Tenure at UC Davis, a Kodak apology and George Roth’s radio fight

Vol. 85, No. 4, July 22, 1977. 12 pages. View this issue

Community pressure was the thread through this 12-page issue. UC Davis granted tenure to three minority teachers, including George Kagiwada of Asian American Studies, after student protests and support from the Sacramento JACL. Kodak told Washington JACL representative Wayne Horiuchi that a ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’ film-pack remark did not reflect company policy. Dwight Chuman wrote about George Knox Roth, who bought Los Angeles radio time in 1942 to argue against the incarceration of Japanese Americans. Columns by Bill Hosokawa on Earl Warren’s memoirs and Henry Tanaka on JACL’s role as an advocate sat beside them.

Elsewhere, Kim Hatamiya profiled donors to National JACL scholarships, and Rex Gunn traced the Tokyo Rose legend. Reviews and notes covered Frank Chuman’s The Bamboo People, a coming history of Nisei in the Military Intelligence Service, and a British Columbia mountain named for Manzo Nagano. Sports, community news and the Eastern-Midwest JACL convention fill the remaining pages.

What’s in this issue

Incarceration & Redress

• UC Davis accepts community development work for tenure, by P.C. Staff, page 1. UC Davis granted tenure to three minority teachers who had been recommended for firing by their departments, including George Kagiwada of Asian American Studies. The reversal followed student protests and community pressure, with JACL among the supporting forces.

National

• Kodak regrets ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’ remark, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Kodak said a company official’s suggestion to print ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’ on film packs does not represent the company’s position, after JACL criticized the remark. Vice president James Bruce regretted the incident in a letter to Washington JACL representative Wayne Horiuchi.
• Court awards damages for ‘intentional’ bias, by P.C. Staff, page 1. At least nine white and Asian students denied admission in 1974 to City College’s Center for Biomedical Education will receive $1,500 each in a settlement approved by Judge Marvin Frankel. The judge had found intentional racial discrimination favoring black and Hispanic students.

Community

• $100 increase seen on JACL fare to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A tentative increase of $104 is expected to take effect August 1 on group affinity-100 flights to Japan, including JACL flights, pending a U.S.-Japan aeronautics agreement. Passengers will be notified by travel agents, and refunds will follow if the increase does not take effect.
• Community college president named, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Dr. Jack Fujimoto, dean of Pierce College, became the first Japanese American named president of a California community college when the Los Rios Community College District appointed him to head Sacramento City College. He takes office August 1 on a two-year contract.
• Longtime dance studio owner is businesswoman of year, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Pocatello, Idaho’s Phi Chi Theta honored Mary Kasai as Business Woman of the Year for her 30 years of dance instruction and community service. Her civic activities include YWCA board work, judging the Miss Pocatello Pageant, and dance performances for nursing homes.
• $4 million school named for Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Construction began in Steveston, B.C., on a $4 million secondary school named for Tomekichi Honma, who fought in the 1900s for the right to vote after being naturalized. The naming coincides with the centennial of Japanese Canadians.
• Pacific Northwest district office move to Seattle proposed, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Seattle JACL proposed moving the Pacific Northwest district office from Portland to Seattle at a district meeting in Hood River. Pending anti-Nikkei discrimination issues were also reviewed, including media portrayals and the Jon Hayashi murder case.
• Eastern District legal defense fund on Yoshino case started, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Eastern JACL District Council initiated a legal defense fund and budgeted $200 for John Yoshino’s job discrimination case against the Department of Transportation. Yoshino alleges he was passed over for promotion eight times because he is Japanese American.
• Pioneer worker with Asian handicapped to be honored, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Sachio Kano, founder of Asian Rehabilitation Services in Los Angeles, is being honored for pioneering services for handicapped Asian Americans. The sheltered workshop grew from two rooms in 1972 to serving 50 clients daily by 1977.
• Mountain near Vancouver named for Manzo Nagano, by P.C. Staff, page 12. The Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names chose a British Columbia mountain to honor Manzo Nagano, the first Japanese immigrant to Canada a century ago. A naming ceremony is planned for October at the committee’s Banff meeting.

JACL

• Eastern-Midwest JACL to meet in Washington, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The joint Eastern-Midwest District convention in Arlington, Virginia, July 28-31 will provide a mid-biennium look at JACL directions. National Director Karl Nobuyuki and President Jim Murakami will address the session, followed by a national issues panel.
• Scholarship donors profiled, by Kim Hatamiya, page 4. Research by Kim Hatamiya profiles donors to National JACL freshman, continuing, and collegiate scholarships, including Kenji Kasai, James Michener, Takashi Moriuchi, and the Uyesugi family. Each profile describes the donor’s background and reason for establishing the award.

