Redress, a doctor’s civil rights suit and mental health in the community

Vol. 87, No. 6, August 18, 1978. 8 pages. View this issue

An eight-page August 1978 issue opened with a civil rights suit. Annie Nakao reported that Dr. Edmund Jung, a Chinese American doctor at Martinez Veterans Hospital, sued the hospital’s chief of medicine and other VA officials, alleging racial discrimination. Redress ran through the issue: John Tateishi was named to chair the National Committee for Redress, the paper reprinted the introduction to JACL’s booklet “A Case for Redress,” and Hashime Saito wrote a letter opposing reparations. Boyce Rensberger examined how shame keeps many Japanese Americans from seeking mental health care.

Elsewhere, Ronald K. Ikejiri became JACL’s Washington representative. Columns by S.I. Hayakawa, Bill Hosokawa and Barry Saiki covered camp art, the Japanese bath and the new Narita airport. A convention wrap-up from Salt Lake City and a letter from Cherry Kinoshita on the E.R.A. vote are also here, along with chapter news from Detroit, Houston and Marin County.

What’s in this issue

National

• Doctor sues hospital heads: charges racial discrimination, by Annie Nakao, page 1. Dr. Edmund Jung, a Chinese American doctor at Martinez Veterans Hospital, filed a federal civil rights suit against the hospital’s chief of medicine and other VA officials. He alleges racially discriminatory statements and acts that led to his transfer from allergy section chief to lesser duties.
• Gov’t definition of ‘minority’ grows, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Federal agencies increasingly define minority status beyond race to include women, white ethnics, and poor whites, a trend that concerns civil rights leaders. The article examines how this shift affects affirmative action and minority business set-asides.
• Seattle rules out students’ racial slurs, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Under revised rules adopted by the Seattle School Board, students may not express prejudice based on race, sex, age, handicap, religion, national origin, or language. The policy targets verbal expressions of bias in school settings.
• Mineta bill backs small businessmen, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Rep. Norman Mineta cosponsored legislation to increase small business shares of government contracts by reducing bid paperwork. The bill would require agencies to set small business contracting goals and have low bidders include small businesses in subcontracting plans.

Community

• Ikejiri new JACL Washington rep., by P.C. Staff, page 1. Los Angeles attorney Ronald K. Ikejiri has been appointed JACL’s new Washington representative, serving as official lobbyist and handling legislative advocacy. His background includes UCLA graduate study, a Northrop law degree, and private practice in Gardena.
• Nikkei shame ‘hides’ mental illness, by Boyce Rensberger, page 1. Speaking at New York JACL’s scholarship dinner, social worker Robert Moteki argued that cultural norms of shame and face-saving keep many Japanese Americans from seeking mental health treatment. Several professionals interviewed largely agree, noting that problems often surface as physical symptoms.
• Little Tokyo honors Michael Oh, by P.C. Staff, page 3. About 200 members of the Little Tokyo community paid tribute to Michael Oh, former CRA Little Tokyo project manager, at a dinner in his honor. Oh resigned to devote full time to private business after serving since November 1976.
• Enomoto honored for human relations work, by P.C. Staff, page 3. California Department of Corrections director Jerry Enomoto received multiple awards for human relations and affirmative action, including recognition from peace officers and Black correctional workers groups. His former role as two-term JACL national president is noted.
• Chapter pulse, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Roundup of chapter news including Detroit’s community picnic and Ethnic Fair booth, Houston’s folk fair plans and cadet welcome, and Marin County’s Angel Island picnic. Each chapter’s recent activities and upcoming events are summarized.
• MDC slates workshop Aug. 26, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Midwest District Council will host an Interracial Marriage Workshop in Cincinnati on August 26 to identify needs of JACL members in interracial families. Registration details and discussion topics are provided.
• EDC/MDC Confab’s ’79 site chosen, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The 1979 EDC/MDC Convention will be held July 26-29 at the Sheraton-Ritz in Minneapolis, hosted by the Twin Cities chapter. The site was chosen partly because Missouri has not ratified the ERA while Minnesota supports it.
• MDYC board elected, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A new Midwest District Youth Council board was elected at the National JAYs Convention, with Wade Kojima and Mark Abe as co-chairmen. Plans include an organizational meeting in Cincinnati and a spring 1979 workshop in Milwaukee.
• Convention Wrap-up, by P.C. Staff, page 7. This convention report summarizes committee and board actions from the 1978 National JACL Convention in Salt Lake City. Topics include organizational restructuring, Pacific Citizen operations, legal and program initiatives, redress fund donations, the Satow Memorial Fund, and scholarship changes.
• Fremont JACL board vote, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Fremont JACL board voted to contribute $25 to the national anti-Kenzo campaign. The chapter also reported fireworks sales results.

