California voters defeat Proposition 15, the Alien Land Law measure

Vol. 23, No. 18, November 9, 1946. 8 pages. View this issue

Californians went to the polls and rejected Proposition 15, the proposal to write Alien Land Law amendments into the state constitution. Larry Tajiri reported the front-page result, a margin expected to top 250,000 votes. Mike Masaoka called it a repudiation of more than 50 years of anti-Oriental politics, and Saburo Kido wrote that the vote showed Californians turning away from race-based legislation. The issue also reported the defeat of Proposition 11, the state Fair Employment Practices Commission initiative, and the paper’s editorials weighed both outcomes.

Elsewhere are stories of sixteen California state employees seeking reinstatement, thirty-seven others already reinstated with back pay, and Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron admitting his wartime error. Nisei veterans appear throughout, including a Silver Star ceremony for a 442nd Regimental Combat Team infantryman and three amputees honored at a farewell dinner. Community notes cover weddings, chapter dances and relief shipments to Japan.

What’s in this issue

National

• California Voters Repudiate Alien Land Law, by Larry Tajiri, page 1. California voters defeated Proposition 15, which would have written Alien Land Law amendments into the state constitution, by a margin expected to exceed 250,000 votes. JACL official Mike Masaoka called the result a repudiation of more than 50 years of anti-Oriental politics in the state.
• Masaoka Says Proposition 15 Defeat Upsets Anti-Orientalism in California, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL Anti-Discrimination Committee secretary Mike Masaoka said the voters rejected racist appeals and that Nisei organized for the first time to fight a political campaign on their own behalf. He predicted the results could bring greater opportunity and social acceptance for Japanese Americans.
• Two Nisei Unhurt in Collapse of Utah Bridge, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two Nisei, Mich and Kano Sekigawa, were riding in a passenger car that plunged into the Bear river when a Utah bridge collapsed. Both escaped uninjured by wading ashore from the shallow river.
• Nisei Reinstatement to State Posts Sought on Loyalty Charge, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sixteen Japanese American California state employees appealed their suspensions to the State Personnel Board. Deputy Attorney General Wilmer Morse recommended reinstatement, finding the charges legally insufficient.
• Defeat of Proposition 15 Shows Opposition of Voters to Race-Baiting Legislation, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido argues that the defeat of Proposition 15 shows Californians reject race-based legislation, a sharp change from the anti-Orientalism that passed the 1920 Alien Land Law. He contends the voters’ mandate calls for fair treatment of Japanese Americans, restraint in escheat proceedings, and respect for property rights of citizen children.
• Stranded Nisei Refused to Give Up U.S. Citizenship, by P.C. Staff, page 2. George Tanbara, stranded in Japan when war broke out in 1941, returned to Sacramento and reported suffering indignities for refusing to renounce his American citizenship. He had worked as a translator for General MacArthur’s headquarters after the occupation began.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei Soldier Drowns in Korea, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Pfc. Takeshi Inouye, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mitsuo Inouye of Los Angeles, died by drowning in the Imjin river in Korea on Oct. 13. His commanding officer reported the death to his parents, and a funeral service was held Oct. 21.
• Nisei Infantryman Awarded Silver Star, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A Nisei infantryman of the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team received the Silver Star at Fort Shafter in a recent ceremony, more than two years after the action for which he was cited.
• Nisei Returns From Role in Tokyo Trials, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Former Army sergeant Akira Itami, now chief civilian interpreter at the Tokyo war crimes trials, said language barriers and the difficulty of Japanese lawyers and defendants understanding Anglo-Saxon law were the main obstacles. He received the Legion of Merit for assembling a reference library of Japanese Army documents.
• Three Nisei Amputees Honored at Farewell Fete in Capital, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Three Nisei amputees were honored at a farewell dinner in Takoma Park, Maryland, hosted by the Washington Nisei USO Junior Hostesses. The honorees were Corp. Tad Ono, Corp. Terry Kato, and Pfc. Wilson Makabe, all of whom lost limbs in Italy or elsewhere.

JACL

• Masaoka, Wirin to Confer on Civil Rights in California, by P.C. Staff, page 1. JACL officials Mike Masaoka and A. L. Wirin planned meetings with Northern California leaders in San Francisco to coordinate a statewide program after the election. Discussions covered the Oyama case and possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Incarceration & Redress

• Thirty-Seven Former State Employees Reinstated After 1942 Suspension, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Thirty-seven former Japanese American state employees suspended in March 1942 for refusing to resign have been reinstated with back pay up to the time of evacuation. Attorney James C. Purcell said about 400 others were granted leaves of absence.
• Mayor Bowron of Los Angeles Admits Wartime Prejudice Against Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, once an advocate of mass evacuation, told a veterans dinner he had been convinced beyond doubt that Japanese Americans were loyal. Col. Elliot Thorpe, speaking at the same event, praised Nisei soldiers for shortening the war.
• California Court to Rule on Stockton Theatre Test Case, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The California Supreme Court agreed to hear theater owner Emil Palermo’s appeal on whether his lease to Japanese operators in Stockton remains binding under the Alien Land Act. Palermo argues the lease is invalid because the 1940 abrogation of treaties left no international basis for Issei leasing commercial property.

