 1965 to get members more involved.
• eBay – Again, by John Tateishi, page 8. The former JACL national director recounts his long history of complaints to eBay about the pervasive use of the word ‘Jap’ as an adjective in sales listings, contrasting eBay’s inaction with its swift response to NAACP complaints about a racial slur. He criticizes eBay’s continued cavalier attitude and questions whether its former CEO, now running for California governor, would show more concern for APAs than she did as eBay’s chief.

Community

• Pete Hironaka Leaves Lasting Legacy Upon Retirement, by Ron Katsuyama, page 2. Longtime Pacific Citizen cartoonist Pete Hironaka is profiled upon his retirement after more than 53 years of contributing cartoons, tracing his life from an Issei sharecropping family through Poston incarceration to becoming a celebrated satirist. His cartoons reflected JACL’s values of democratic process and social justice through irony and gentle satire.
• APAs in the News, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 7. A roundup of notable APA achievements including Arizona JACLers speaking at an ACLU gala, AAJC’s American Courage Awards honorees, a JA sportswriter turned teacher named Washington’s Teacher of the Year, JABA’s celebration of new APA Superior Court judges, APALC’s awards gala honorees, and Mia Yamamoto’s State Bar diversity award.
• JACL PSW Honors Dedicated APA Community Leaders, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 11. The JACL Pacific Southwest District’s 14th Annual Awards Dinner honored community leaders Debra Nakatomi, Iku Kiriyama, and Tad Nakamura, along with numerous chapter volunteers. The event, sponsored by Union Bank, celebrated both older and newer generations’ contributions to the community.
• Southern California Edison Supports JACL PSW District Programs, page 11. Southern California Edison partnered with JACL’s Pacific Southwest district to support youth leadership programs including Project: Community!, which engages high school students in Little Tokyo preservation issues and advocacy. SCE representative Yvette Gonzalez spoke to students about internships and job opportunities at the company.
• JA Family Remembers Living in Kersey Boxcar, by Mike Peters, The Greeley Tribune, page 12. Siblings Lily Furukawa and Mas Koga revisit the Kersey, Colorado boxcar where their family lived after being released from a WWII internment camp in Arkansas, unable to return to California due to prejudice. Furukawa has written a book, ‘Boxcar Lily,’ about the experience, and efforts are underway to preserve the boxcar at Centennial Village.
• UCLA AA Studies Announces New Aratani C.A.R.E. Grant, page 13. UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center announced a new research funding program, the Aratani CARE Grants, made possible by continued support from George and Sakaye Aratani to benefit the Japanese American community. Applications are due Dec. 1, with the first grants expected to be awarded in January 2011.

