•• •• aCl lC Cl lZen October 9, 1981 The National Publication of the Japanese Amerjcan Citizens League ISSN: 0030-85791 Whole No. 2,1591 Vol. 93 No. 15 (30¢ Postpaid) ~= 2 Seminar to mark S. F. school Supreme Court's actions of Evacuation segregation edict of 1906 SAN FRANCISCO-A community can studies class at San Francisco gathering commemorating the State University and will include a ' a major concern of many before CWRIC 75th anniversary of the 1906 San panel discussion on contemporary Francisco Board of Education's or­ educational issues in the San Fran­ By PEI'ER IMAMURA ment that they made [was] very important to your case: the der to segregate Japanese Ameri­ cisco Japanese American com­ (F1rst in a Series) Japanese were singled out" _ students from the city's munity. can Los Angeles Goldberg then told Hirabayashi, " . .the statements made in scbools will be held on Oct 11, 1 The seminar is partially funded your case no longer is the law; it is now expressly recognized fu!N: at the Konko Oturch social by a grant from the California As the scheduled hearings of the Commission on Wartime Council for the Humanities and Relocation and Internment of Civilians draw to a close (with that the Fifth Amendment does contain an equal protection The program is being organized the National Endowment for the additional hearings tentatively set for New York and again in clause." ~ a project of a Japanese Ameri- Humanities. Professor Jim Oku­ Washington), the question arises as to what infonnation can be tsu, project director, Said that the PC FOCUS 'Stop payment' ruse purpose of the symposium is t~ drawn from the hearings so far The tears, jeers, publicity and remember the significant event in criticism may be be fading away, but it is still necessary to ask if Goldberg also emphasized this fact about the Fifth Amend­ strikes merchants Nikkei history and to compare it to this trip was really necessary. ment to Lillian Baker of Gardena, during the July 16 session. He LOS ANGELES-little Tokyo the educatioo of the city's Nikkei Although there is much infonnation on the Evacuation al­ told Baker that "the curfew law decision (Hirabayashi, Yasui) merchants have become wary of a students today. ready well docwnented in many books, the CWRlC may have would just not hold water today ..." On Oct 11, 1906, the San lady from the Atwater area (Zip Fran­ also gathered some important material. It may be worth re­ Noting that the Korematsu case (which ruled that a group of 900(9) of the city-Mrs. FUkiko cisco Board of Education had is­ Nakashima Takamin~ho alleg­ sued a resolution removing the 93 viewing some of the testimonies and dialogues of the hearings in citizens may be singled out, expelled from their homes and edly makes purchases, pays for Japanese American students from imprisoned without trial, based solely on ancestry) had never them by checks, and before the the regular public schools and or­ been overruled, but noted: checks clear the bank. places a dered them to attend a special "Well, you know, it's a strange thing, alien and sedition laws in "stop payment" order with the "Oriental" school The Japanese our country, which muzzled the, press right at the begimring of Americans in the city reacted and bank. our republic, have never been oveITUled." The store owner proceeds to refused to comply with the order contact the lady by mail and and instead sent the students to a Baker, who felt that the Supreme Court was the final arbiter as phooe, but all efforts thus far have • school set up at Nihon gakuen, l0- to the legality of th Evacuation, reprinded Goldberg that when .{>roven futile. cated at the site now occupied by Hirabayashi was decided, "we were under different cooditioos The amounts range from $200 to JACL National Headquarters. and we had a different Court then. But still we were a country $SOO and one merchant cashed a The incident had international and are a country of laws and compassion." repercussions which involved U.S. check without purchase. To which the commissioner replied, "But we're not a country The practice has been referred and Japanese governments andaf­ to the little Tokyo Businessmen's fected the immigration of Japa­ which believes., you know, following mistakes, [and] the Su­ Association for further action. nese to America. preme Court [has] overruled the q>inions of mistaken laws, and as pointed out in the alien and sedition laws-" Baker, changing the subject, interrupted, "Your honor, I want Sansei named to U.S. board to make it perfectly clear that what rm reporting today is not a personal viewpoint I came here representing an organization." of Amnesty International Hinting Congressional Remedies- LOS ANGELES-Anmesty International USA has elected Bill Baker told the Commission that they have "no power to