Vol. 15, No. 3, June 18, 1942. 8 pages. View this issue
War Secretary Henry L. Stimson assured JACL representatives that interference with the liberties of evacuated citizens would be held to an absolute minimum. Around that front-page story, the issue followed the first weeks of life after forced removal. The War Relocation Authority announced a relocation center at McCormick, Utah, for 8,000 people. Volunteers helped save Idaho’s sugar beet crop. Ben Yoshioka described Little Tokyo as a ghost town. Minoru Yasui’s deliberate curfew violation became a test of the law, and Fred Korematsu’s case was continued for a constitutional test.
The commentary pages carry Saburo Kido’s Timely Topics, Bill Hosokawa’s From the Frying Pan, and Tom Hirashima on the effort to strip Japanese Americans of citizenship. Galen M. Fisher, in Our Japanese Refugees, asked churches to help people relocating east. The front page also reports that New York barred Nisei marchers from a war parade.
What’s in this issue
National
- Not Unmindful of Citizens’ Rights, Says Stimson, by P.C. Staff, page 1. War Secretary Henry L. Stimson assured JACL representatives that interference with the liberties of evacuated citizens would be held to an absolute minimum. He acknowledged that most evacuees are American citizens and that the evacuation was difficult to undo once accomplished.
- Fisher Hopes Nisei Rights Be Protected, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Dr. Galen M. Fisher, secretary of the Committee for National Security and Fair Play, assured that fair-minded Americans would protect the civil rights of evacuated citizens. He visited the Keetley Food for Freedom farm, where 180 mostly citizen Japanese were developing desert land.
- WRA to Relocate West Coast Evacuee Group in Central Utah, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The War Relocation Authority announced a relocation center at McCormick, Utah for 8,000 evacuees and a second center in Arkansas. The announcements brought the total planned relocation capacity to 112,000 across several western and southern sites.
- Yasui Case Tests Legality of Curfew Ban, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Minoru Yasui, a reserve second lieutenant, deliberately violated the military curfew to challenge its constitutionality as applied to citizens. Federal arguments were scheduled to be heard in Portland.
- New York Bans Nisei Marchers in War Parade, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Mayor La Guardia’s committee barred Japanese American groups from the June 13 New York at War parade after earlier inviting them. The Japanese American Committee for Democracy objected, saying participation would have demonstrated national unity.
- Three U.S.-Born Face Charges of Military Zone Violations, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Three American-born Japanese appeared in federal court for violating Army restriction orders in the Bay Region. Fred Korematsu’s case was continued for a constitutional test, while Koji Kurokawa was sentenced to six months.
Community
- 500 Evacuees Arrive from Coast Centers, by P.C. Staff, page 1. West Coast Japanese volunteers helped save Idaho’s sugar beet crop despite hostile statements by Governor Chase Clark. Beeson of the U.S. Employment Service reported that the volunteers were showing up well and working under surveillance in camps.
- Little Tokyo’s Last Gasp Told by Last Nisei in Los Angeles, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Ben Yoshioka, believed to be the only person of Japanese ancestry left in Los Angeles County, described Little Tokyo as a ghost town. He remained there under a special Army permit while his family was at Santa Anita.
Commentary
- Timely Topics, by Saburo Kido, page 2. Kido urges Nisei to pursue their civil rights in the civil service dismissal case and to resist a defeatist attitude in the camps. He argues that cooperating with the WRA and proving their fighting spirit is the best response to those seeking to strip them of rights.
- From the Frying Pan, by Bill Hosokawa, page 3. Hosokawa recounts a conversation aboard a ship with Nisei and Chinese student pilots bound for America, discussing war and peace. The Chinese youths who had lived under Japanese rule spoke of ready sacrifice for their homeland.
- Politics-as-Usual, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial criticizes California gubernatorial and political candidates for exploiting anti-Japanese sentiment during the war. It insists that loyal Japanese Americans must be protected under the same democratic rights for which the nation is fighting.
- Move to Take Away Citizenship Smells Just Like Hitlerism, by Tom Hirashima, page 5. Hirashima condemns the Native Sons of the Golden West’s campaign to strip citizenship from Japanese Americans as Hitlerism. He argues that evacuees have cooperated fully and that the move betrays the principles the nation claims to be fighting for.
In-Depth
- Our Japanese Refugees, by Galen M. Fisher, page 6. Fisher examines the evacuation of 60,000 Japanese Americans, arguing it lacked due process and was driven by rumors later discredited. He calls on churches to help find work and fair treatment for Japanese Christians relocating east.
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