Bill Hosokawa’s Nisei: The Quiet Americans and the campaign to repeal Title II

Vol. 70, No. 3, January 23, 1970. 6 pages. View this issue

Bill Hosokawa’s book Nisei: The Quiet Americans ran through much of this six-page issue. National JACL President Jerry Enomoto answered Rev. Roy Sano’s critique, Mike Masaoka described how JACL sent the book to federal officials, and Hosokawa himself wrote about the volunteers who filled orders at the Midwest office. Sumi Shimizu reported that Chicago volunteers handled over 10,000 orders, and a New York Times Book Review piece by Gladwin Hill appeared alongside a roundup of favorable reviews from other papers.

Other pages followed the JACL effort to repeal Title II of the Internal Security Act, with a report on the Manzanar pilgrimage of December 27. A reorganization of the national youth staff was announced. Chapter installations came from Cincinnati-Dayton, Placer County, San Mateo, West Los Angeles and Chicago, and the letters page carried readers’ views on Esquire, Parade and the Black Panthers.

What’s in this issue

Commentary

• Perspectives, by Jerry Enomoto, page 1. National JACL President Jerry Enomoto defends Bill Hosokawa’s book Nisei: The Quiet Americans against Rev. Roy Sano’s critique, calling it a popular work rather than a social document. He also reflects on a Fremont Chapter installation dinner and the value of direct dialogue between national leaders and members.
• Washington Newsletter: Nisei: The Quiet Americans, by Mike Masaoka, page 2. Masaoka describes JACL’s national distribution of Bill Hosokawa’s book to federal officials and urges chapters and families to read and promote it. He defends the book against criticism while acknowledging its omissions and the significance of its quiet-dignity theme.
• Nation’s Press Laud Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Several metropolitan newspapers have published favorable reviews of Hosokawa’s Nisei: The Quiet Americans. Reviewers including Haynes Johnson and William Hogan praise its restrained, factual account of the evacuation.
• From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 3. Hosokawa describes the volunteer effort at the Midwest JACL office that filled book orders, including the logistics and errors involved. He reports the strong response to the book in Chicago and beyond.
• Hayakawa-Noguchi, by Hisako Noguchi, page 6. Hisako Noguchi responds to a letter defending Dr. Hayakawa by defending her husband Dr. Thomas Noguchi and questioning the tearing down of one figure to elevate another. She argues that individuals should be judged on their contributions rather than ethnicity.
• Panther Paranoia, by Alan Harvey, page 6. Radio commentator Alan Harvey urges understanding of the Black Panthers as a reaction to long-standing oppression rather than simply condemning them. He reviews the police actions and leadership losses the group has faced.
• What Hath Agnew Wrought? Well, Check Your Esquire, by Nobusuke Fukuda, page 6. Fukuda criticizes Esquire magazine’s January 1970 issue for ethnic jokes about Japanese in its Dubious Achievement Award section. He describes the offensive headings as following Vice President Agnew’s earlier ‘fat Jap’ remark.
• Editor: Pearl Harbor Story, by Minoru Yasui, page 6. Minoru Yasui objects to a Parade magazine article on Takeo Yoshikawa that portrays Japanese prewar intelligence gathering as treacherous spying. He urges a counterbalancing feature on Nisei military valor.
• Editor: American Scrapbook, by P.C. Staff, page 6. A reader criticizes Jerome Charyn’s book American Scrapbook for using Japanese American wartime experience as cheap satire. The letter argues Nisei and Sansei should be aware of such exploitation.

JACL

• Nat’l JACL Youth Services Staff Reorganized, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Alan Kumamoto resigned as National Youth Director, and Victor Shibata and Ronald Wakabayashi were named to full-time youth services positions. Shibata will serve as Jr. JACL Administrator and Wakabayashi as Field Director for Youth Services.

Community

• Monterey Park Orientals May Challenge School Desegregation, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Alhambra Board of Education is challenging a State Department of Education order to correct ethnic imbalance in local schools. Monterey Park Oriental parents oppose busing, arguing their children are not disadvantaged.
• Need for Community Center in San Francisco J-Town Under Study, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The San Francisco JACL is soliciting community views on a proposed Nihonmachi community center to be built over a public garage as part of a redevelopment plan. A UC student survey is assessing the needs the center should fulfill.
• Seattle JACL Meetings Draw Belated Interest, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Seattle JACL reports increased membership interest this year following a change in chapter direction, with well-attended speaker meetings and a successful Issei dinner. Leaders say the chapter must now involve more of the community.
• Book Distribution Work Pays Off for JACL Midwest Office, by Sumi Shimizu, page 3. Volunteers at the Chicago JACL office processed over 10,000 orders for Hosokawa’s book in about two months. A second printing has been arranged to meet orders before the February 1 discount deadline.
• Issei Share Lessons of Perseverance at Cincinnati Installation, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Six pioneer Issei were honored with JACL centennial medallions at the Cincinnati-Dayton JACL installation dinner. Speakers noted the Issei’s perseverance through discrimination and hardship.
• Placer County JACL Installs Uratsu, Urges Understanding of Sansei, by Roy Yoshida, page 4. Rusty Uratsu was installed as Placer County JACL president at a joint dinner with Jr. JACL. National Youth Commissioner Mike Suzuki urged Nisei to understand Sansei perspectives and reexamine outdated JACL concepts.
• Tom Hisata Elected as San Mateo JACL Head, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Tom Hisata was installed as San Mateo JACL president, succeeding Dr. Mitch Wakasa. The evening’s theme addressed JACL goals for the 1970s.
• West L.A. Installs Virginia Tominaga, by P.C. Staff, page 4. West Los Angeles JACL installed Virginia Tominaga as chapter president at its annual dinner-dance. Consul General Kanji Takasugi addressed the gathering on Okinawa’s reversion to Japan.
• Berkeley Asians Unite to Solve School Problems, by Ray Okamura, page 5. Berkeley Asian Americans organized to demand Asian American teachers, studies courses and bilingual programs in local schools. The Board of Education approved a task force to develop Asian American studies.
• Sub-Zero Weather No Bother for Chicago Chapter’s Silver Anniversary Installation, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Chicago JACL held its Silver Anniversary installation with a Hosokawa book signing and strong attendance despite freezing weather. The writer thanks 1000 Club members and calls for greeting guests at chapter events.

National

• Alien Engineers for City of Seattle Hampered by Citizenship Requirement, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Eighteen resident alien engineers hired provisionally by the City of Seattle face being bumped from civil service jobs under a charter citizenship requirement. They contend the requirement is unconstitutional and a federal judge has ruled in their favor on a temporary basis.

Incarceration & Redress

• Action on Title II Repeal: Mayor Personally Sympathetic but Pasadena Board Shuns National Issues, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Pasadena City Directors declined to pass a resolution urging repeal of Title II of the Internal Security Act, though the Human Relations Committee had recommended it. Other cities, including Concord, Inglewood and Santa Monica, have taken positive action supporting repeal.
• Church, Civil Liberties Groups Support JACL Campaign to Repeal Title II, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Western Young Buddhist League and several churches and civil liberties groups have endorsed repeal of Title II. The Manzanar pilgrimage of December 27 drew network and local coverage supporting the campaign.

Military & Veterans

• Hosokawa Book Reviews: They Were Called Relocation Centers, They Were Concentration Camps, by Gladwin Hill, page 3. Gladwin Hill’s New York Times Book Review assessment praises Hosokawa’s Nisei and the Girdner-Loftis book for exposing the evacuation’s origins. He argues the program resulted from governmental failures, public prejudice and racism rather than any Japanese American disloyalty.

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