over­ Watanabe of Los Angeles to its natiooal board of directors in a the context of the categories they fall into, beginning with the turn a upreme Court edict" and that "only the Supreme Court vote of the members recently. He is the first Asian American to legal, or illegal, aspects of the Evacuation. The selected hearing cando that" serve on the U.S. Board of Directors. material that follows are examples of how the greatest obstacles Goldberg agreed, reminding her that the CWRIC has no Amnesty Intemat:iooaJ., which ~ over 10,000 members in the within the redress issue-the Supreme Court decisions against power at all, as it can only recommend U.S. and over 200,000 members world-wide, is an international Hirabayshl, Yasui and Korematsu-<:.an be dealt with. "The upreme Court must reverse itself, it has had 40 years to hwnan rights organization. It is dedicated tohelp those who have Hirabayac;bi vs. the U.s. do it, it never has," said Baker. "And so it is then the p\lllX)Se of been impriDled solely for their r~ religion or ideas, and also During the Washington hearings on July 14, Gordon Hira­ some, not this Commission, to propose laws to usurp that power, works for the abolition of torture and the abolition of capital bayashi, who challenged the 1942 wartime curfew and exclusioo to lose the separati(J}- , punishment Its efforts were reoognized in 1m when it was the orders against peroons of Japanese ancestry, reminded the 01/­ On another fundamental point on a govermnent of laws, Gold­ recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize that year. RIC the U.s. Supreme Court ruled g.o a curfew may be imposed berg interjected, noting to Baker: "Forgive me again, as an Currently the executive directoc of the little Tokyo Service against one group of citizens solely on the basis of ancestry. historian, there's nothing in wr Constitution, and nothing in Center in Los Angeles, the 37-year-old Sansei commtmity work­ Of the decision against him, Hirabayshi noted: Korematsu which would prevent Congress from enacting re­ er stated, "It is my bq>e to make more Asian Americans aware " ...the Court, in essence left, what appears to me a prominent medial legislation. All that the Supreme Court said in Korematsu of the fine work that Amnesty International does in the field of loophole, in their logic, they seened to say, first major premise: was that tbeir conception of Executive Order in. the then existing hwnan rights. Having been born in a coocentration camp, I feel a circumstan~ legislation authorized the Executive Order. Then, however. and "Where there is a compelling social individual ~inion, burden for repressive govemments." • rights must give way; you've read the the (;pinion makes very clear that it Watanabe added that those who would like more informatioo "Exclusioo from specified areas and detention in confined would be within the competence of Congress to decide other­ about Amnesty Intemational can call him at the Little Tokyo zones may be necessary for military security; wise. See, so it isn't a question of overturning. This Cnmmissioo Service Center, ~3729. "And the conclusioo, therefore, all persoos of Japanese an­ supports Congress." cestty must be uprooted and detained in camps." Baker then pointed rut to Goldberg that there is a difference Hirabayashi agreed with the first two premises of the Court, between the Court "overturning" and "reversing" itself. L.B. Mayor 8ato mugged again noting that ''where a group, including a government, is con­ CrotjraJed 00 Next Page LONG BEACH. Ca.-Mayor Eu­ least I was in the car, while he was fronted with an emergency sibJation, individuals must give way, nice N. Sato, who was robbed and in the open," she noted. and all throogh history they have done that, and they must take YE EDITOR'S DESK: by Harry Honda assaulted by two muggers in Los Last Oct 17 Sato suffered a cut certain kinds of emergency steps which may confine individual Angeles less than a year ago, was over her right eye and several freedom." again the victim of robbery, this bruises and scratches when she But then he said: "What r can't understand was this, and why I PC Subscription Policy time at sbotgun point, last month. was knocked down and robbed by refused to go along with it, was after stating those emergency For the past decade [and we have been guietabout it in print-4loping Police said the Nisei mayor was two purse snatchers as she left a in-house discussion would accomplish the missioo, but so many changes robbed in the parking lot of the meeting of the Southern California situations, in a situatioo where we did not even have martial law, they go and pick a particular small population, purely on the ha e occurred in-house within this period lhat perhap it's time to say Silverado United Methodist Assn.