Commentary

• George Roth: a man Japanese Americans forgot to thank, by Dwight Chuman, page 1. Quaker idealist George Knox Roth bought Los Angeles radio time in 1942 to argue against the incarceration of Japanese Americans, funded by Nisei produce merchants. He was later convicted of contempt for refusing to name his Nisei backers and suffered lasting career damage.
• Calif. ‘Third Worlders’ unite, by Phil Jordan, page 4. Freelance writer Phil Jordan discusses Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally’s study projecting that California minorities will reach about 49 percent by 1985 and over 60 percent by 1990. Jordan urges Asian Americans to consider the growing market and rising intermarriage implications.
• Nisei in Japan: Public opinion of the Nikkei in America, by Barry Saiki, page 4. Barry Saiki argues that U.S. public attitudes toward Nikkei have improved greatly since the prewar period. He credits the groundwork of the Issei, Nisei wartime achievements, the Sansei, postwar occupation contacts, Japan’s industrial recovery, and public guilt over the Evacuation.
• To the Youth of ’77, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial encourages the new high school graduates facing college and praises donors to National JACL scholarship programs for supporting education. It notes the scholarship selection process is drawing near.
• A-bomb survivors, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Congressmen Norman Mineta and Edward Roybal introduced a Dear Colleague letter seeking cosponsors for HR 5150, which provides medical treatment to U.S. citizen and permanent resident atomic bomb survivors. JACL members are urged to contact their representatives to support the bill.
• Warren’s Memoirs, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa examines former Chief Justice Earl Warren’s brief apology for his role in the Japanese American evacuation, found in his posthumous memoirs. He contrasts Warren’s 1942 testimony claiming sabotage was likely with the inadequate later admission.
• Wagging Tail, by Sachi Seko, page 5. Sachi Seko recounts the life and departure of Brandy, a neighbor’s Alsatian who lived with the family for two years. She reflects on how the dog taught her new awareness of her surroundings despite the property damage he caused.
• Midwest Comments: Bilingual Schools, by MDC Page Editorial Committee, page 9. The Midwest District editorial argues that equal educational opportunity requires bilingual-bicultural programs for children with limited English. It cites Lau v. Nichols and HEW guidelines and rebuts arguments that earlier immigrants managed without such programs.
• To Advocate or Administer?, by Henry Tanaka, page 9. Cleveland JACL member Henry Tanaka argues JACL has become less visible as an advocate for human rights and urges National leadership to speak out on issues such as census identification, reparations, and youth programs. He calls for a clearer public direction for the organization.
• Bullet Train and Bento, by George Yoshinaga, page 10. George Yoshinaga recalls enjoying the scenic Tokyo to Osaka bullet train ride and the eki-ben lunch boxes once sold at stations. He describes food safety concerns after mass food poisoning from bento in Osaka.

Military & Veterans

• George Roth tribute and 100th Infantry vets mark 35th reunion, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The 100th Infantry Battalion held its 35th anniversary reunion in Honolulu, where veterans were praised for changing Hawaii and disproving myths about Japanese American loyalty. Speakers recalled the unit’s combat record and the postwar success of its members.
• Nisei MIS story to be written by Floridian, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Joe Harrington has been commissioned to write a popular history of the 6,000 Nisei in the U.S. Military Intelligence Service from 1941 to 1952. Veterans are invited to submit their experiences through a questionnaire.

Sports

• All-American wrestler at 115, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Oregon City High School graduate Mark Hirota ended his prep career with a 36-0 senior season and a state AAA 115-pound championship. He was named to the Scholastic Wrestling News All American team and plans to study engineering at Oregon State.

Arts & Entertainment

• Many voices of Tokyo Rose, by Rex Gunn, page 10. Rex Gunn traces the origins of the Tokyo Rose legend from his wartime service in the Pacific and his 1949 reporting on Iva Toguri’s trial. He describes his research and subsequent book on Toguri’s innocence.
• Nikkei sought not happiness but right to pursuit of happiness, by Cameron K. Wehringer, page 11. Reviewer Cameron Wehringer assesses Frank Chuman’s The Bamboo People, a legal history of Japanese Americans from early immigration through postwar redress. He praises its documentation and its explanation of community divisions among Issei, Nisei, and Kibei.
• Two Worlds of Jim Yoshida now published in Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 11. The Japanese translation of Jim Yoshida’s memoir, co-written with Bill Hosokawa, went on sale in Tokyo. The book recounts how a Seattle-born Nisei was trapped in Japan during the war and later regained his U.S. citizenship.
• Pictorial essay on Asian Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 11. Visual Communications published In Movement: A Pictorial History of Asian America, a collection of about 200 photographs from its archive. Text by Franklin Odo provides an overview of Asian immigration and community life.

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