Nikkei standing up

Friends,

Since the election of Donald Trump, I hope that you’ve taken some action to stand up and show your resistance to his racist, misogynistic and hateful statements and actions like the travel ban, the Muslim registry and the attacks on immigrants and refugees.

These actions identify and target a group of people as the enemy, disseminates fake news and strip rights of people including citizens — sound familiar?

We as Nikkei have an important role to play in taking a stand against this hate. We know what it means to be singled out as the enemy. We experienced government actions that took away our rights. We know what it means to have no one to support us in our fight for freedom. We lived through the loss of lives, dignity and livelihood.

Through the redress and reparations victory in 1990, the U.S. government found that the Japanese American experience was a result of “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.” (Sound familiar?) And one of t0he purposes of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was to discourage the occurrences of similar injustices and violations of civil liberties in the future. Standing on the shoulders of our grandparents, parents and others, we have an obligation to do what’s right today.

What Can You Do?
Please join a Nikkei contingent on May 6 for a Rally of Inclusion at noon at Portsmouth Square. This is a remembrance of the anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first act to exclude a group of people based on race. You can also sponsor this action as an individual or an organization. Look for the sign “Japanese American Resisters.”

Also, please come to a meeting on May 13 that 3 p.m. at the JCCCNC located at 1840 Sutter Street to discuss other opportunities for increased outreach, education and action.

Please get the word out to your family, friends and supporters! If you have any questions, contact Joyce Nakamura at nakamurajoyce@yahoo.com or (415) 948-0131.

Resist!

“Nikkei Resisters” is “a group of J-Town community activists from the ‘70s who see the need to do something.” The views expressed in the preceding commentary are not necessarily those of the Nichi Bei Weekly.