Japanese American Citizens League: Berkeley Chapter

Documenting California's Pre-WWII Japantowns

Preserving California's Japantowns is the first statewide project to document historic resources from the numerous pre-World War II Japantowns.

Join historians and cultural planners, Gail Dubrow and Donna Graves, in an effort to broaden public awareness and encourage the preservation of places and memories significant to historic Japanese American communities across California.

For more information, please visit their website: www.californiajapantowns.org

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Honoring John Tateishi

Celebrate John Tateishi ’s almost 30 years of tireless commitment to the Asian American community and his dedication to civil rights as JACL’s National Redress Director and National Executive Director.

The JACL is honoring him with a dinner on Saturday, May 19th, 2007. It will be held at the South San Francisco Conference Center from 6pm - 10pm.

For more details, and for a sign up sheet, please download this flyer (128KB). If you have additional questions, please contact Milo Yoshino at (925) 933-7584 or email miloyoshi@aol.com

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U.S. Commemorative Stamp Honoring JA Veterans

There is a push that a commemorative stamp should be created soon honoring the significant contributions of American men and women of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. Army during World War II, Wayne Osako can be contacted for a copy of the petition. The wish is to honor the contributions of as many veterans as we can while they are still alive. Highlights of their contributions include:

• Famed rescue of the 36th Texas Infantry “Lost Battalion” by the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team in October 1944. Over 800 casualties suffered to rescue 211 men from the Texas division. This is considered one of the great battles of U.S. Army history.

• Spearheaded the breaking of the German “Gothic Line” in Italy, considered key to the war effort.

• Military Intelligence Service’s key roles in the Pacific Front, estimated to have shortened the war at least two years, and saving countless lives.

• Served the U.S. with great honor as loyal Americans, despite harsh actions against the Japanese American community, including the government’s incarceration of over 110,000 individuals in detention camps. When the public and people in leadership doubted them and sometimes made racially-motivated attacks against them due to their ancestry, they served to prove their loyalty to America.

• Collectively, the contributions of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team have earned them the distinction as the most highly decorated unit for its size and length of service in American military history.

For more information please contact
Nisei WWII Veterans Stamp Campaign
Assistant: Wayne Osako (714) 534-5139
Email: stampnow.wayne@gmail.com
Or
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC)
Stamp Development - United States Postal Service
1735 North Lynn Street, Room 5013
Arlington, Virginia 22209-6435

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HR 1492 Passes Unanimously

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) lauded the passage of HR 1492, the Camp Preservation Bill, which passed by unanimous consent in the House of Representatives. Speaking in favor of the bill was Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), who authored the bill and represented for many years the area where the Manzanar Camp is located. The vote today paved the way for the bill to go to the President for signing into law. This legislation is important as a means to prevent a repeat of such a dark period in our nation's history.

Also speaking on behalf of the bill were Congressman Mike Honda (D- CA) and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), both of whom were born in the camps. Congressman Honda commended Gerald Yamada and Floyd Mori, who were instrumental in bringing the issue to the attention of Congressman Thomas and others. He also wished John Tateishi, JACL National Director who recently took ill, well in his recovery and thanked him for his part in this effort. Madeline Bordallo from Guam made mention of two important Japanese Americans who were interned in the camps during World War II, the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta and the late Congressman Robert Matsui.

Floyd Mori, interim JACL National Director and a personal friend of Congressman Thomas, stated, “This bill in some ways is more significant than the Redress bill in that it allows for permanent educational opportunities for our nation to understand the value of civil rights and the rights provided by the Constitution. We are especially grateful to Congressman Bill Thomas for his leadership and passion in bringing this bill to passage. Having a powerful member of the majority party author and carry the bill did much to assure this victory.”

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Racial Tension in Our Backyard
By Alison Satake

On 12/09/05 a flyer filled with ethnic slurs, inflammatory accusations, and a call to kick out the

‘Japs’ was distributed to homes and businesses along Alcatraz Avenue in the Lorenz district of Berkeley/Oakland. Just after the Christmas holiday, the Berkeley JACL received a copy of this flyer from a Japanese American woman working in this neighborhood and a letter asking for our help.

We investigated the situation and found that the flyer was being distributed by an African American woman whose father’s property on Alcatraz Avenue was re-possessed and sold after his death due to inability to make payment. Consequently, the property was sold to 2 LLC’s with mailing addresses in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland. When we went to investigate the property, it was uninhabited, temporarily relieving our fears of imminent danger. However, from across the street, an angry voice shouted threats at us, while hiding from view. The Berkeley Police Department had been alerted about the flyer and had heightened its presence in the neighborhood. The Berkeley PD was in the process of obtaining a psychiatric evaluation of the writer who clearly identifies herself as Barbara Dobard on the flyer. Meanwhile, the case has been turned over to the Alameda County District Attorney to determine if prosecution for a hate crime should be pursued.

Simultaneous to our investigation, we contacted the Japanese American woman, M. Ikeda who had asked for our help. She also had experienced being yelled at while walking down the street past the same house the threats we had heard were coming from. We arranged to meet with her colleagues and other people who work in her office building down the street from the re-possessed property. The meeting was informative and generated an interest to reach out to the small business owners and other neighbors to build safety for everyone in the neighborhood. Although the meeting was hopeful, Ms. Ikeda has experienced great distress in the following months that has led her to contemplate resigning her position as Acting Associate Director of Programs, as her organization works to strengthen its safety policies.

The Berkeley JACL is in the process of planning a neighborhood meeting to initiate dialogue about the real issue of race and class tension between African Americans and Asian Americans in our community that this flyer has demonstrated. If you’d like to be a part of this community-organizing project or have feedback, please contact board member, Alison Satake at asatake@yahoo.com.