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A Hard Fought Victory
By GWEN MURANAKA
RAFU ENGLISH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Saturday, April 26, 2008
JANM gala pays emotional tribute to the many who fought for redress.
Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
From left, coram nobis attorneys Peggy Nagae, Dale Minami and Rod Kawakami, John Tateishi (JACL), Alan Nishio (NCRR), William Hohri and Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga (NCJAR) are recognized on Saturday during the annual Japanese American National Museum gala for their work in helping pass redress legislation 20 years ago.
JANM CEO Dr. Akemi
Kikumura Yano.
An image of Hisano Fujimoto, a 101-year-old Minidoka internee, receiving one of the first redress checks was the emotional conclusion to a 50-minute tribute to the many individuals and groups who fought for the passage of redress in 1988 at the Japanese American National Museum dinner on Saturday.
The gala dinner, attended by more than 900, marked the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted a presidential apology and $20,000 to Japanese Americans forcibly removed from the West Coast and incarcerated during World War II.
Dr. Mitch Maki, emcee of the presentation and co-author of “Achieving the Impossible Dream: How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress,” characterized the three points of view shared by Japanese Americans as they contemplated redress in the 1980s. Many wanted to let go of the past; while others sought a “clean” apology without a monetary component.
“The third group said, yes, an apology was needed, but there were real financial losses and any apology would have to be accompanied by monetary redress payments,” said Maki.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and former Gov. Pete Wilson were recognized for their work in the halls of Congress shepherding the redress bill to its eventual passage. In the video montage, the words and images of the late Sen. Spark Matsunaga and Rep. Robert Matsui were also recalled, as well as clashes with notorious redress opponent Lillian Baker. Wilson, who was a senator when the legislation was passed, read a letter written by former First Lady Nancy Reagan for the occasion, who remembered Ronald Reagan’s signing of the bill on Aug. 10, 1988.
“He truly believed that America was a land of liberty and justice for all. He recognized that the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a grievous wrong, one that must be made right,” said Mrs. Reagan.
John Tateishi, chair of the Japanese American Citizens League national committee for redress, and Alan Nishio, founder and co-chair of the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations, were honored for their organizations’ efforts lobbying Congress and creating a nationwide lobbying effort.
Tateishi recalled a meeting on Capitol Hill where Sen. Inouye said that a commission on redress should be formed before Congress would proceed. “We knew we had been given our marching orders,” Tateishi said.
The Commission on Wartime Internment and Relocation of Citizens concluded in a report issued in 1983 that the camps were a result of wartime hysteria and a failure of leadership.
Attorneys Rod Kawakami, Peggy Nagae and Dale Minami were recognized for their work on the coram nobis cases of Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui and Fred Korematsu. Also recognized were researcher Aiko Herzig- Yoshinaga, who uncovered the legal basis for challenging the concentration camps, and William Hohri, founder of the National Council for Japanese American Redress, who filed a class action lawsuit containing 22 causes of
action against the federal government in May 1983.
Kawakami, who practices law in Seattle, was lead counsel on Hirabayashi’s case. “When we started the case, we were of course 20 years younger. This is a momentous, great event,” said Kawakami.
Others remembered in photos and words included: Bert Nakano, NCRR leader, Clifford Uyeda, former JACL national president, Rep. Barney Frank, Jack Herzig, Grayce Uyehara,
Grant Ujifusa, Rose Ochi, Art Morimitsu, authors Michi Weglyn and Peter Irons, and activists Sue Embrey and Yuri Kochiyama.
At the conclusion of the evening, Dr. Akemi Kikumura Yano, JANM CEO, said her goals are to secure the museum’s financial future and continue to tell the community’s stories.
“My job as CEO is to ensure the museum’s mission continues to be fulfilled,” said Kikumura Yano. |
