SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the past 20 years, Reiko Nagumo, a Nisei docent for the California Museum’s Time of Remembrance program, has told her story of how a childhood friendship helped her get through the prejudice she faced during and after World War II. By continuing their friendship against the will of her parents, Nagumo’s […]
Ann Curry’s TV series helps childhood friends reunite after seven decades
March 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Nikkei must speak out against police brutality
January 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The other day, I received a petition in an e-mail asking me to tell PepsiCo, which makes Doritos,to stop buying the palm oil it uses to make the chips. “That sound when you bite down on Doritos … is the sound of rainforests being ‘crunched’ … for massive palm oil plantations ….” It seems that […]
Injustices of racism, and resigned acceptance over the Zimmerman verdict
August 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Reading Chizu Omori’s thoughts (in the July 25 – Aug. 7, 2013 issue of the Nichi Bei Weekly) on the injustice surrounding George Zimmerman’s trial got me thinking. I have been conflicted with this case’s final verdict, as while Zimmerman committed what is morally a heinous act, I am also wary of automatically denouncing the […]
House passes resolution of ‘regret’ for the Chinese Exclusion Act
June 28, 2012 by 1 Comment
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 683, a bipartisan resolution introduced by Rep. Judy Chu of California, on June 18. The resolution “formally expresses the regret of the House of Representatives for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and other legislation that discriminated against people of Chinese origin in the United […]
Buying American, Japan bashing in the post-industrial
January 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
UPDATE: It appears I was mistaken, and this was all just a clever ruse. I rescind my offer and reactionary knee jerk reaction. What? Something wrong happened on the Internet? Well LOOK OUT BLOGOSPHERE BECAUSE I’M A SHARK AND I JUST CAUGHT THE SCENT OF BLOOD. No, I’m not talking about SOPA or PIPA, which are […]
THE GREAT UNKNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN GREAT: The astonishing history of Japanese Americans in Louisiana
November 3, 2011 by 1 Comment
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series. The story of Japanese settlement in Louisiana, whether in the metropolis of New Orleans or in the bayous, is rather unknown, even to locals, but Nikkei have had a surprisingly large impact on the state’s history. Jokichi Takamine was possibly the first Japanese settler in […]
When it comes to hatred and prejudice, it’s time to See Something Say Something
We live in anxious times. We probably always will. And I don’t say this lightly. I’ll never shake the memories of the times I sprinted out of my office in the Senate or rushed down the steps of the Capitol in panicked evacuation because planes had come too close and were possible terrorist attacks. Sometimes […]