National

• Coalition Continues Fight Against Dairy Farm Near Minidoka, by Christine McFadden, page 3. After an Idaho judge upheld a permit for a large dairy feedlot near the Minidoka WWII concentration camp site, community groups including Friends of Minidoka and JACL are appealing the decision and pursuing further environmental studies. Advocates worry the CAFO’s pollution, odor, and traffic would harm the historic site and diminish the pilgrimage experience for visitors and descendants.
• President Signs Congressional Gold Medal Bill to Honor WWII Nisei Veterans, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 4. President Obama signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Japanese American veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service. Veterans and JACL leaders expressed gratitude for the long-overdue recognition of their WWII service and sacrifice.
• Little Tokyo Property Owner Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, by Nalea J. Ko, page 5. Little Tokyo Partners, owner of the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens and Weller Court, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after defaulting on a loan, raising community concerns about a possible change in ownership. Stakeholders hope any new buyer will be sensitive to preserving the cultural integrity of the Little Tokyo properties.
• APA Groups File Amicus Brief Opposing Arizona’s Immigration Law, page 6. The Asian Pacific American Legal Center and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a friend of the court brief urging the Ninth Circuit to keep blocked the most contentious provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law. The brief argues the law would cause serious harms including racial profiling and improper detention.
• Peter Rouse Becomes First AA Chief of Staff, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 6. Peter M. Rouse, a Sansei longtime Senate aide, was named interim White House chief of staff by President Obama, becoming the first Asian Pacific American to hold the position. His grandparents were Issei who settled in Alaska and were incarcerated during WWII, and his mother met his father at Yale after graduating from the Alaska Agricultural College.
• National Newsbytes, by Pacific Citizen Staff and Associated Press, page 6. A roundup of national news briefs including a lawsuit by Filipino WWII veterans over disparate benefits, the closure of Little Tokyo’s Aratani Japan America Theatre for repairs, a new UC Davis cancer disparities research center, a report on disproportionate incarceration of Native Hawaiians, and the opening of the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at UC Riverside.
• Family of Slain Hmong American Taking Wrongful Death Case to Supreme Court, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 7. The family of Fong Lee, a Hmong American teen shot eight times and killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2006, is appealing their wrongful death case to the Supreme Court after the officer’s exoneration. Community leaders point to the officer’s later firing for misconduct as evidence of a pattern of lack of accountability.
• Florin and Sac’to JACL Denounce Swastikas on Sac’to King Player’s Mural, by Pacific Citizen Staff, page 7. A mural of Sacramento Kings’ first Israeli player Omri Casspi has been defaced with swastikas three times in six months, prompting condemnation from Sacramento and Florin JACL chapters and a $3,000 reward for information. The incidents echo past hate crimes in the Sacramento area, including 1990s firebombings of Jewish and Japanese American community sites.
• JACL Joins Other Civil Rights Groups in One Nation March, by Associated Press and P.C. Staff, page 10. JACL and other Asian American organizations joined thousands at the ‘One Nation Working Together’ rally in Washington, D.C., advocating for jobs, justice, and education. National Director Floyd Mori and AAJC’s Karen Narasaki were among the participants at the event, which drew over 400 partnering organizations.
• Calif. Rep. ‘Did Not Intend to Offend Anyone’ With Racial Comments, by P.C. Staff and Associated Press, page 10. Rep. Loretta Sanchez apologized after saying in a Spanish-language interview that ‘the Vietnamese’ and Republicans were trying to take her Orange County seat, drawing criticism from JACL and her opponent Van Tran. JACL stated that her racial rhetoric mischaracterized the diversity within the Vietnamese American community.
• V.P. Joe Biden Attends First U.S.-Japan Council Conference, page 13. Vice President Joe Biden delivered the keynote address at the U.S.-Japan Council’s inaugural annual conference, emphasizing Japan’s crucial role as a U.S. ally, especially regarding relations with China. Sen. Daniel Inouye and former Secretary Norman Mineta also attended the event led by USJC President Irene Hirano Inouye.
• Angel Island Celebrates 100 Yrs., by Associated Press, page 13. Angel Island marked the 100th anniversary of its immigration station, once known as the Ellis Island of the West, with new citizens sworn in during a special ceremony. From 1910 to 1940, about 1 million immigrants from roughly 90 countries, including many Chinese detained under the Chinese Exclusion Act, were processed at the site.

In-Depth

• Making an Impact on Hiroshima’s Legacy, by Akemi Dawn Matsumoto Ehrlich, page 8. The author describes visiting Hiroshima to view newly discovered photographs taken by her grandfather Wakaji Matsumoto between 1927 and 1942, depicting pre-war city life before the atomic bombing. The family narrowly escaped the bombing by having moved to a nearby village, and the recently rediscovered photo collection now offers Hiroshima a rare historical record of the city before its destruction.

Arts & Entertainment

• Asian American Teens Paint A Better Future, by Nalea J. Ko, page 9. Ryman Arts, a free art program at USC, provides about 300 Southern California high school students annually with professional art instruction, supplies, and college portfolio development, with Asian Americans making up the majority of participants. Students describe how the intensive program has shaped their artistic skills and career aspirations, with over 94 percent of alumni pursuing higher education.

Sports

• Silicon Valley JACL Holds Successful Basketball Tournament, page 12. Silicon Valley JACL hosted a basketball tournament on Aug. 28-29 to build leadership and sportsmanship among Japanese American youth, with the Sacramento Barons and TWSS from the East Bay winning the men’s divisions. We Want a Black Shirt and the Power Rangers took top honors in the women’s divisions.

Obituaries

• Sally Nishiyama Schurr, page 15. Sally Nishiyama Schurr, who was interned at Heart Mountain during WWII while in high school, died Sept. 21, 2010 at age 85. She went on to earn a degree from American University and had a decades-long career as senior assistant to a prominent energy economist in Washington and Palo Alto.

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.