Editorials
Monday, May 21, 2001
Although 60 years have passed since the Japanese attack that thrust the United States into World War II, the opening of a new film heightens the potential of animosity toward Japanese Americans and Hawaii's community should be mindful of the sensitivities that still remain. ‘Pearl Harbor’ film
may revive old fearsThe issue: The new movie raises
worry about racial sensitivities."Pearl Harbor" has received heavy hype in magazines and newspapers and on television with trailers showing bombs, bullets and bodies flying everywhere. Its premiere today takes place aboard the USS Stennis, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that will be outfitted with a 100-foot-wide screen.
Because it is being given such a high profile, "Pearl Harbor" will likely capture a large audience, one composed of many young people who may be unaware of the overwhelming emotional impact the bombing had not only on people of Japanese and other Asian ancestries, but on the attack's survivors and the civilians who lived through those days.
The film's script is said to depict Japanese characters as fairly as it portrays Americans, although one critic said everyone in the movie was stereotypical. Still, whenever Asian faces make up the enemy, racial fears resurface. The Honolulu chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League has joined national efforts to monitor any backlash against Asian Americans as a result of the opening of the film.
For many Japanese Americans in Hawaii, the attack on Dec. 7, 1941 is a flashpoint that never fades. The reminder comes every year as ceremonies mark the day of infamy with taps, lei and survivors' stories at the Arizona Memorial. Other events, such as the sinking of the Ehime Maru by a U.S. submarine, China's holding of Americans and their reconnaissance plane and the Wen Ho Lee spy case, also raise feelings of separateness.
Asian Americans have the highest education rates and the highest per capital income of any minority group, but even these accomplishments have a tendency to produce negative attitudes. A poll last month showed that 68 to 73 percent of Americans felt Chinese Americans were taking away too many jobs and cared only for "their own kind." Significantly, a majority did not distinguish them from other Asian Americans, lumping all Asian groups into one.
As "Pearl Harbor" moves into general distribution later this week, there will be those who are apprehensive about the kind of mistrust and suspicions that swirled through Americans during those years of war with Japan.
All of us should guard against allowing any enmity to once again take hold.
Along with the opera, the several museums, and the theater, the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is a sometimes overlooked cultural asset that deserves the applause and the support of the city and the community. In one sense, it is two orchestras, the classical under Maestro Samuel Wong and the pops under Conductor Matt Catinguib. They appeal to mostly different audiences but between them they make the music that enriches our lives. Renewed symphony
set to scale new heightsThe issue: The rejuvenated
Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is
striking off in new directions.The new executive director, Stephen Bloom, brought in to reverse the faltering finances of the orchestra, reports that the symphony will balance its budget this year for the first time in three years. He also says that paying off an accumulated debt is within sight -- with a little luck.
An anonymous donor, identified only as a resident of Hawaii, has pledged a contribution of $1 million under two conditions: The symphony must finish this fiscal year on June 30 in the black, and other donors must contribute another $1 million by the end of the year. The immediate goal is to raise $250,000 during its current fund drive to meet the first condition.
On the management side, Bloom says the board of directors has been reorganized, more accountability is being required, a rigorous budget process has been imposed and a long-range plan is under way.
Artistically, the symphony seeks to become more relevant to a wide spectrum of the community in its programs. "Let's give everyone a reason to come to us," he says. In particular, the orchestra seeks to attract younger people to the audiences, plus listeners from every ethnic group, from the military people stationed here, and from the visitors on temporary stays.
Further in the future may be tours to neighbors islands, to the mainland and into the recording halls. Maestro Wong says the day is not far off when the symphony can be artistically ready for those new ventures.
In sum, the outlook is sunny but the orchestra needs help to sustain its progress.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
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