S1E7 Civil Liberties Act of 1988

Hosts Koji and Michelle delve into the intricate nature of genuine apologies and the actions that must accompany them to signify real growth and understanding. They share personal stories, such as Koji's challenging week with a broken-down car and a bat incident, and Michelle's temporary homelessness due to fumigation, to illustrate the complexity of apologies in everyday life. The discussion then shifts to the historical significance of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided reparations to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. 

Special guest Keiko Agena enriches the conversation by reading a part of the Act, emphasizing the importance of government acknowledgment and reparations. The episode offers a nuanced exploration of how official apologies can pave the way toward healing and understanding for marginalized communities, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in the power of words and deeds.

ABOUT OUR READER

Keiko Agena is best known for her series regular roles on the shows PRODIGAL SON where she played Dr. Edrisa Tanaka and GILMORE GIRLS, where she played Lane Kim for seven seasons and reprised the role in the Netflix GILMORE GIRLS revival. In between Agena has been a series regular on HULU’s THE FIRST and recurring on BETTER CALL SAUL, DIRTY JOHN, DOOM PATROL and 13 REASONS WHY. As a guest star she has appeared on such shows as SHAMELESS, SCANDAL and NCIS LOS ANGELES to name a few. Keiko has recently published an Artist Workbook titled NO MISTAKES through Penguin/Random house which is available wherever books are sold. As an improviser she’s performed numerous shows at UCB Sunset, UCB NY and IO WEST.

ABOUT US

Welcome to "Japanese America," where the Japanese American National Museum unveils captivating stories that add a Nikkei slant to the American narrative. In each episode, we explore Japanese Americans' unique experiences, challenges, and triumphs, illuminating their rich contributions to the mosaic of American life. From historical milestones to contemporary perspectives, join us for an insightful journey showcasing the diverse tapestry of a community that has shaped the American story in extraordinary ways.  Welcome to "Japanese America," where each story unfolds like a chapter in a living history book.

For more information about the Japanese American National Museum, please visit our website at www.janm.org. 

CREDITS

The music was created by Jalen Blank

Written by Koji Steven Sakai

Hosts: Michelle Malazaki and Koji Steven Sakai

Edited and Produced by Koji Steven Sakai in conjunction with the Japanese American National Museum

