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Thank you for that warm and kind introduction. Let me begin by exchanging greetings with you as we do in Hawaii...
ALOHA KAKAHIAKA ALOOOHA! (response)
Thank you and now, I'm feeling right at home.
It is truly a distinct honor and privilege to address the members and participants of NAFEA today as you celebrate your 18th Annual Conference. I am delighted to represent Secretary Riley at this conference to bring you his greetings and support.
You are to be highly commended not only for the creation of this prestigious organization and for your nearly 2 decades of achievements, but also for the focus you share on 3 of the most critical factors in any society: education, social services and the community.
Furthermore, as an Asian Pacific American (APA), I have an opportunity to relate my ethnic perceptions to the issues in our society that affect us as a distinct "super minority" that is working to achieve its American dream.
Today, I would like to relate my remarks to the theme, "Our Roots - Our Future" of your conference from my own and the Japanese American "roots" or perspective. Specifically, I want to focus on some common obstacles that we face as an Asian American minority population in America, and to articulate our education concerns from that perspective~ Further, I would like to briefly discuss some of the U.S. Department of Education's initiatives as they impact on APAs.
At the outset let me begin with the premise that we are a nation of immigrants. My own family's story reminds me of our immigrant history.
My family's entry into the United States began in the year 1896. My grandfather arrived as a contract laborer scheduled to work at the Hana Sugar Plantation on the island of Maul.
Contrary to the plantation literature, these indentured servants experienced unimaginable hardships. One day when my grandfather and his friend, Yamamoto, were forced to pull telegraph poles for the communications system being set up in the plantation, his friend complained. He said to the plantation foreman, "We're human beings - not animals." The foreman asked Yamamoto to repeat his statement. When he did, the foreman started beating Yamamoto on the head with his club. My grandfather defended his friend, but was soon apprehended by other foremen and sent to the plantation jail.
While in the plantation jail, he learned that Yamamoto had died from the beatings he received, but his family was told that he had died from some tropical disease.
As a result of this incident, my grandfather escaped from the plantation to the Big Island of Hawaii. There he became a successful and happily married construction contractor. When his wife died and he decided to raise his three children as a single parent -- without the stigma of his being a "fugitive" -- he returned to Maui to defend his escape from the plantation in court. With the testimonies of other contract workers, he won his case and was a free man.
This story is heroic perhaps in its own way, but also is typical of the struggle of all first generation immigrants.
As far as the niseis or second generation Japanese were concerned, their lives were better because of the hardships encountered and adjustments made by the first generation. But, little did they anticipate what would follow when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
As soon as this attack occurred, there was war hysteria, and the Japanese, regardless of whether or not they were Americans, faced racial discrimination. Although the basis of the U.S. Constitution is to protect the rights of individuals and minorities in our society, the story of the nissei takes us back to one of those times in American history when that right was obliterated by racial prejudice and fear.
The American Civil Liberties Union has called this story the worst single wholesale violation of civil rights against our citizens in the history of our nation. With the issuing of Executive Order 9066,
120,000 men, women and children - Americans of Japanese ancestry- were forced to uproot fxom their homes and be placed in concentration camps in the 1) the swamps of Jerome, Arkansas; 2) the bitter cold of Heart Mountain, Wyoming and Minidoka, Idaho; 3) the dust bowl of Topaz, Utah or 4) the desert land of Manzanar, California.
Despite this treatment, within 2 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Americans petitioned for the right to become an all-volunteer unit to serve their country. This petition was granted, and the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team proceeded to prove with "their blood" that Japanese Americans were loyal Americans. This fighting team went on to be the most highly decorated military unit in all U.S. military history.
My former boss, the late U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga and our current senior Senator from Hawaii, Senator Daniel Inouye, were an integral part of this legendary unit.
So for the nissei, their mission was the "Fight against Injustice". It wasn't just a matter of surviving in a new land anymore...it was proving that you were worthy to live in this new land without the distrust that often surround them.
