Portland Observer, May 1, 1985, Page 7
Black W W II experience documented
Yasui fought
WWII relocation
In 1942, M inoru Yasui «as one o f
hrev Japanese Americans who chose
o challenge ihe propriety o f W W II
ruluary orders which resulted in a
air l ew and mass evacuation o f over
110,000 persons o f Japanese ancestry
living on the West Coast. He was con
victed, held in Military confinement
for nine months in Multnomah Coun
ty ja il while his case was under ap
peal. and later interned at M inidoka
Relocation Camp.
For the past 40 yeas, M inoru Yasui
has Msught justice in his peruinal
treatment by the United States gov
ernment. His case is a symbol o f the
struggle fo r civil and human rights
dignity in the Japanese American
community.
The government’ s response has yet
to be heard, and “ even if we are suc
cessful in this case, it w on’t erase
the agony or the frustration en
dured by 110,000 people. ”
On Wednesday, May 8th at 7:30
p.m ., at Good Samaritan Hospital,
Room f l 10, in the Nursing Educa
tion Building, 2255 NW N orthrup.
M r Yasui w ill discuss the past, pres
ent and future status o f the redress ef
forts and w ill answer questions on the ’
issue. The public is invited. There
will also be a showing o f the film ,
’ ’ Unfinished Business," an hour-long
documentary film , telling the com
pelling story o f three men who re
fused to go.
Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Kore-
matsu and M inoru Yasui courageously
defied the government and were sep
arately convicted and imprisoned for
violating Executive Order 9066 —
which led to the unjust internment o f
their people. The film interweaves
the personal stories o f the three men
with startling archival footage o f war
time anti-Japanese hysteria, the evac
uation and incarceration, and life in
the camps. It captures them today,
now fighting to overturn their orig
inal convictions in the final round o f
a 40-year-old battle against the act
which shattered the lives o f two gen
erations o f Japanese Americans.
Shown at the offlca of Columbia Records In Now York are. from
loft: Director, Artist Development/Press Sandra DaCosta, "Bugs Bun
ny" of Third World, Columbia artist Mick Jagger. Marketing Director
Jack Rovner, and Willie Stewart of Third World.
Caring message of Third World
Columbia recording group Third
W orld is in the midst o f a nationwide
lour in support o f their latest album,
“ Sense o f Purpose." Third W orld is
the headline act in the travelling musi
cal festival entitled Reggae Sunsplavh
USA, which has been ecstatically re
ceived around the country.
"Sense o f Purpose," the first
Dance/R&B hit single from the al
bum o f the same name is alMi the sub
ject o f Third W orld’s latest prom o
tional video. The video, directed by
Donald Cammel (U 2’s "P rid e "),
was shot in a warehouse on London’s
Thames River and revolves around a
stylized
performance
by
Third
W orld.
“ Sense o f Purpose," Third World's
fourth Columbia LP, was produced
by the hand except for "O n e More
Tim e,” which was written and pro
duced by Kool and the Gang’ s Annr
Bayyan. As acknowledged forerun
ners o f the "reggae crossover” genre.
Third W orld has been most successful
at fusing its Jamaican roots with
American pop, rock, and m iu I. T o
their music. Third W orld adds a mes
sage, a message o f commitmeni and
caring, o f coping and building.
Third W orld is active in their com
mitment. Along with fellow Sun-
splash USA artists Gregory Isaacs and
Floyd Parker & We the People, Third
W orld has requested that nckethold-
ers either bring a small can o f food or
make a donation to the Ethiopian
“ Save the C hildren" relief fund ihe
mghi o f each show.
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The N A A C P , ACT-SO Program
has completed the process o f recruit
ing high school students fo r the 1985
competition.
ACT-SO is an acronym for A fro-
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Selected
Nuke Walkathon
Forelaws on Board, a local envi
ronmental and consumer group, is
sponsoring its 8th annual Nuclear
Waste W alkathon on Saturday, May
4. The Nuclear Waste Walkathon is a
10 mile hike on the W ildwood Trail in
Port land's Forest Park starting at the
Western States Forestry Center across
from the zoo. Proceeds will fund ef
forts to prevent the siting o f a high-
level nuclear waste dump at Hanford,
Washington and to clean up existing
radioactive waste dumps at Teledyne
Wah Chang. 4a) feet from the W il
lamette River. Forelaws on Board is
also lobbying for legislation which
would -equire labeling o f food which
hag been irradiated with nuclear waste
fo f the purposes o f preservation.
T o get your W alker’ s Packet or for
more inform ation, call 637-3549.
peiMiiinci xic recorded," says Sin-
nette. " I l was agreed, however, that
the unique A fro-Am erican experience
o f W orld War II should be captured
and preserved here at Howard U n i
versity’s Moorland Spingarn
Re
search C enter," which is regarded as
the world's most comprehensive re
pository o f Black history and litera
ture.
Other completed transcripts in the
project include memoirs o f the late
Col. Hyman Y. Chase, commander
o f the 3661 h Infantry Regiment, and
o f 98-year-old retired Col. West A lex
ander Hamilton, also o f the 366th,
who in 1983 became an honorary
brigadier general with the National
Guard in W ashington, D.C.
