Aliens’ rights before the Supreme Court, and Mineta on Nikkei recognition

Vol. 85, No. 21, November 18, 1977. 12 pages. View this issue

A permanent resident alien’s right to become a New York State police officer went before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the case led the front page. Other cases on aliens were still pending. Rep. Norman Mineta pressed for more Japanese American voices in the Carter administration and in the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, and a Pacific Citizen editorial backed his call. Judge William Marutani led the field in his Philadelphia court election, and he looked back on the campaign in a column. Raymond S. Uno wrote about his father, Clarence Uno, who died at Heart Mountain.

Also inside: Bill Hosokawa on the deportation of Japanese Peruvians to U.S. camps, and the third installment in the JACL series on reparations, which argued against them. Wayne Horiuchi announced his resignation as Washington Representative, and Warren Furutani and a letter writer weighed in on the Bakke case. Reviews cover a new play, The Book of Kudzu and a Zen koan collection. Planning for the 1978 JACL convention in Salt Lake City also appeared.

What’s in this issue

National

• Rights of Alien to Be Police Argued; Other Major Cases on Aliens Still Pending, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether a permanent resident alien may become a New York State police officer. Other pending cases concern alien tuition status, probation officer citizenship, and Texas’s denial of free schooling to children of illegal aliens.
• Hayakawa Sounds Off, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Senator S.I. Hayakawa blamed parents and labor laws for leading college students toward revolution. He made the remarks before the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
• Carter Team Lashed for Shunning the Nikkei, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Norman Mineta said Japanese Americans were passed over for top Carter administration posts over loyalty questions. He urged Nikkei to become more vocal activists to gain recognition.
• More J.A. Action in Friendship Act Needed, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Norman Mineta called for changes to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission so Japanese Americans can participate. He criticized the overemphasis on educators and education in the $30 million fund’s programs.
• Sierra Club Quits Whale Boycott, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sierra Club withdrew support for the whale boycott, and JACL’s Whale Issue Committee considers the American boycott movement dead. The committee noted the boycott’s racist fallout against Japanese Americans and rising U.S.-Japan trade.

Community

• Marutani Top Vote Getter With 194,000, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pennsylvania judge William Marutani led the field of 12 candidates in the Nov. 8 Philadelphia court of common pleas election. The Kent, Wash. Nisei was appointed by Gov. Shapp in 1975 and has a long record of JACL and civil rights service.
• Seattle JACLer in Prominent Role at National Women’s Conference, by Mayumi Tatsukawa, page 1. Rita Elway was appointed to the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year and is a delegate to the Houston conference. She is the only Asian American on the commission.
• Audio Hall of Fame Inducts Nisei President of Kenwood, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Aratani, president of Kenwood Electronics, was inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame for promoting East-West relations. He pioneered the Japanese stereo entry into the American market in 1961.
• Nikkei Attorneys Honored by Japanese American Bar Association, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Five Nikkei jurists, including John F. Aiso, were honored by the Japanese American Bar Association in Los Angeles. Aiso’s Army career rose from buck private to colonel.
• Gov. Ray Appoints Taul Watanabe, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Gov. Dixy Lee Ray appointed Taul Watanabe, a Burlington Northern vice president, to the Washington state personnel board. Watanabe is also a regent and chairman of the Economic Advisory Board.
• Rainfall Blesses Hotel Grand Opening for Nishizus, by Pat Tashima, page 3. The Nishizu brothers opened the Rainbow Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas with a celebration attended by nearly 600 people. Their 89-year-old mother was credited with instilling the family teamwork behind the venture.
• Mich Matsudaira to Resign Post, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Martin Mich Matsudaira will resign December 31 as executive director of the Washington State Commission on Asian American Affairs. He had been appointed in 1972 by Gov. Dan Evans.
• A Family Convention, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The 1978 National JACL Convention in Salt Lake City is being planned as a family event, with a retirement workshop replacing the education workshop. The piece also highlights Utah’s scenery and recreation for convention visitors.
• Midwest District’s Most Vital Issue Centers on Maintaining Regional Office, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Midwest District Council is working to cover a regional office budget deficit through a national loan and member assessments. District membership reached 2,253 with St. Louis showing the largest increase.
• Chicago JACLers Tour Europe, by P.C. Staff, page 12. Fourteen Chicago JACL members who toured London, Paris, Florence, Rome, and Venice will reunite at the December 3 inaugural dinner. Photo awards will be presented to the best pictures from the October trip.