JACL

• Tateishi nominated redress chair, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL president Clifford Uyeda has named John Tateishi president of the National Committee for Redress, pending National Board ratification. Tateishi, a former Marin County JACL president and incarceree at Manzanar, teaches at City College of San Francisco.
• SJACL & the E.R.A., by Cherry Kinoshita, page 4. Cherry Kinoshita writes to correct the Pacific Citizen’s report on Convention votes, noting the resolution calling for women’s leadership passed while the E.R.A. resolution was defeated. She argues JACL women have been underrepresented in leadership and that Women’s Auxiliaries should be empowered rather than merged.
• Who’s in Room 721?, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa recounts lighthearted convention moments, including a mix-up over a 6:30 a.m. meeting room number and a visiting professor’s amusing word confusions. He also honors Jiro Aoki for attending every JACL convention and notes how the budget has grown since 1940.

Incarceration & Redress

• A Case for Redress (Introduction), by P.C. Staff, page 1. This installment reprints the introduction to JACL’s booklet on the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, which the Pacific Citizen is serializing. It argues that the mass removal and detention of citizens and residents without trial violated constitutional guarantees.

Military & Veterans

• Carter hosts Asian Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. President and Mrs. Carter hosted a White House reception for 150 Asian American business and community leaders, the first such event for a diverse Asian American group. The President praised their cultural and scientific contributions and promised to help the community.

Commentary

• Evacuee Camp Art, by S.I. Hayakawa, page 4. Senator S.I. Hayakawa supports collecting and displaying art made in the wartime relocation camps, citing Allen Eaton’s book and Ruth Hashimoto’s suggestion. He argues the works reveal an Issei cultural heritage that Nisei and Sansei risk forgetting.
• Redress—No, by Hashime Saito, page 4. Letter writer Hashime Saito opposes the reparations movement, arguing that materialism drove the evacuation and that seeking money is itself materialistic. He contends that reparations will not prevent future persecution.
• Mental illness and Nikkei (continued), by Boyce Rensberger, page 4. Continuing the earlier report, professionals discuss how Japanese traditions of silence, gaman, and family-based problem solving limit treatment-seeking. Some experts dispute that wartime incarceration caused lasting damage to later generations.
• Travel Habits Changing, by Barry Saiki, page 5. Barry Saiki writes from Tokyo that the new Narita airport’s remote location and heavy security have ended the custom of seeing friends off at the airport. He notes the difficulty and expense of getting there compared with the old Haneda airport.
• Did ‘furo’ spawn American hot tubs?, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa describes how Americans discovered the Japanese public bath and how one enthusiast built the first American hot tub from a wine vat. He argues the hot tub may be Japan’s first significant cultural export to balance America’s long influence on Japan.
• Too Modernized, by Frank Fukazawa, page 6. Frank Fukazawa describes his frustrating experience at San Francisco Airport, where he struggled with heavy luggage and an unreliable hotel courtesy phone and bus service. He satirizes modern technology that fails when no person is available to operate it.

Obituaries

• St. Louis Issei patriarch dies, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Yukinobu Yamamoto, 95, a longtime JACL supporter and founder of Fo-jo Film Developing in DeSoto, Missouri, died August 8. He was honored by the Japanese government and helped Issei and Japanese Americans in the Midwest for decades.
• Heaths, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Brief death notices for Rev. Iwakichi Haratani, retired Japanese Methodist minister, and composer Masao Koga, known for popular songs and Nisei Week ondo numbers. Survivors are listed for Haratani.

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