Transcript

0:00

Michelle, how important is an apology? Oh my gosh. Apology is very important. And you know, sometimes it's to give an apology or apologize to something is very hard. But receiving an apology is also hard sometimes, isn't it? Well, I should receiving. I don't know if it's the right word receiving apology, but you know, when you know you, it really hurts your feelings and somebody's apologizing. And I'm sure he or she has good intention that he really mean to apologize. But when you are really hurt, you can't. You are not really ready to receive the apology sometimes. Yeah, I always tell my son because he just sometimes he just says sorry and he expects everything to be better. And I'm like, well, that's not how it works. You have to say. I mean, the first is apologizing and then it's action, right? To show that you've learned something from the apology where, you know, but like, I think a lot of people, the problem is that they just say sorry and then they think everything's okay. But that's just not reality. It starts with apology, right? And then it becomes, I have to show that I've learned something and that I'm better. And on the other side, you're right. It's hard. Sometimes it's hard to, you know, that people like, like. Accept. Accept it. But I think it's a lot of times it's because they they expect everything to be okay all of a sudden. And I, me and my brother, we had these huge fights and he said some terrible things. And he thought that an apology will just solve it, Heal everything. Yeah, but I told him that there are some things that you can say that you can never apologize for. Welcome, welcome, welcome to the episode number seven of the Japanese American Podcast. My name is Koji, and I am one of your hosts. And I'm Michele and I'm the other host. Koji, how have you been doing? Uh, not great, Not good. I see it. Yeah. This week has been. It's been tough. We went to Big Bear. Nice. And a car broke down on the way. Oh, no. Oh, no. And then we had to get it towed back to la la. Luckily my wife has. My wife spends money on the triple A. We drove. We had it towed for 100 miles. Oh. And so we had to find a car service that would drive us back with a dog. A 50 pound dog. Oh my gosh. So we did that. And then we thought everything's cool. And then we get back in my car. They had like they had hit my car. No, no. Yeah. What. Yeah. So now I have to deal with insurance on that. And then I come back and I get hit by a bat in my face. So this has been a really tough week. You got hit by a bat like the flying bat or the baseball bat. Baseball bat. Oh. Owie. What happened? Yeah, just oh, my face was all my face and a bat. So you don't want to. You don't want to stop a bat with a with a bat in your face? Yeah. Just something that I've learned this week. Owie. How are you? How has the week been for you? Um, I was homeless for one day. Homeless? Yeah, because I came back from New York thinking my house is done fumigated. I was gone for ten days. Okay. But it wasn't done, so I was homeless. We just got a hotel or something. Well, I was too cheap to get a hotel when I was coming back at home at, like, 12:30 a.m., so I'm like, ah. So I was homeless for half a day, and then I checked into a hotel the next night. Oh, okay. That's funny. Okay. And this is where we look at all things Japanese American. We'll bring alive the history, culture, and people that make up this diverse community. If you like the podcast, please share it with your friends, family, and even your enemies. You'll be doing a lot to help us keep bringing exciting and fun content every month. In this month's episode, we take a look at the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, The civil Liberties Act of 1988, Public Law 103 83 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan on August 10th, 1988. The act provided reparations to Japanese Americans who were wrongly imprisoned by the United States government during World War Two. The act also aimed to prevent similar injustices and violations of civil liberties in the future. Michelle, shall we get started? Yes. All right. Oh, God. Oh, my gosh, I can't I can't talk. I can't, I can't talk. I came to America in 1988. Yeah. What month? June. Okay, So two months before. Two months before this? Yeah. This month, we brought on actor Keiko Agena to read a part of the Civil Liberties Act. Conference report filed in House report 107 85 declares that one a grave injustice was done to citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation and internment of civilians during World War two. Two. These actions were without security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage documented by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and were motivated by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Three. They excluded individuals, suffered enormous damages for which appropriate compensation has not been made, and 4 the Congress apologizes on behalf of the nation. In addition to Japanese Americans, some Aleut civilian residents were also part of the act. They were removed from their lands in the name of war. Let's continue with what was in the Civil Liberties Act. Title one United States citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident Japanese Aliens Civil Liberties Act of 1988 requests the president, upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, to offer pardons to those convicted of violating laws or executive orders during the internment period because they refused to accept treatment which discriminated on the basis of their Japanese ancestry, provides that federal departments and agencies that review applications for restitution of positions, status, or entitlement lost during the internment period shall review the applications with liberality, giving full consideration to the findings of the Commission and the declarations of the Congress. Establishes within the Treasury a civil liberties public education fund. The fund terminates the fund after all authorized funds have been expended, or ten years after enactment of this act, whichever occurs first. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Attorney General to, number one. Identify and locate each eligible individual, and two pay from the fund $20,000 to each eligible individual. Makes a refusal to accept payment irrevocable. Declares that acceptance of payment shall be in full satisfaction of all related claims against the United States. Provides that payments shall be considered as damages for human suffering for purposes of federal taxes, and shall not be included in determining eligibility to receive certain income based federal Benefits establishes a board of directors which shall be responsible for making disbursements from the fund. Provides that disbursements from the fund shall be used to one sponsor. Research and public educational activities dealing with the internment. Two. Publish and distribute the hearings, findings and recommendations of the Commission and three. Pay administration expenses of the board. Directs the board no later than 12 months after its first meeting, and every 12 months thereafter, to transmit to the president and to each House of the Congress a report describing its activities. Terminates the board 90 days after the termination of the fund. Requires that all documents, testimony, and other records created or received by the Commission be kept and maintained by the archivist of the United States and be made available for public research. Makes records of the House of Representatives relating to the internment period available for use, stating that this is enacted as a rule of the House, and is therefore subject to subsequent action by the House of Representatives to change the rule. Provides that no authority created by this title should be effective in any fiscal year except to the extent and in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriations acts. Michelle. Have you ever heard of this? What do you think? My first job, the community college mailroom. When I came to America in 1988. And my boss was a Japanese American who went to Manzanar. So she told me about this. But my English wasn't too good. She only spoke. She only spoke English. So she was telling me, explaining me, explaining me what happened at Manzanar. But I could only understand, like, not not the whole thing. But she she was happy. But at the same time, she wasn't too, too happy. Yeah, I remember my dad. He got the money, right? He was really excited. I remember as a child I didn't really understand what was going on, but I know it meant a lot to him because it was almost like it was a piece of paper or money that also said that what happened to him was wrong. And I think it sparked this idea of him wanting to know what happened, which, you know, the last three episodes were about what happened to my grandfather and the family. But I think it was it really started from this moment because before this, I don't know this for a fact. I'm just kind of guessing. But I think that he felt like he and the family and the Japanese American community at large had done something wrong that we had been, that we did something wrong and that we were punished during the war about it. But I think this act was that first, that first thing that said, no, you're not wrong, that we that we had done wrong to you. And I remember my dad, it was really important. My dad spent he spent the money on a house. Down payment for a house. Yeah. But also, he got me this Dodger jacket that I still have to this day, because it's really important to me that it was the thing that I got from the Civil Liberties Act. One of the interesting things about this act is that they talk about this act being kind of like a, uh, in a in a rape victim trial. Right? There's like a victim of rape. A lot of times they feel like they they did something. Oh, I shouldn't have dressed that way, or I shouldn't have gotten a hotel room or whatever it is. Right? They victim blame themselves. And then once there's a trial and a conviction, all of a sudden, now they're the victim of something. And I think for the community, this was a really important moment because it was that it's not your fault. Kind of like what? My fault. What happened to my father. And I think that's why it's so important. Yeah. Yeah. Linda mentioned about, like, American government was making an apology to Japanese Americans, and she explained to me in details, but I was like 19 year old who doesn't who didn't really understand English very well. So I'm like, yes, yes. And I, I knew it was a big deal because of how she was addressing it, but at the same time, I didn't have better idea of what happened in Manzanar and other places. You know it's interesting talking to you, because I know when I've talked to my mom when she was alive, she's from Japan, like yourself. And she would always tell me when I tell her kind of what happened during the war, she would tell me, well, of course you're Japanese. And of course they would lock you up and they would do all these things because she wasn't born in America where, you know, civil liberties and and all those rights are guaranteed. But what I find interesting about this act, and what makes me proud to be an American, is that they apologize. I mean, I don't think I love Japan. I don't think the Japanese government would ever do this. Yes. Do you think they would ever do anything like this? Well, I mean, if they're forced to, that's one thing. But just on their own. I mean, no one's forcing America to do this. I think you're right. I don't think they would apologize on their own unless they are forced to do it. Yeah. All the problems of America, we all, you know, there's a lot of problems with America. But the biggest thing that makes me proud to be an American is that they recognized that there was really no reason to do this, that they went out of their way to not only just say, I'm sorry, but they also gave money. And $20,000 is not or. Yeah, $28,000 is not like, you know obviously what people lost. It's a symbol of just an apology. I'm saying sorry. And then giving money is very different, right? Yeah. You know, one of the challenges with this, with this bill or this legislation, was that it that you had to have been alive when the bill was. So if you are dead, Then nobody. They didn't get it. But a lot of those issues were the people that were most affected by it. And the other thing was that, you know, other things that the American government have done, this was not precedent for other people. So, for example, African Americans, they couldn't claim this as precedent because there were very few people who were still slaves that were alive in 1988. True. And I think that that's something that is a problem with this bill, because I feel like there are lots of people that need apologies. Yeah. Not just Japanese Americans, but it was it was a very important moment. I mean, as a person who's