A war-year debate over where Japanese Americans could resettle

Vol. 18, No. 15, May 6, 1944. 8 pages. View this issue

Mayor La Guardia’s objection to resettling loyal Japanese Americans in New York ran through this 8-page issue. Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, publicly accused La Guardia and two governors of racial discrimination. The ACLU, the NAACP, the Citizens Union and others protested the mayor’s stand, and New York papers ran interviews with Japanese American families. Editorials took up the exclusion order and the mayor’s position, while A. L. Wirin reported that the Mitsuye Endo case was headed to the Supreme Court.

On the front page, Pvt. Kungo Iwai wrote from the Anzio beachhead about 100th Battalion soldiers, and a War Department letter described how reservists were being called to training. Bill Hosokawa shared a letter from Sgt. Ken Omura, written days before his death. Other pages cover farm labor problems in Arizona, a petition racket in San Francisco, and a CIO drive among Hawaii’s mill workers.

What’s in this issue

Military & Veterans

• Draftees Train in Small Units, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Japanese American inactive reservists are being called to active duty as rapidly as possible to fill training units at Topaz, according to a War Department letter. The letter notes that training requirements are largely determined by the needs of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Combat Team.
• Life at the Front Is Grim, Tough, and Brave Men Die That Others May Live, by PVT. KUNGO IWAI, page 1. Pvt. Kungo Iwai reports from the Anzio beachhead in Italy on the death of intelligence sergeant Komatsu and other unrecognized acts of courage by 100th Battalion soldiers. He describes the grim, cruel conditions faced daily by the men at the front.
• Two Japanese Americans from Hawaii Killed in Italy, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Department announced the deaths in action of two Japanese Americans from Hawaii serving with the 100th Infantry Battalion in Italy. The soldiers were Pfc. Richard M. Honda and Pvt. Richard H. Manoa.
• First Hawaii-Born Nisei Girl Joins Air Corps WACs, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Chidori Ogawa, a Honolulu-born nisei, became the first Hawaii-born nisei sworn into the Women’s Army Corps and left for the Fort Des Moines training center. She was an active member of the San Francisco JACL before evacuation.
• Army Chaplain Sends Message to Parents of Nisei Soldiers, by P.C. Staff, page 6. Chaplain Thomas Eugene West of the 442nd Combat Team wrote to the soldiers’ parents pledging to care for their sons under all conditions. He also sent Mother’s Day greetings and reported baptisms among the soldiers at Camp Shelby.

Community

• Five Topaz Residents Leave to Rejoin Relatives in Hawaii, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Five Topaz residents left on April 25 for San Francisco to return to their former homes in Hawaii. They are the first former Hawaiian residents granted permission to return since the program was announced last July.
• Idaho Nisei Girl Chosen Valedictorian, by P.C. Staff, page 3. Sue Matsumoto was chosen valedictorian of the senior class graduating May 17 from Middleton High School in Idaho. The brief announces her selection for the honor.
• War Hero’s Visit, by P.C. Staff, page 4. Sgt. Ben Kuroki’s visit to Heart Mountain was warmly received by residents, who gave him autographs and honors. The editorial sees this as the majority’s answer to the Fair Play Committee’s draft resistance.
• Utah Student Named to Honor Society, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Noboru Endow, a chemistry major at the University of Utah, was named to the university’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He is the son of Mrs. Nobuji Endow of Nyssa, Oregon.
• RFC Loans Available to Relocated Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The Topaz Times reported that evacuees may obtain Reconstruction Finance Corporation loans to reestablish small businesses. Loans are available to individual businesses, partnerships, and corporations, excluding farm real estate and liquor firms.