Community

• Canada Evacuees Open Relocation Hostel at Fingal, Ontario, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A former air station at Fingal in southern Ontario has been converted into a relocation center for Japanese Canadian evacuees from British Columbia. The site will serve as a more permanent relocation facility.
• New York Group Gives $25,000 for Relief to Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The New York Japanese American Committee for Japan Relief donated $25,000 to the American Friends Service Committee for its relief program in Japan. The funds were raised through a six-week solicitation among New York’s Japanese Americans.
• Clothing, Shoes Sent by Canada Evacuees for Relief in Japan, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Internees at the Tashme relocation center in British Columbia collected 31 bales of clothing and six boxes of shoes for the American Friends Service Committee’s relief program in Japan. The items, valued at $2,855, were gathered by high school students shortly before the camp closed.
• Denver Hallowe’en Carnival Draws Large Crowd, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Hundreds attended the Denver JACL Hallowe’en carnival at People’s Tabernacle hall, which featured a queen contest with winners in the JACL and Nisei Women’s Athletic Association divisions. Cakes donated by the Cornelians club brought up to $14 each at auction.
• New York JACL Announces Plans for Winter Ball, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The New York JACL chapter will hold its Winter Ball on December 13 at the East ballroom of the Hotel Commodore with music by Jeno Bartal’s orchestra. Admission is $4.80 per couple.
• Double-Ring Service Unites John Aoki and Lillian Fujihira, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Lillian Fujihira and John Aoki were married in a double-ring candlelight ceremony at the First Methodist church of Milwaukee on October 26. The bride was given away by her brother and attended by her sister.
• Nisei Action Aided Interracial Amity in Seattle, Says Smith, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Professor Elmer R. Smith told the Salt Lake City JACL that Japanese American courage and cooperation helped build interracial amity in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. He also discussed the situation of Canadian Nisei and urged fairness among groups.
• Yurino Takayoshi Marries Everett J. Starr in New York, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Miss Yurino Takayoshi of the New York JACL office married T/5 Everett James Starr at Madison Avenue Presbyterian church on November 2. A reception followed at the Anthony Home.
• Chicago JACL Plans Inaugural Ball, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The Chicago JACL chapter will hold a semi-formal inaugural ball on December 13 at the Shoreland Hotel Crystal Ballroom with music by Bill Rohter’s orchestra. Ticket sales are being handled through the JACL office and Jiro Yamaguchi.
• Report Given on Tensions Affecting San Jose Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 8. A seminar of about 70 San Jose citizens reported that tensions are not sharp but discrimination exists in housing and employment, with the greatest tension directed toward returning Japanese Americans. The group recommended federal and state aid and condemned restrictive covenants.
• Hawaii Eleven Has Eight Nisei Players, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The College of the Pacific Hawaiian football squad includes several Nisei players, including veterans who served overseas, and is scheduled to meet Fresno State on Armistice Day. Players of Japanese ancestry make up a significant part of the team roster.
• Livingston Notes, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Livingston YPCF held a Hallowe’en party on October 27 with pie-eating contests, apple cider, and doughnuts. Winners of the contests were named at the event.

Commentary

• Jim Crow in Washington, by John Kitasako, page 2. Kitasako criticizes Washington’s segregation after Ingrid Bergman protested the exclusion of Negro audiences from a George Washington University performance. He also describes how Nnamdi Azikiwe was denied service at a drugstore counter and notes that playwrights and producers are considering boycotts.
• Nisei Interest in Congress, by Larry Tajiri, page 4. Tajiri argues that the Republican shift in Congress will likely delay remedial legislation important to Japanese Americans, including the evacuee claims bill and the Issei naturalization bill. He notes that Alien Land Law defeat in California suggests a changed political climate that may favor these measures.
• Proposition 15, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial hails the defeat of Proposition 15 as the end of four decades of political scapegoating against Japanese Americans in California. It notes the Alien Land Law amendments remain in force despite the vote and calls for their repeal.
• Bowron’s Admission, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial praises Mayor Bowron for publicly admitting his wartime error in advocating mass evacuation and acknowledges that the Nov. 5 vote repudiated the racist principles behind evacuation and such legislation.
• Defeat of FEPC, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines the defeat of Proposition 11, the state Fair Employment Practices Commission initiative, and argues that supporters must keep pressing the measure before California voters. It attributes the defeat to misinformation and race-based arguments.
• Campaign in Canada, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial reports that British Columbia politicians have forced dispersal of Japanese Canadians from the coast and are now initiating an anti-Chinese campaign. It quotes the New Canadian warning that the same economic arguments used against Japanese Canadians apply to Chinese Canadians.

Obituaries

• Chiyeko Ohata Sought by Relative, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Mary Ohata Lombard of New York City requested help locating Chiyeko Ohata, the adopted daughter of Mrs. Lombard’s uncle, for whom an unclaimed message is being held.

Arts & Entertainment

• A Brother Is a Stranger: Toru Matsumoto’s New Book Is a Story of Conflict, by P.C. Staff, page 5. Reviewer reflects on Toru Matsumoto’s memoir, written in a Japanese internment camp, which chronicles his life in Japan and the United States. The review highlights the book’s account of Japan’s militarization and the conflicts between American and Japanese values.

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