Sinnette notes that 12 other W orld
War II veterans have also been inter
viewed, including retired Col. Noel
Parrish, ihe white commandant o f the
Tuskegee A ir Base. "H e was loved by
the Tuskegee Airmen hut whiles mis
trusted him ai the lim e ," savs Sinnette,
noting that the transcripts have not
yet been completed.
In addition to the oral history
memoirs, the diary o f the late Col.
Wendell T Derricks, commander o f
ihe Black 597th Field A rtillery unit,
has also been installed at H ow ard’ s
research center. It was donated by
retired Arm y Col. M ajor Clark o f
Tulsa, Oklahoma.
"Sadly, too many o f our young
people have little, i f any, appreciation
for Afro-Am erican m ilitary pathfind
ers o f ihe past who made it possible
for (today’s) Amencan m ilitary lead
ership
says retired Arm y Col. H.
Minton Francis, one o f the first Black
West Point graduates, who now d i
rects Howard's planning office.
You'll Save on 100's o f
item s each week!
There w ill be a meeting o f the Boise
Citizens Improvement Association at
A Y .O S ., 3710 N. Mississippi, on
May 6, at 7:00 p.m.
The agenda will include Dee Walsh
speaking on the Neighborhixxl Im
provement Plan, the American Red
Crdss, ihe Portland Police Bureau,
Neighborhood Clean-up and the
Neighborhood Flag Project.
Scientific Olympics. The N A A C P has
historically been a supporter o f Black
Youth through a variety o f programs.
That trend is continuing through its
ACT-SO Program.
W ith Ihe increasing numbers o f
students dropping out o f school many
organized efforts need to be estab
lished to keep Black Youth in school
and achieving.
ACT-SO continues to be one o f
these efforts. It provides students an
opportunity to sharpen and develop
their talents through competitions
locally and nationally.
The ACT-SO committee is in the
prrxxss o f recruiting coaches and
judges for the program. Persons with
expertise in the competition areas
and willing to volunteer their time
and support may contact Iris Bell,
221-2605 or Joy Hicks. 285-8457.
ficers o f the 92nd Division Headquar
ters but (heir attitude permeated that
o f the enlisted m e n .,
Another former 366th Infantry
officer. Robert A. Brown, recalls in
his memoir ihe welcoming speech o f
the general in charge o f Ihe division.
The general said, " *1 want you to
know that I didn't ask for you. Your
Negro newspapers got you here, and
since you are here. I'm going to make
you fig h t.' What an mat ion to Black
Mildiers by a white com m ander!" ob
serves Brown.
“ A ll through my m ilitary career. 1
was constantly reminded that I was a
Negro, therefore, relegated to second-
class citizenship," he stresses.
In another transcript, the late A ir
Force Col. Dudley Wardell Steven
son, a Tuskegee Airman, remembers
the day that Mime 20 B-24 bombers
carrying about 200 white aviators
were forced to land on the Black air
base because o f inclement weather.
‘ ‘ I said, 'We ain’t got no hotel, fel
lows, so you guys are going to have to
bunk with our officers and troops,
and we'll find you some food and
Mxne booze. You can stay here or you
can walk out there, however you want
it.’ They stayed and integrated the
base."
"O u r officers had such sophistica
tion, dignity and p rid e ," said retired
Arm y Brig. Gen. Georgie B. Price,
also Black, at the recent Howard cere
mony installing the memoirs.
Launched in 1981, the Black m ili
tary oral history project aims to fill
the gaps in documentation o f the
Black military experience. "W e were
aware that each o f the m ilitary serv
ices had already established oral his
tory units where memoirs o f selected
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Boise Association
Cultural Olympics
It ws a war o f triumphs and trage
dies — like all wars. But unlike the
conflict in Vietnam, America’s par
ticipation in W orld War II was car
ried oui by racially segregated troops.
Forty years ago. Black soldiers
fated hostility not only from enemy
forces but also from w ithin the Amer
ican m ilitary ranks. Now the trials
and tribulations o f some o f these
W orld War II veterans have been
captured and documented through a
Black m ilitary oral history project at
Howard
University's
Moorland-
Spingarn Research Center.
Six transcripts o f taped oral history
memoirs were recently installed at the
research center in Washington, D.C.,
detailing firsthand accounts o f the
Black W orld War II experience.
"W e (generally! don’ t know the
history o f Black involvement in the
m ilita ry ," laments Dr. Elinor Des-
Vcrney Sinnette, head o f the center’s
oral history department. “ Far too
many o f today’s young Black men
and women believe our struggles be
gan with the C ivil Rights Movement
o f the ’60s," she adds.
Personal memoirs were taken
thiough taped interviews from select
ed veterans o f the A rm y’s 366th In
fantry Regiment and the famed Tus
kegee Airmen who had seen action in
Italy during the Second W orld War.
“ The 166th Infantry Regiment wav
unique,” says retired Col. John
Thomas M artin, who once served
with the Black unit and now chairs the
oral history project's advisory group.
" I t was never made to feel that it was
a part o f the 92nd Division.
"T he fact that the 366th Infantry
was staffed by all Black officers not
only seemingly rankled the white o f
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