National

• Police Arrest Three Persons in Racket Exploiting Sentiment Against Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Three persons were arrested in San Francisco for allegedly circulating petitions calling for the permanent banning of persons of Japanese ancestry from the United States in order to collect contributions. They face charges of petty theft, soliciting without a license, and vagabondage.
• WRA Intermountain Officials Discuss Farm Labor Problems, by P.C. Staff, page 1. War Relocation Authority officials from Utah, Montana, Idaho and Washington met in Salt Lake City to discuss relocation and farm labor problems. Ottis Peterson, relocation supervisor for the Pacific intermountain area, chaired the conference.
• Kansas City Papers Publish Photos of Nisei Inductees, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A group of Japanese American inductees from a war relocation center paused in Kansas City between trains en route to an infantry replacement center in the south. Photos of the men appeared in Kansas City papers.
• Auto Workers, World’s Biggest Union, Urges Fair Play for Japanese Americans, by P.C. Staff, page 1. UAW-CIO president R.J. Thomas urged all union officers to enforce the constitutional ban on discrimination against American workers of Japanese ancestry. He cited instances of local union discrimination against WRA-placed workers and noted their thorough government investigation.
• L.A. Case Will Test California Law Violations, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The State of California is seeking to regain a Los Angeles truck farm allegedly controlled by Issei Yugichi Yamaguchi through subterfuge, in a case set for July 3. The WRA said the outcome may determine decisions in many other alien land law cases.
• Two Minidokans Face Charge of Draft Evasion, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Two Minidoka residents who failed to report for army induction on April 27 were bound over to federal district court after waiving preliminary hearings. Fifty other evacuees had left Minidoka for induction at Fort Douglas.
• Nisei Wartime Loyalty Record Praised by Rogers in House, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Rep. Will Rogers, Jr. praised the wartime loyalty of Japanese Americans in Hawaii and called for statehood for the Territory of Hawaii in a House speech. He noted that the FBI reported no acts of sabotage by native-born Japanese.
• Ickes Denounces Social Attitudes of Bricker, La Guardia, Edge on Evacuees, by HAROLD L. ICKES, page 3. Interior Secretary Ickes publicly charged Mayor La Guardia, Gov. Bricker and Gov. Edge with racial discrimination against loyal Japanese Americans. He argued their positions violate the Constitution and that the relocation is largely a local West Coast problem.
• New York Papers Publish Interviews With Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. New York newspapers including the Herald Tribune and PM published interviews with representative Japanese Americans amid the controversy over Mayor La Guardia’s position. The interviews featured JACL acting national secretary Teiko Ishida and a Japanese American family.
• ACLU Upholds Nisei Rights in New York, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The American Civil Liberties Union sent a telegram to Mayor La Guardia criticizing his protest against Japanese American resettlement as racial discrimination. The ACLU noted that no espionage or sabotage charges had been brought against cleared Japanese Americans.
• Liberal Leaders, Organizations Blast Mayor La Guardia for Opposing Evacuee Relocation, by P.C. Staff, page 3. NAACP, ACLU, Citizens Union, Socialists and other liberal figures including A. Philip Randolph and Liu Liang-mo denounced Mayor La Guardia’s opposition to Japanese American resettlement in New York. The Japanese American Committee for Democracy responded that evacuees colonize only when forced by landlord discrimination.
• Citizens Union Raps Mayor on Evacuees, by P.C. Staff, page 3. The Citizens Union protested Mayor La Guardia’s objection to Japanese American relocation to New York City in a letter stating Americans pride themselves on equal rights. Algernon Lee of the Social Democratic Federation also criticized La Guardia and the governors of Ohio and New Jersey.
• Implications of Bricker’s Plan Dangerous, Says Dr. Deutsch, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Dr. Monroe E. Deutsch, UC provost, wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle that Gov. Bricker’s proposal to let communities decide on Japanese American resettlement threatens all minority groups. He argued such local option would violate the spirit of democracy.
• CIO Union Launches Drive to Organize Hawaii Workers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The CIO’s International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union launched a drive to organize 35,000 workers in Hawaii’s milling industry, the majority of whom are of Japanese ancestry. Four new locals have been chartered and mills on the Island of Hawaii are being approached.
• Union Protests Army Action on Organizers, by P.C. Staff, page 8. The ILWU Local 1-37 protested to the military governor of Hawaii after Army officers expelled five CIO organizers, including three Japanese Americans, from Maui. The union charged the action interfered with workers’ rights under the national labor act.

