Our organization conveys its gratitude and appreciation for the bold stand that U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka has taken during the Senate Committee on Government Affairs hearings on campaign finance reform. Senator’s warning against
Asian bashing was justifiedCommittee investigating campaign finance
reform should refrain from resurrecting
images of the 'yellow peril'We share his concern that the targeting of Asian money contributions to national campaigns can have a chilling effect on the potential participation of the Asian/Pacific-American (APA) community in national political affairs.
We believe politicians and the national media have unnecessarily focused their scrutiny on a small portion of the American political landscape with detrimental results for members of a minority community struggling to gain a legitimate place on the national political scene.
Senator Akaka's brave stand will hopefully balance the committee's sweeping investigation that evokes memories of the same racist sentiment leading to the Japanese-American internment during World II.
Fifty years ago, 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were unlawfully interned in violation of their civil rights because of similar unsubstantiated allegations that AJAs were engaged in sabotage and espionage against the U.S. government.
In Hawaii, about 2,000 Buddhist priests, judo instructors, Japanese language teachers and other AJAs with perceived ties to Japan were interrogated, investigated and interned because they looked like the enemy.
Recent revelations indicated there was a deliberate cover-up of contrary information that was withheld from the U.S. Supreme Court, fueled by fear of the "yellow peril."
We abhor the unjustified criticism of Senator Akaka by his critics, who have recently taken aim at his comments at the opening of the hearings.
The Washington Times is portraying CAPACI to be a front for Asian influence peddling, despite its admirable record of advocacy for the APA community in Washington. This attempt to silence one of the few voices of this community is extremely troubling to those of us so physically removed from our nation's capital.
While we share Akaka's concern for assuring that laws are upheld, we similarly join in his concern for the effects of the panel's actions on the APA community's ability and willingness to participate actively in the political process without fear of association with illegal campaign tactics that may have plagued the most recent presidential campaign.
We hope that the committee will confine itself to a fair and balanced investigation and not target only individuals of Asian ancestry or with ties to Asia.
We have looked and will continue to look for Senator Akaka's voice as an important one to balance the racist tendencies of our national government to target selected minorities, while ignoring other foreigners who have wielded greater influence in campaigns. I note that Australian Rupert Murdoch, for example, has never come under investigation for his attempts to influence policy at the FCC.
We urge Akaka to continue to bring perspective and balance during times of perceived crisis so targeted minorities do not bear the disproportionate brunt of criticism in investigations of this matter.
Alan T. Murakami is Honolulu chapter president
of the Japanese-American Citizens League. The opinions in View Point
columns are the authors' and are not necessarily
shared by the Star-Bulletin.