not, you know, Japanese, American, like from Japan, from America, I mean, what do you do? I'd love to hear more thoughts about what you think about this. So I've been talking about the internment camps and things like that with people, American people. And they're like, yeah, this only happened to Japanese because for German people or Italian Americans, they couldn't tell the difference between other Americans and Italian Americans, so only Japanese were imprisoned. That's not completely true. But that's what they told me. That's what they think. Yeah. To be clear, there were there were Italian and German people who were arrested and detained, but the difference was that they expressed either disloyalty or that they were accused of being suspicious in some way. But also the biggest difference was that the not the entire family, everybody living on the West Coast, whereas the Japanese Americans, it was everybody living on the West Coast, like, so like my grandfather, he would have been arrested no matter what, right? He was arrested no matter what. But his family also was arrested And that's kind of where the tragedy or like, you know, in our first episode, we had Yuri Kochiyama. She was like a 21 year old girl. American born. Yeah. American born. Had nothing to do with anything. And so why was she arrested? And that's like I think that's there wasn't an equivalent Italian or equivalent German they could have if they wanted to, but they chose not to. Yeah, That's the big difference. So Japanese American Americans were easier. Yeah. I mean, they're easier to see. Yeah. Because we look different. When I think of Ronald Reagan, I was always thinking about, like, the war on the wall coming down the Berlin wall. Yeah. And then he also did this. I. I should have known it, but because I, I got my American citizenship, I had to study a little booklet of American history to pass. I barely passed. You got an A? Don't worry. No, no A minus. My father, he loved Ronald Reagan. I think one of the reasons I mean, I don't know this for a fact, but I think one of the reasons he loved Ronald Reagan was because of this act, you know, and there's a, you know there's a lot of things that had to happen. I mean, we don't have time in this episode to go through it, but, you know, if anyone's interested, there are so many stories about how this happened. I mean, it started with these hearings where people would talk about it for the first time and kind of talk about what happened and how it happened. And then the report came out that saying this was all wrong or there wasn't a it was a racial, it wasn't a military thing like they were trying to tell us. And then it, you know, then it took brave senators and representatives and all these people to come together to create a coalition, because people, you know, even in America, they're not excited about giving apologies or money to people. And then even Ronald Reagan, you know, the whole way it got to him was really fascinating in the 1940s when he worked for the Army. He gave this speech about this Japanese-American 442 soldier and how amazing he was, because he was killed in action and they wanted to bury him in Los Angeles, but they didn't want to bury him in Los Angeles because he was Japanese American, even though he was a medal of honor winner, which is the highest medal you could win. And they sent Reagan to come in. He gave a wonderful speech about how American he was. And then in 1988, around this time, they, you know, people talked to Reagan and they said, don't you remember that speech that you gave? Was that just words, or was that like, did you mean it? Is he an actor? Yeah. And then they were like, no, he meant it. And then he signed like like, I don't know if that's like ultimately what led him to sign it, but there's so many coincidences, you know, that that led to kind of to this question, you know, if you got a $20,000 apology, what would you what would you do with the $20,000.$20,000 in. 1988, 1988 was more because $20,000 now is like, okay, Well, can I borrow $20,000? No, no, but $20,000. Is probably like 30,000 or 40,000. Because. Yeah, $20,000 back then you could buy for four brand new cars. Oh that's true. Yeah. Yeah. I guess that is more that's like $100,000. That's like. Yeah, $100,000. That's a lot. Yeah, yeah. Do I have to pay tax for it. What would you do with it? I don't know. I think I would just keep it for my kids or. I don't know. Kids wouldn't appreciate it. Do not give it. Give it to you because I. I don't know, what would I. What would you do? What would i do? Well, I would probably try to make a movie, Of course. Or a podcast. Huh. Or, uh. Yeah. Or maybe travel. Travel would be nice. Yeah, that'd be nice. Where would you go? Where would I go? You know, I've always wanted to go to, you know, like near India, the Maldives, which is like the the huts on the water. Because I feel like at some point the global warming is going to destroy that. And so I should go see it before it gets destroyed. Oh, well, I want to go to I don't know. It's not it may not be too, too exciting, but I went to Manzanar, so I want to go nine more former internment camps. That's a good answer. Is it? Most of them are not that exciting. I am sure it's not exciting, but I just want to go see. Manzanar. Tule Lake is nice. Some of them have, like, some of them have special permission to go. And. Yeah, because they're on, like, reservations and stuff. But yeah, I mean, that's that's a better answer. I'm gonna go with your answer. Okay. I'm gonna take a road trip. Um. All right. Is there anything else we need we should say about this? Oh. So how long did it take? Because, um. So it was decided to, um, it was decided that payment will be given to Japanese Americans who were. Incarcerated. Yeah, but I don't think my boss, Linda, did not get the money right away. So, first of all, people were starting to have conversations about it in the late 70s, I believe, or in the 70s. And actually, if you want to go before that, it was the Asian American Studies movement that kind of started like talking about what happened. The Sansei were starting to talk about what happened, and then like they started having debates about what to do, because even in the Japanese American community, there wasn't there was controversy about what we should do. Some people said apologize. Some people said apology and money. Some people said it doesn't matter. It's like shigataganai. It doesn't matter. Like it's just in