Show Me the Money Pacific Gitizen 9
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Newsstand: 25¢ $1.50 postpaid (U.S., Can.) I $2.30 (Japan Air) #29901 Vol. 136, No. 7ISSN: 0030-8579 National Publication of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) APR. 18-MAY 1, 2003 Census Shows Increase in Hapas; Playwright APAs React to Michigan Affirmative Action Houston Notes Growing Acceptance Among Asians Cases Going Before Supreme Court By MARTHA NAKAGAWA Southern California where she is By TRACYUBA final ruling will have a lot of gray undergraduate programs because Assistant Editor currently a professor of theater WriterlReporter area and the Supreme Court won't race and diversity factors and director of the playwriting rule completely in favor [ot} or allowed less qualified minority Personal account from interna program at USC's School of Asian Pacific Americans completely against the use of race students to get in ahead of them. tionally acclaimed playwright Theatre. across the country reacted to two in admissions. The tricky part is The court is expected to delib Velina Hasu Houston and 2000 highly scrutinized cases involv how much gray area they will erate over the next two months The event was co-sponsored by · Census data analyzed by the Asian USC's Asian Pacific American ing the University of Michigan 's allow through the language that and a decision may be rendered Pacific American Legal Center Student Services, USC Nikkei use of race as in late June. confirm that the Nikkei communi Association and the Japanese an admissions After six ty has evolved into a highly multi American Historical Society of factor in its law years of legal ethnic community. Southern California. and undergrad wrangling, Houston recently spoke on ''The Houston is the daughter of a uate schools as both propo New Japanese American: Com Japanese immigrant mother and the lawsuits nents and munity Vigor and the Embrace of went before the opponents of See CENSUS /page Hybridity" at the University of 8 U.S. Supreme . affi rmati ve Court amid a action antici pro-affirmative pate the action rally court's deci which drew sion will set a about 50,000 precedent for people to race-based Washington, programs and D.C., on April polici e s 1. nationwide. "There is a "My fear, as PHOTO: KRISTINE MINAMI lot of anxiety APA students rally at the April 1 demonstration in Washington, D.C. these court and anticipa- cases come tion for what the rulings may they use to rule on the cases." beforethe Supreme Court, is that be," said Michelle Lin, 21, a sen The court is currently hearing using race to ensureequal ity will· ior at the University of Michigan arguments in Grutter v. Bollinger be ruled legally wrong," said PHOTO: MARTHA NAKAGAWA and co-chair of United Asian and Gratz v. Bollinger, both of Bethesda, Md., resident Daniel From I-r: George Kiriyama, former Los Angeles Unified School Board American Organizations, an which involve white applicants Teraguchi, a program and member and co-founder of the Japanese American Historical SOCiety of umbrella group of over 30 APA who allege they were denied .Southern Califomia· (JAHSSC); playwright and writer Velina Hasu student groups. "I think that the admission into the UM law and See MICHIGAN/page 6 Houston; writer Wakako Yamauchi; Iku Kiriyama, JAHSSC co-founder; and Jeff Murakami, director of USC's Asian American Studies. MORIMEMO Chinese Canadian Community Fears Rise in SPRING CAMPAIGN Visiting Anti-ASian Sentiment as SARS Scare Continues; Our History Similar Signs Cropping Up in U.S. Cities By FLOYD MORl Show Me the Money JACL Nat') President By CAROLINE AOYAGI "It's misguided racial profiling By PAUL M. UYEHARA ture will drop. Yo ur stomach will Executive Editor and the fact that it is happening is EDC P.e. Board Representative feel better. You can lie down in Whiledr iving back to Salt Lake worrisome," said Avy Go, director your own bed and use a bathroom· City from Los Angeles recently, On a typical Friday night in of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Don't you hate it when you start without stalls. Being home isjust. my wife and 1 Toronto, Canada's, downtown Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. feeling sick when you're out in comforting and safe. decided that area Chinatown, long lines for Chinese Canadians are repO\i · · public? Yo u're having a good time JACL is our organizational we would go your favorite Chinese restaurant ing harassment at the work place; when all of a sudden you're hot, home. People here can pronounce out to the and desperate attempts to find an their children being picked on at dizzy and ready to spill your guts. your name. They like their fish Topaz camp empty parking space are common school; people changing seats in Anxiety makes you feel worse as "fresh." lf they don't know you, site and check