Japanese American Citizens League
Encyclopedia
The was formed in 1929 to protect the rights of Japanese American
s from the state and federal governments. It fought for civil rights
for Japanese Americans, assisted those in internment camps during World War II, and led a successful campaign for redress for internment from the U.S. Congress.
civil rights
organization, was founded in 1929 to address issues of discrimination targeted specifically at persons of Japanese ancestry
residing in the United States
. In California
, where the majority of Japanese Americans resided, there were over one hundred statutes that limited the rights of anyone of Japanese ancestry. Organizations like the The Grange and Native Sons of the Golden West
exerted powerful influence on the state legislature and on Congress
to limit participation and rights of Japanese Americans, and groups like the Asiatic Exclusion League
were established with the purpose of ridding the state of its Japanese population, even those who were American citizens
by birth.
Amidst this hostile environment, the JACL was established to fight for the civil rights primarily of Japanese Americans but also for the benefit of Chinese Americans and other peoples of color. Although still a small, California-based organization, the JACL was one of only a few organizations in the 1920s and 1930s willing to challenge the racist policies of the state and federal governments. With limited resources and virtually no experience in state or federal politics, the JACL nevertheless took it upon itself to set the course for civil rights for persons of Asian
ancestry in the West Coast
region of the United States as well as at the federal level by combating congressional legislation aimed at excluding the rights of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans.
attacked the U.S. Naval
base at Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941 and launched America into World War II
. Within hours after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the FBI swooped down on all Japanese communities in the West Coast states and arrested any elders identified as leaders, suddenly thrusting a young JACL leadership in the difficult position of having to confront a hostile U.S. government whose intent was to exclude and imprison the entire Japanese American population.
Throughout the war, the JACL continued its efforts to ensure some measure of protection and comfort for Japanese Americans imprisoned in government detention camps. The organization argued for and won the right of Japanese Americans to serve in the U.S. military, resulting in the creation of a segregated unit, the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team
, which joined with the 100th Battalion
from Hawaii
and became the most highly decorated unit in U.S. military history, despite having only served in combat for a little over a year in the European theatre
of the war.
(i.e. immigrants) from purchasing and owning land in the state, one of the most discriminatory statutes enacted in California against Japanese Americans. In 1948, the JACL helped found the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
and, in the same year, succeeded in gaining passage of the Evacuation Claims Act, the first of a series of efforts to rectify the losses and injustices of the World War II internment. In 1949, the JACL initiated efforts in the U.S. Congress to gain the right of Japanese immigrants to become naturalized citizens
of the U.S., a right denied to them for over fifty years. The 1951 Walter-McCarren Act, which was essentially a JACL-initiated bill, included language that opened a back door to give women in the United States a foothold on broadening their rights of participation in the democratic process. Among its major accomplishments, the organization committed its lobbying efforts for passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act
, the culmination of the great civil rights movement
of the 1960s.
, the JACL passed a resolution calling for recognition of, and reparations for, the injustice of the World War II internment of Japanese Americans
. It formalized the debate as a priority within the organization despite the Japanese American community's tepid response to the issue. In 1978, the JACL launched a major campaign to seek redress from the U.S. government for the imprisonment and loss of freedom of Japanese Americans during World War II. The JACL was determined to seek some measure of legislative guarantee that the violation of constitutional rights visited upon Japanese Americans would never again be brought upon any group in the United States.
Within two years of launching the campaign, a JACL-sponsored legislation to create a federal investigative commission was approved by the Congress and signed by President Jimmy Carter
. The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the World War II internment and provide its findings to the Congress and the president. The commission's report in 1982 found that the government's actions were unjustified and unconstitutional, and based on this substantiation of its claims and on the commission's recommendations for monetary redress, the JACL sought legislation calling for monetary redress and a presidential apology.
The redress campaign culminated with the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
, which provided monetary compensation and a formal apology to the victims of the World War II internment. After ten years of campaigning in Washington D.C. and across the country through its chapters' grassroots efforts, the JACL brought to a close a final episode in one of the darkest chapters in the constitutional history of the nation.
, including the right to marry for same-sex couples. The JACL was the first national civil rights membership organization to publicly and actively adopt this position, and it has continued to be in the forefront, advocating rights for same-sex marriage
.
Today, the JACL has expanded its mission to protect the rights of all Asian Pacific Americans (APAs).