Commentary

• Japan-U.S. Friendship Act, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial notes that JACL and the Japanese American community were largely unaware of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Act until National Director Karl Nobuyuki examined it. It praises Rep. Mineta’s call for a broader role for Japanese Americans in the program.
• Bakke Case, page 4. A letter to the editor criticizes JACL’s support for quotas in professional school admissions as contradictory to fairness. The writer argues that Nikkei students were historically harmed by quotas and that merit should govern admissions.
• Looking Back, Down the Trail, by Judge Bill Marutani, page 5. Judge Bill Marutani reflects on his campaign for Philadelphia common pleas court, describing the grueling schedule and the racial curiosity and misperceptions he encountered. He concludes that his race was incidental and that he campaigned simply as an American.
• A Pacific Peruvian Evacuation, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Bill Hosokawa discusses John Emmerson’s account of the deportation of about 1,024 Japanese Peruvians to U.S. internment camps during WWII. Emmerson concluded the program violated human rights and lacked any plausible security justification.
• The Past Three Years, by Wayne Horiuchi, page 5. Washington Representative Wayne Horiuchi announces his resignation from JACL after three years and reflects on key achievements. He highlights work on Japanese American legislation and presidential recognition of EO 9066’s termination.
• Youth Programs, by MDC Editorial Committee, page 7. The Midwest District Council congratulates Rich Okabe as JACL’s National Youth Director and urges a national youth planning conference. It argues that JACL’s youth programs reach too few members to secure future community leadership.
• A Third Position Presented in Bakke Case, by Warren Furutani, page 8. Warren Furutani argues that the U.C. Regents never sincerely supported special admissions and that the Bakke case exposes flaws in the admissions process. He contends that special admissions should be defended and expanded as a matter of justice.

Incarceration & Redress

• Judge Uno’s Dad, by Raymond S. Uno, page 4. Judge Raymond Uno recalls his father Clarence Uno, an Issei veteran of WWI who died of a heart attack at Heart Mountain in 1943. The piece recounts the family’s history of wartime evacuation and the delayed citizenship of Issei veterans.
• Reparations? No!, by P.C. Staff, page 4. This third installment of the JACL National Reparations Committee series argues against reparations, saying they would cheapen freedom and damage the community’s dignity. It acknowledges that Evacuation was unjust but urges focus on the present and future.

Military & Veterans

• Speaking Out: California Agriculture and the Nikkei, by Steve Fugita, page 7. Steve Fugita traces the history of Japanese Americans in California agriculture from farm laborers to owners and their role in early farm labor organizing. He also discusses the Nisei Farmers League’s conflicts with Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers.

Arts & Entertainment

• Sanbo-Kaneko’s Play Probes Into the Lives of an Upper Middle-Class Nikkei Family, by Joe Oyama, page 9. Joe Oyama reviews Amy Sanbo and Lonny Kaneko’s play Lady Is Dying at the Asian American Theater Workshop. The play explores family tensions in an affluent Japanese American household after the mother’s future is raised by the father’s terminal illness.
• Kudzu: Green Menace Turn Healer, by Colleen Kajioka, page 10. Colleen Kajioka reviews The Book of Kudzu by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi, which covers the Japanese use of kudzu root as a cooking starch and herbal remedy. The book also addresses kudzu’s invasive growth in the American South.
• A Zen Classic, by H.H., page 10. A brief review of Every End Exposed, a translation of 100 Zen koans of Master Kido with commentary by Dr. Yoel Hoffmann. The review explains how the riddles reveal the dissolution of the questioner’s mind.
• Early Japanese American Playwrights Being Sought, by P.C. Staff, page 10. The Asian American Theater Workshop is seeking information on early Japanese American plays performed at Manzanar, including works by Lucille Nakamura, Takashi Kubota, and Raymond Hirai. Frank Chin is gathering materials for a history of Asian American theater.
• Once Upon in America to Open, by P.C. Staff, page 10. East West Players will premiere Once Upon in America on December 1 in repertory, a play written by its cast that spans Asian American history from 1902 to 2002. The production uses story, song, and dance.

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