occurrences. the subway to avoid sitting beside you try to decide if you should they probably know your parents. out the new But ever since mid-March when them; and patrons being seated make a break for the bathroom, lie It is a comfortable place to be. monument. the World Health Organization . away from them when they go out down before you faint, or just sit Japanese Americans here in the It had been released a worldwide SARS to restaurants. quietly till it passes. If only you Eastern District sometimes feel a some time since we had beenback (Severe Acute Respiratory The CCNC headquarters office could transport yourself home ways from home. There's no geo Syndrome) alert, the Chinatown in Toronto has received a number See MORI MEMO/page somehow, instantly. graphic· Nikkei community to 8 here has become a literal ghost of hate letters and phone calls. Home. If you can just get home speak of. If you want to hang out town. One caller left an offensive mes 2003 JACL NATIONAL without embarrassing yourself, So far more than 270 SARS sage saying: ''Why you Chinese so See UYEHARA/page 2 you'll feel better. Yo ur tempera- YOUTH CONFERENCE cases have been reported in dirty?Yo u peopleliv e like rats and Canada and all 13 confirmed eat like pigs and spread dirty, dirty, deaths have been from the Toronto deadly disease around the world. Inside the area, numbers third only to Hong ... I'm so fed up of the Chinese, .. Kong and Mainland China where everywhere." Gitizen the epidemic is believed to have In recent weeks several. hate paCific originated. sites have also cropped up posting Letters to the Editor ...2 But now it seems that not only anti-Asian messages. One excerpt are Canadians avoiding Toronto's from the infamous Freedom Site ·National Chinatown restaurants and busi News· . ...3.;4 said: "Well, we have another per nesses, the city with a Chinese nicious Oriental import: deadly s population of 259,000 has been Atypical Pneumonia. CFIRC has Community New ....5 seeing a rise in anti-Asian senti been warning for the past six years ment. Sports and that, quite literally, IMMIGRA- . ''They need to tackle the dis TION CAN KILL YOU!" Entertainment ease, not people," said Chung There have also been several e . .. ... 7 Tang, executive di rector of the mail hoaxes targeting the Chinese June 20-22, 2003 Washington University Chinese Canadian National Canadian community by falsely Columns ....... ....8 Council's Toronto chapter. "We St. Louis, reporting that specific Chinese· MO are Canadians, we helped build restaurants and businesses have Calendar . ... ... ..10 this country. [Chinese Canadians] been affected by SARS. The result . are just as afraid, just as con has been a devastating drop in Obituaries ... : ...... 11 cerned.The bottom line is people 9 need to get the facts" See SARS/page WEEKS 9 PAC IFIC CITIZEN, APR. 18·MAY 1, 2 2003 . aciii. c . citizen. ! 1 L� &o-eM Editor 1.1' 7'. Fourth Case," he has once again 7 Cupania Circle, till Futurl ., JACL given us legal enlightenment without Monterey Park, CA 91755 the legalese in explaining Ex Parte Tel: 323/725-0083, 800/966- I am writing in regards to the crit Mitsuye Endo. 6157, Fax: 323/725-0064 icism of the JACL national leader-. Mr. Marutani quotes from two E-mail: [email protected] ship. We are living in difficult times, bookswhich interestingly differas to Executive Editor: resemWing in some aspects the where Ms. Endo was initially incar Caroline Aoyagi cerated. Peter Irons in his book Y. experiences we Nisei remember Assistant Editor: after Pearl.Harbor and World War II. "Justice At War" writes that she was Martha Nakagawa . We can recall those days when in Tanforan Assembly Center. John Office Manager: Brian Tanaka Japanese Americans found very little Tateishi's book "And Justice for All" Production Assistant: support among the American public has her testifying before the Commission on Wartime Relocation Margot Brunswick in terms .of fair treatment and consti and Internment of Civilians that she Writer/Reporter: Tracy Uba tutional rights. We were bombarded was in "Walarga Assembly Center Circulation: Eva Lau-Ting by false allegations and rumors, near Sacramento for about a month especially through the media and our Publisher: PHOTO: BRIAN TANAKA and then went to Tule Lake.v In addi Japanese American EDC Editorial Board member Paul Uyehara presents a check to P.e. political representatives. Citizens League (founded 1929) tion to this oversight, and otherwise Editorial Board chair Gil Asakawa with JACL National President I congratulate the current JACL 1765 Sutter Street, San Francis excellent book, Irons seems not to Floyd Mori looking on. leadership and especially Executive CA 94115, tel: 415/�21-5225 give Aiko Herzig-Yo shinaga, an out co, Director John Tateishi for the firm fax: 415/931-4671, www.jacl.org replaced anytime soon.