Author: Marleen Wallingford

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial ?Don?t Say Gay? bill into law for his state. Also this week, in Utah, a bill that would bar transgender youth from participating in girls’ sports was vetoed by the governor, only to be overturned by the state legislature. These bills come following a string of similar anti-LGBTQIA+ laws that have been introduced across the country and in several instances, already becoming law. As staunch supporters of the LGBTQIA+ community, JACL condemns the actions of Governor DeSantis and many others who have sought to attack the LGBTQIA+ community through these legislative efforts.

The LGBTQIA+ community, and especially LGBTQIA+ youth, have long faced discrimination and violence, which has caused higher rates of health risks and suicide. JACL has been an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community for many years, passing our first national resolution in support of same-sex marriage in 1994. We have seen so much change in our society in amazing ways to support the LGBTQIA+ community over the past 30 years. To see these new laws taking the nation a step backward is not only disheartening but also extremely dangerous.

We join the hundreds of other organizations and community groups nationwide standing with the LGBTQIA+ community in Florida and across the country who are fighting these bills. We hope that politicians listen to all their constituents, especially those who are directly impacted by these laws, instead of the disinformation and vitriol supporting such discriminatory legislation. The JACL demands inclusion and acceptance for members of the LGBTQIA+ community in order to help nurture our youth and future generations.

The JACL applauds the unanimous passage of the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) Act in the House of Representatives on March 15, 2022.

In 2006, the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) Program was established for the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. This original legislation was introduced by then-Representative Bill Thomas, Doris Matsui, and Mike Honda. Since the first year of funding in Fiscal Year 2009, $36 million has been provided to 268 projects in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Funding has ranged from as little as $5,000 to over $800 thousand for a single project.

The JACE act provides an additional $42 million dollars in funding for a total of $80 million. Of that total, $10 million in funding may be used by Japanese American organizations to implement education programs to ensure that present and future generations of Americans will learn from the experience of Japanese American confinement and our country?s subsequent commitment to equal justice under law. This funding will be used for research and education relating to Japanese American incarceration, and the creation and disbursement of educational materials to promote a national understanding of how and why Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII.

JACL is thankful to Representative Doris Matsui for her leadership in authoring and championing the JACE Act. We are also grateful to Chairman Neguse, Ranking Member Fulcher, and the rest of the members of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands subcommittee for shepherding the JACE act to passage. We would also like to thank the 67 bi-partisan co-sponsors for their support.

We call upon the Senate to swiftly pass the JACE act (S.988) to ensure continued funding to the JACS grant program.

On February 27th, Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) went on CNN and suggested that Russian students should be expelled from the country as a potential pressure point against Russia. Swalwell said, ?Frankly, I think closing their embassy in the United States, kicking every Russian student out of the United States, those should all be on the table.?

The JACL would like to remind the Congressman that his district encompasses an area from where many Japanese Americans were forcibly removed during WWII, leading to the disruption and end of college careers. The disruption of promising college careers was one of many traumas inflicted upon incarcerated Japanese Americans that would have lifelong implications. Only in the last few years have universities begun to take responsibility for the role they played in discriminating against Japanese American students during the war whether through expulsion.

Recent years have seen similar attacks and calls against Chinese students and scientists. Actions against students, targeted only on the basis of their nationality, is discriminatory. Where there is reasonable suspicion of nefarious activity, law enforcement should of course take action, but national origin should not serve as the basis for making these decisions.

JACL supports the Neighbors Not Enemies Act to repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 that gives the President the power to detain, relocate, or deport immigrants from hostile countries in a time of war. This law has been invoked to justify the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII and could be used to justify Congressman Swalwell?s misguided calls for expulsion of Russian students.

Despite multiple efforts to engage, Representative Swalwell has refused JACL?s request to meet regarding his statement.

Atsuhiko Tateuchi Memorial Scholarship
? $5,000 scholarship, renewable annually.
? This scholarship is offered to the following types of students:
o Graduating High School Seniors planning to attend an accredited vocational school, college, or university (2-year or 4-year degrees).
o Students returning to school or currently enrolled in an accredited college or university seeking support to continue their degree.
o Students entering or enrolled in graduate or professional degree programs (MA, PhD, MD, JD, etc.).
? Preference will be given to students of Japanese ancestry or other Asian ancestry.
? Students must be a resident of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, or Washington State.
? Must demonstrate financial need.
? Application available on Survey Monkey Apply:
o Students pursing undergraduate or graduate degrees: https://seattlefoundation.smapply.org/prog/tateuchi/
? Deadline to apply: March 1, 2022.

The Senate?s inability to pass the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act has left JACL and our community greatly disappointed. The voting rights package, which was previously passed in the House this past Thursday, included key legislation that would broaden Americans? access to voting as well as cut down on the influence of special interest groups and dark money. It would be the largest voting rights initiative to pass through Congress in over a decade.

Despite this setback, the JACL will continue to fight for the voting rights of all Americans, especially those who are most vulnerable. Asian Pacific Americans stand to lose much from regressive voter exclusion laws being passed at the local level that would reduce access to the ballot box. We refuse to be discouraged, and we will continue to advocate and have our voices be heard until change and reforms are passed that will guarantee minimal voting rights for all Americans. Voting rights are human rights.

he House of Representatives has now passed a voting rights and election reform package that includes key legislation from both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Amendment Act. These fundamental reforms affirm statements made previously this week by President Biden and Vice President Harris during a visit to Georgia to discuss voting rights. Key parts of this legislation will protect and ensure fair and open elections, including the use of a wide range of forms of identification for in-person voting, making Election Day a federal holiday, guaranteeing the right to mail-in vote, and requiring reasonable public notice for changes to voting policies. It additionally includes illumination around dark money, makes it harder for billionaires and special interest groups to buy elections, and much more.