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s from the state and federal governments. It fought for civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for Japanese Americans, assisted those in internment camps during World War II, and led a successful campaign for redress for internment from the U.S. Congress.
The History of the JACL
The Japanese American Citizens League, the nation's oldest and largest Japanese AmericanJapanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
organization, was founded in 1929 to address issues of discrimination targeted specifically at persons of Japanese ancestry
Ethnic Japanese
Ethnic Japanese may mean:* Japanese people, when referring to people of Japanese descent** May also be used as a term to refer to the Yamato people as opposed to the minority peoples of Japan: the Ainu, Ryukyuans, Burakumin and immigrant groups such as the Han Chinese and Koreans.* Japanese...
residing in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where the majority of Japanese Americans resided, there were over one hundred statutes that limited the rights of anyone of Japanese ancestry. Organizations like the The Grange and Native Sons of the Golden West
Native Sons of the Golden West
-History:The Native Sons of the Golden West was founded July 11, 1875 by General A. M. Winn, a Virginian, as a lasting monument to the men and women of the Gold Rush Days...
exerted powerful influence on the state legislature and on Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to limit participation and rights of Japanese Americans, and groups like the Asiatic Exclusion League
Asiatic Exclusion League
The Asiatic Exclusion League, often abbreviated AEL, was a racist organization formed in the early twentieth century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of East Asian origin.-United States:...
were established with the purpose of ridding the state of its Japanese population, even those who were American citizens
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
by birth.
Amidst this hostile environment, the JACL was established to fight for the civil rights primarily of Japanese Americans but also for the benefit of Chinese Americans and other peoples of color. Although still a small, California-based organization, the JACL was one of only a few organizations in the 1920s and 1930s willing to challenge the racist policies of the state and federal governments. With limited resources and virtually no experience in state or federal politics, the JACL nevertheless took it upon itself to set the course for civil rights for persons of Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
ancestry in the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
region of the United States as well as at the federal level by combating congressional legislation aimed at excluding the rights of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans.
Relocation and internment
The true test of the JACL came some ten years after its inception when the nation of JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
attacked the U.S. Naval
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
base at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on December 7, 1941 and launched America into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Within hours after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the FBI swooped down on all Japanese communities in the West Coast states and arrested any elders identified as leaders, suddenly thrusting a young JACL leadership in the difficult position of having to confront a hostile U.S. government whose intent was to exclude and imprison the entire Japanese American population.
Throughout the war, the JACL continued its efforts to ensure some measure of protection and comfort for Japanese Americans imprisoned in government detention camps. The organization argued for and won the right of Japanese Americans to serve in the U.S. military, resulting in the creation of a segregated unit, the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team
442nd Regimental Combat Team
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army, was composed of Japanese-American enlisted men and mostly Caucasian officers. They fought primarily in Europe during World War II, beginning in 1944. The families of many of its soldiers were subject to internment...
, which joined with the 100th Battalion
U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion
The 100th Infantry Battalion was a unit within the US Army's 34th Infantry Division during World War II. The primarily Nisei battalion was composed largely of former members of the Hawaii Army National Guard...
from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and became the most highly decorated unit in U.S. military history, despite having only served in combat for a little over a year in the European theatre
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
of the war.
Civil rights
Following the war, the JACL began a long series of legislative efforts to win the rights of Japanese Americans. In 1946, the JACL embarked on a hard-fought campaign to repeal California's Alien Land Law, which, enacted in the early years of the 20th century, prohibited all Japanese aliensAlien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
(i.e. immigrants) from purchasing and owning land in the state, one of the most discriminatory statutes enacted in California against Japanese Americans. In 1948, the JACL helped found the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights , formerly called The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups.-Organizational history:...
and, in the same year, succeeded in gaining passage of the Evacuation Claims Act, the first of a series of efforts to rectify the losses and injustices of the World War II internment. In 1949, the JACL initiated efforts in the U.S. Congress to gain the right of Japanese immigrants to become naturalized citizens
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
of the U.S., a right denied to them for over fifty years. The 1951 Walter-McCarren Act, which was essentially a JACL-initiated bill, included language that opened a back door to give women in the United States a foothold on broadening their rights of participation in the democratic process. Among its major accomplishments, the organization committed its lobbying efforts for passage of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, the culmination of the great civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
of the 1960s.
