JAvoice.com: Comment by Clifford Uyeda

Comment by Clifford I. Uyeda, former president of the Japanese American Citizen's League.
Thanks for sending out copies of Mike Masaoka and Jim Omura's statements in 1942 to many Japanese Americans. I had known about them well since returning to the West Coast some half a century ago (from the East Coast). Masaoka was a political man; Omura was an ethical man victimized by circumstance. Mike spoke what the government wanted to hear; Omura spoke what many Nisei felt deep in their hearts. The difference between the two was like day and night.

Many of us have wondered how the NJAMF board was formed. The board has failed to represent various generations of Japanese Americans. The greatest joy are the voices expressed recently, those that look at the Japanese Americans from a bigger perspective than those limited to a narrow World War II period. The new voices are becoming stronger each year. I believe the true voices of Japanese Americans are finally being heard. The "JACL Creed" as expounded by Mike Masaoka over half a century ago is an outdated concept which no American will want to espouse as their true belief. The "JACL Creed" does disservice to future Japanese Americans.

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	Comment by Clifford I. Uyeda, former president of the Japanese American Citizen's League. Thanks for sending out copies of Mike Masaoka and Jim Omura's statements in 1942 to many Japanese Americans. I had known about them well since returning to the West Coast some half a century ago (from the East Coast). Masaoka was a political man; Omura was an ethical man victimized by circumstance. Mike spoke what the government wanted to hear; Omura spoke what many Nisei felt deep in their hearts. The difference between the two was like day and night. Many of us have wondered how the NJAMF board was formed. The board has failed to represent various generations of Japanese Americans. The greatest joy are the voices expressed recently, those that look at the Japanese Americans from a bigger perspective than those limited to a narrow World War II period. The new voices are becoming stronger each year. I believe the true voices of Japanese Americans are finally being heard. The "JACL Creed" as expounded by Mike Masaoka over half a century ago is an outdated concept which no American will want to espouse as their true belief. The "JACL Creed" does disservice to future Japanese Americans.