The JACL is thankful that President Biden and Vice President Harris are drawing attention to this issue, and we are happy to see congress capitalize on this moment and push forward with this legislation. Voting rights are essential to the preservation of our democracy from the local to the national level. We hope that the Senate will recognize the right to vote as fundamental to our democracy and that they will pass legislation to enable the representation of as many Americans as possible in the electoral process.

December 7, 2021

For Immediate Release

Matthew Weisbly, Education & Communications Coordinator, mweisbly@jacl.org

Sarah Baker, VP Public Affairs, sbaker@jacl.org

Today the JACL reflects on the 80th anniversary of the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japanese forces. The attack resulted in the deaths of over 2,400 Americans stationed in Hawaii. This event is especially painful to the Japanese American community because the attack led to the direct questioning of loyalty and incarceration without trial of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. Those that were not incarcerated continued to face hate and discrimination from their fellow Americans who saw them as indistinguishable from the faces of the enemy.

We recognize the 33,000 Japanese Americans who served in our nation?s armed services, despite the fact many had family members and they themselves were being imprisoned by their country. Even in their loyal service, they served within segregated units, yet they would become one of the most highly decorated combat units in the war.

It is without a doubt that the attack on American soil and loss of American lives was a dark day for our nation. However, the subsequent racial hysteria and demagoguery that led to the profiling and targeting of people of Japanese ancestry led us into an even darker place. It is only when we remember the wrongs of this past that we can be sure we do not repeat the same wrongs in the present day.

The trauma of this event persists within the Japanese American community, and it is important that we continue to fight against discriminatory practices that unjustly profile and surveil minority communities. Although we are unlikely to see actions on the scale of mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 people, in the past few years we have seen people from majority Muslim nations banned from our country and refugees denied entry disproportionately those with darker skin, all under the guise of national security need. And in the past year, COVID fear has led to the scapegoating and direct acts of hate and violence against Asian Americans. It is important we remember the history of racism as we continue to fight current racial injustices.

JACL and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are inviting seventy-two educators to explore the historical significance and enduring legacy of the World War II Japanese American incarceration experience and the reparations movement. While past participants are primarily social studies and humanities teachers at the K-12 levels, all are invited to apply.

This NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop will be offered twice: June 19-24 and July 10-15, 2022. Participants will be staying in the historic Little Tokyo neighborhood in Los Angeles with the majority of programming being at our host institution, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), with day trips to Santa Anita Park (a WWII temporary ?assembly center?) and Manzanar National Historic Site (one of the ten permanent WWII ?internment? camps). This will be one of the last times we are able to host a workshop with living camp survivors as the WWII generation passes the torch to future ones.

Learn more and apply here: https//jacl.org/2022-neh-landmarks

NEHgrant#NEHWhyHere#K12#highered

?A phenomenal sequence of lectures and field trips that offered new perspectives on civil liberties? – 2016 Landmarks Participant

JACL is saddened to learn that Holly Yasui has passed away due to complications from COVID-19. While Holly is best known for her father, Min Yasui, who challenged the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II all the way to the Supreme Court, she was also a fierce fighter for civil rights on her own. In the past few years, her passion was bringing to life the film Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice and telling the story of her father?s crusade and how it applied to the modern struggles of the Muslim Ban and immigrant family incarceration and separation. 

JACL Executive Director, David Inoue fondly recalls Holly, ?When I first met Holly at a rally in Washington, DC, she was especially enthusiastic about JACL?s leadership in fighting on behalf of other communities. This was not only her father?s legacy and his strong belief in JACL?s purpose, but she made fighting for justice her own mission. Her unexpected passing is a shock and tragic loss to us all.?

In 1973, the Supreme Court made the landmark decision that ruled access to abortion and one?s right to choose as protected under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Roe v. Wade has been one of the most contested and debated Supreme Court decisions in recent history. Since the court made its decision, it has come under attack by numerous state and local organizations. Unfortunately, his year has been no different. In the first half of 2021 alone, more than 90 laws restricting abortion access have passed in several state legislatures. Tuesday, Texas enacted the most restrictive abortion law to date; banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. On Wednesday, a narrow majority of the Supreme Court ignored 48 years of precedent in allowing the Texas law to stand.

This six-week number is based on early cardiac activity, which also coincides most often when a doctor is able to confirm someone is pregnant. This means it is not nearly enough time for someone to not only confirm they are pregnant but to also schedule an appointment. The law also includes provisions to ?reward? bystanders for tipping off the local government to anyone who is attempting to aid in an ?illegal? abortion. This could include not only doctors but also family and friends of someone who is attempting to seek an appointment.

The JACL unequivocally supports the right to decide whether and when to become a parent. The National Council officially adopted a resolution, titled Family Choice, at the 1992 convention supporting a person?s right ?to choose and determine the course of their lives.?

JACL Executive Director, David Inoue stated ?This law serves as a dangerous precedent for not only the State of Texas but many others that are currently looking to enact similar laws. While the law should be unable to withstand court challenge, that the Supreme Court has declined to block its enactment is not encouraging. This signifies a clear shift of the court away from upholding what has been considered the settled law of the land and allowing the creation of new and dangerous policies infringing upon individual rights and encouraging reckless vigilantism.?