What about the sansei or the third generation? Well, I guess that's my story.
In our family, we have always held to the belief of cherishing the "shoulders" of the former generations on which we stand. Because of the sacrifices of the earlier generation, my life was much more comfortable than the two generations before me.
I had 3 major goals, however, that I wanted to accomplish in my life: 1) to work my way through college - no matter how long it took to accomplish this task; 2) to do my part in serving in the military because I wanted to emulate the deeds of the nisei who were determined to prove that Japanese American were loyal to our country and should not be stigmatized because of the actions taken by Japan during World War II; and 3) to be blessed with a family, and to raise my children with the same love and support of each family member that was demonstrated by the 2 generations before me.
I did work my way through college, and I believe that I have done every type of menial job that you can think of- including cleaning sewers - to work my way through college.
When I was ready for military service, it was during the Vietnam war, and there were those who had chosen to "dodge the draft." But, with the Niseis being such a role model for all Japanese Americans, I knew I wanted to serve my country. I know that our system of Democracy is not perfect, but I was willing to give up my life if necessary for this system - this way of life. And I will never regret setting aside a period in my life to stand behind our nation - my country and yours!
Sharing this perspective with you, I'm sure, conjures up in your minds similar and perhaps even more severe hardships from your own experiences. But, having told you this story from a Japanese American perspective, we now need to join together with our minds and hearts -- as Asian Pacific Americans -- to assess the current ethnic problems and issues that we face as a super minority in our nation. For unless we are able to identify and articulate our problems, we will surely not be able to resolve them.
From the beginning, APAs have always been viewed as a group apart from the main society. Let me offer a few examples:
As new waves of Asian immigrants - the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and Hmongs -- who have become refugee immigrants into our nation as a result of the atrocities and sufferings they have encountered in their respective countries enter the U.S., their problems are "obliterated" by the emphasis on the successes of other Asian groups that have had a chance
to assimilate and experience hard-earned success. This is the "Minority Myth" problem that APAs have consistently tried to explain.
How then should APAs who are not only a super minority in our nation, but also the most diverse minority with about 60 different ethnic groups that make up only 4 percent of our nation's population, make it's case? Can such as small population, ever have a chance in our society?
All we need to do is to look around us to see that anything is possible in our nation if we are focused and if we make the system that we're willing to die for, work for us:
And, I suspect that for every atrocity and wrong-doing, we can find a counter-measure of correction for the mistakes of our nation because the system can work if we are determined to "step up to the plate" as a super minority in this system.
What, then, are the ingredients for this kind of success?
I believe that you have already identified these critical ingredients: that is; focusing on your roots and establishing a place for your culture through education, social services and the community.
Your roots are always important because it represents the unique cultural heritage that you bring to the rich diversity of cultures in our nation. But it takes the efforts and focus of every individual and every ethnic culture that make-up our APA population to become an integrated part of our "One America." Our social services and our communities, therefore, provide us
with the unity and support we need to become an integral part of our larger community.
And finally, there is education - the critical factor in each of our lives that gives us a level playing field. This is why I will always be grateful for being a part of our national education reform movement spear-headed by two former governors, Bill Clinton and Richard Riley, who have always placed education at the very top of their states' and their nation's agenda.
Their leadership on education has not only made a difference for the nation in general, but also and more specifically for the APAs.
How have they achieved this? Here are some examples:
Of course, there are still problems and issues for APAs. But, these problems and issues serve as focal points for groups such as ours to help our needs assessments and provide workable solutions to these needs.
As an APA from an island culture, I can tell you that we in Hawaii can really identify with the famous English writer in the 1500s who stated:
"No Man is an island .... No man stands alone...Each man's joy is joy to me...Each man's grief is my own...We need one another... So I will defend... Each man as my brother... Each man as my friend"
On this note, let me conclude by extending my very best wishes to all of you for a successful, meaningful and rewarding conference.