Redress for internment
In 1970, at its biennial convention in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, the JACL passed a resolution calling for recognition of, and reparations for, the injustice of the World War II internment of Japanese Americans
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. It formalized the debate as a priority within the organization despite the Japanese American community's tepid response to the issue. In 1978, the JACL launched a major campaign to seek redress from the U.S. government for the imprisonment and loss of freedom of Japanese Americans during World War II. The JACL was determined to seek some measure of legislative guarantee that the violation of constitutional rights visited upon Japanese Americans would never again be brought upon any group in the United States.
Within two years of launching the campaign, a JACL-sponsored legislation to create a federal investigative commission was approved by the Congress and signed by President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians was a group of people appointed by the U.S. Congress to conduct an official governmental study of Executive Order 9066, related wartime orders and their impact on Japanese Americans in the West and Alaska Natives in the Pribilof...
was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the World War II internment and provide its findings to the Congress and the president. The commission's report in 1982 found that the government's actions were unjustified and unconstitutional, and based on this substantiation of its claims and on the commission's recommendations for monetary redress, the JACL sought legislation calling for monetary redress and a presidential apology.
The redress campaign culminated with the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese-Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was sponsored by California's Democratic Congressman Norman Mineta, an internee as a child, and Wyoming's...
, which provided monetary compensation and a formal apology to the victims of the World War II internment. After ten years of campaigning in Washington D.C. and across the country through its chapters' grassroots efforts, the JACL brought to a close a final episode in one of the darkest chapters in the constitutional history of the nation.
Recent activities
In 1994, at its national convention, the JACL passed a resolution affirming its commitment to and support of the basic human right of marriageMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, including the right to marry for same-sex couples. The JACL was the first national civil rights membership organization to publicly and actively adopt this position, and it has continued to be in the forefront, advocating rights for same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
.
Today, the JACL has expanded its mission to protect the rights of all Asian Pacific Americans (APAs).
Notable members
- Tom BanksTom BanksThomas Banks, Tom Banks, or Tommy Banks may refer to:*Tom Banks , player and administrator with Fitzroy Football Club*Thomas Banks , English sculptor*Tom Banks , American physicist...
- Gordon HirabayashiGordon HirabayashiGordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi is an American sociologist , best known for his principled resistance to the Japanese American internment during World War II, and the court case which bears his name, Hirabayashi v. United States.-Biography:Hirabayashi was born in Seattle to a Christian family who were...
- Mike HondaMike HondaMichael Makoto "Mike" Honda is an American Democratic Party politician. He currently serves as the U.S. Representative for , encompassing western San Jose and Silicon Valley...
- Mike MasaokaMike MasaokaMike Masaru Masaoka was born in Fresno, California. The family moved to Salt Lake City where Masaoka legally changed his first name to "Mike" and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints....
- Doris MatsuiDoris MatsuiDoris Okada Matsui is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district consists of the city of Sacramento and the surrounding area...
- Robert Matsui
- Spark MatsunagaSpark MatsunagaSpark Masayuki Matsunaga was a United States Senator from Hawaii. He was an American Democrat whose legislation in the United States Senate led to the creation of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.-Career:Matsunaga became a United States Army Reservist in 1941,...
- Stan MatsunakaStan MatsunakaStanley Toshi Matsunaka is a former Democratic member of the State Senate of the U.S. state of Colorado, serving from 1995 to 2003. He served as President of the Senate for two years...
- Norman MinetaNorman MinetaNorman Yoshio Mineta, is a United States politician of the Democratic Party. Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush's Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration...
- James Y. Sakamoto http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=2050
- George TakeiGeorge TakeiGeorge Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
See also
- Japanese American National LibraryJapanese American National LibraryThe Japanese American National Library is a non-lending library and resource center in San Francisco's Japantown for the collection and preservation of materials relating to Japanese Americans...
- Japanese American National MuseumJapanese American National MuseumThe opened its doors in 1992. The idea for the museum was originally thought up by Bruce Kaji with help from other notable Japanese American people at the time. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo an area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and...
- Japanese American Museum of San JoseJapanese American Museum of San JoseThe Japanese American Museum of San Jose is located at 535 N. Fifth Street in San Jose, in the heart of Japantown. The museum's mission is to collect, preserve, and share Japanese American art, history, and culture with an emphasis on the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.-History:The JAMsj was...
- Densho: The Japanese American Legacy ProjectDensho: The Japanese American Legacy Project' is an award-winning nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington, which collects video oral histories and documents regarding Japanese American internment in the United States during World War II...