Commentary

• Two Japanese Americans Should Not Be Treated Differently from Germans, by The New York Times, page 3. Reprinted New York Times editorial criticizing Mayor La Guardia’s protest against resettling loyal Japanese Americans in New York. The editorial argues that Japanese Americans, like German Americans, deserve equal treatment as citizens.
• The Exclusion Order, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial argues that the West Coast exclusion order, based on an imminent invasion threat that no longer exists, is increasingly unjustifiable. It notes that 45 persons were recently permitted to travel through the prohibited zone to Hawaii, highlighting the inconsistency of the policy.
• Little Flower and Nisei, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes Mayor La Guardia’s opposition to resettling loyal Japanese Americans and notes his strange companions including Hearst and congressional reactionaries. It argues his position would amount to concentration camps in the West.
• The Racketeers, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial condemns war profiteers and race-baiters, citing the San Francisco petition racket and a Salt Lake City scheme to panic homeowners into selling cheaply. It argues such schemes deserve condemnation regardless of their guise.
• What Side Are You On?, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines the liberal versus reactionary struggle in America, citing discrimination against Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans. It urges Japanese Americans to align with liberal forces advancing social progress.
• From the Frying Pan: Letter Adds Sequel to Ken Omura’s Story, by BILL HOSOKAWA, page 5. Columnist Bill Hosokawa shares a letter from Sgt. Ken Omura, the first nisei to die in the Southwest Pacific, written days before his death at Cape Cretin. The letter describes his experiences with the 1st Cavalry Division in the Admiralty Islands.
• Court: Endo Case Tests Legality of Forced Detention of Nisei in War Relocation Centers, by A. L. WIRIN, page 5. A. L. Wirin, JACL special counsel, reports that the Ninth Circuit certified the Mitsuye Endo case to the Supreme Court to decide whether the WRA may detain loyal American citizens without due process. The case challenges the constitutionality of detaining citizens of Japanese ancestry in relocation centers.
• Competitors of Nisei Farmers Lead Racist Drive in Arizona Against Japanese Americans, by Joe Grant Masaoka, page 6. JACL representatives Joe Masaoka and Min Yasui investigated discrimination against Japanese American farmers in Arizona, including refusals of certification, bonds, and supplies. They found the hostility driven by economic rivals and reactionary groups behind House Bill 187.
• Little Publicity Given Speech-Making Program, by Saburo Kido, page 6. Kido describes the JACL speech-making program, highlighting Dr. T.T. Yatabe’s appearances at Principia College and Blackburn College. The column notes that such public relations work continues quietly to build understanding.
• Bricker’s Amendment, by PALO ALTO TIMES, page 7. The Palo Alto Times and Redwood City Tribune criticized Gov. Bricker’s proposal that West Coast communities decide whether Japanese Americans may return. They argued that citizenship rights cannot be restricted by local option.
• Ickes Riles Race Mongers, by THE PEOPLE’S WORLD, page 7. The People’s World defended Secretary Ickes against attacks by California race-baiters including Jack Tenney and Larry Smith. The editorial praised organizations opposing the racist campaign against Japanese Americans.
• Detroit Apparently Away from Verity in Lechner Visit, by Dale Oka, page 7. Dale Oka critiques John Lechner’s anti-Japanese American speech in Detroit, noting poor attendance and limited newspaper coverage. He argues the audience largely rejected Lechner’s intolerant message.
• Colorado Gentleman, by Silver and Gold, page 7. The University of Colorado student paper cites a citizen who refused to join a mob against a Japanese American landowner, pointing out that today’s Germans could become tomorrow’s targets. The editorial praises his wisdom and psychology.
• Your Beauty — It’s Up to You, by Ann Nisei, page 7. Ann Nisei argues that any woman can improve her appearance through discipline and self-directed care without expensive beauty courses. She outlines a starting plan of notebook tracking, measurements, and healthy weight goals.

Sports

• Sanford Sato Passes Away in Phoenix, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Sanford A. Sato, a prominent nisei leader, died in Phoenix on April 12 after a month-long illness. The Poston Chronicle reported his passing.

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