the past, like, let's move on. So even within the community, there was kind of these different opinions. And then in the early 80s, there was like that hearings that were around the country where people talked, and a lot of times it was great because a lot of the issei was the first time they've ever talked about it. Japanese, American, Japanese and Japanese Americans like willingly talk about stuff sometimes and then like, you know, then, I mean, that was like 80s and early 80s. And then this bill passes in 88, you know, so that's a long. Like 40 some years after what happened and then like ten years after. They started talking about it because that, you know, that study had to come out and say, yeah. Or the commission had to say, yeah, it was wrong. So that probably took a couple of years, and then a couple more years through the Congress and the House and Senate. And then if you if you look at the the letter from with that accompanied the the apology and the money and the check, it was actually 1992, which was signed by George Bush, the first, the older George Bush. So there's four years. And then also, I don't know, I don't actually know this for a fact, but I imagine it was in order of kind of like how old you are. I'm actually funny story was all my father when he passed away and I knew the letter existed. I just didn't know where it was. So then one summer day, I was bored. I was like in high school and I was super bored. Or no college. I was college because he had already died. And I was like, I gotta find this letter. Like, I don't know where this letter is. And my mom was like, I don't know where it is. Cause for her it didn't matter. She was like, whatever, stupid. But for me it was really meaningful. So then I went and I looked through every piece of paper I could find in the I mean, the garage was like a huge garage with crap, just so much stuff. And I went through every paper and what was awesome was not only did I find this, this letter from the government, I actually found he was a painter. My dad was a painter, and I found his whole portfolio of artwork. Wow. Because I heard he was an artist. I just never knew it. And then I found the art and I also found this paper or this document. So now it sits on my desk in front of my desk when I write. And it reminds me of kind of what, you know, what I'm fighting for, what I want, why I want to talk about this, why we do this podcast. Because it's the thing that, you know, it reminds me, like, how important it was to my dad and just to all the other Japanese Americans that were alive. You know, it was, again, it's the symbol of that. What happened to him was not his fault. And I think for I don't know this for a fact again, but I think that he, he internalized that, that feeling that it was his fault. And this was the letter that proved it wasn't, you know, so it's really, really meaningful. Yeah. I wanted to ask my old boss about it. So I look her up, but she passed away ten years ago, so. We should do a a seance and bring her back and ask her. Ask her? Um, how do you go? Ouji board. Ouija board. Yeah, Yeah. Or seance, either way. Yeah. Have you ever done those? No Have you? I've done. I've done a seance. I've done past life regression. I used to work here full time at the Japanese American National. I wanted to do a seance for iseei with Issei. Issei? But I had a feeling that it would be probably seen as disrespectful. Maybe. Yeah. And also, maybe, like, Japanese spirits won't spill too much beans because we are supposed to hide everything. That's funny. But maybe being dead. Do you think that they would they would want to do something different? I don't know. So we had Obon in the last couple of weeks, and you are supposed to have cucumbers or eggplants with toothpicks to make it like an animal, and you would put it by the gate of your house. So your spirit of your ancestors will ride those vegetables back to the world today. Oh, really? Yeah. So you got to you got to buy some cucumbers first. Did you do that? No I'm not. Shinto is a shintoist. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Interesting to learn more about the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. We invite you to visit the ongoing exhibition Common Ground Heart of a community, which has a whole section about the redress movement. It's at the end, all the way at the end. So you have to walk all the way through and you pass the diorama of Manzanar. And then there's this whole section, and you and you can learn about it. So what is one thing you would like to apologize for? What would I like to apologize. Oh, actually, here it is. I was kind of a bully in middle school. And so I really want to apologize to the people that I bullied because I feel terrible about it now. Actually, at the reunion, my 20-year reunion, I went to that reunion to apologize. And unfortunately, most of the people that I wanted to apologize were not there. Oh, because. Nobody was there No, because they thought you were coming. But I wanted to apologize. I wanted to feel because I felt bad. I feel bad now about kind of how I was behaving because I was kind of, I mean, part of it was my dad was sick. I was a jerk. That's probably what I want to apologize for. Well, what about what? Did you want to apologize? Well, I don't remember this, but according to my sister, like, 45 years ago, I ate her cheesecake. I do not remember, but she still remembers. So. I am so sorry I ate your cheesecake. Hannah. Well, hopefully she takes your apology. I mean, this is something. Well, she better listen to this podcast till the end so she'll hear my apology. Thank you, Keiko Agena, for your wonderful reading. And thank you all for listening. There are almost 3 million podcasts. We are honored that you've chosen to listen to ours, And please consider writing a review of our show on the platform you use to listen to this podcast. We know it's a pain in the butt, but it does go a long way in helping the show. It helps us reach new listeners grow our show. And most importantly, it enables us to keep putting out the content we hope you enjoy. This podcast is a program of the Japanese American National Museum. The museum's mission is to promote understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Please rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast, and be sure to join us next month when we talk baseball. What? Yes, the one thing I'm really I know a lot about is baseball. All right, guys. Okay, bye.