Japanese Americans Recognize Muslims in Sacramento
By Ras H. Siddiqui
Sacramento: The Florin Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) held its 82 nd Anniversary with the theme of “Strength Through Unity” at the Valley Hi Country Club in Elk Grove, California on Saturday, December 9, 2017. The program included an effort to honor its own plus the unique contribution that a Muslim organization has made to the Sacramento area.
For their Community Leadership Awards this esteemed organization honored two area Japanese-Americans, a senior, Marion Kanemoto and a junior member, Breana Insoshita, along with the Sacramento Area League of Associated Muslims (SALAM) during this formal lunch ceremony.
The event was extremely well attended. The Mistress of Ceremonies was Sharon Ito, a very well-known area media personality. And besides the welcoming remarks by Josh Kaizuka, Co-President of the organization, past President of the Florin JACL, Marielle Tsukamoto, presented the “Flag Salute” at the event. The program also benefitted from greetings by Elk Grove Mayor Steve Ly and the inspiring President of Sacramento State University, Robert Nelsen.
The first Community Legacy Award honoree of the afternoon was Marion Kanemoto who brought to the occasion a great deal of history, dignity and community respect. She was recognized for her outstanding service, for heading the Florin JAC’s Oral History Project and leading a team of volunteers to produce over 100 books capturing the histories of the Issei (first generation) Japanese in America, the pioneers, and also the Nisei (second generation Japanese-Americans). Just after the Pearl Harbor attacks the FBI picked up Marion’s father,JojiTsutakawa, and secretly imprisoned him in Montana and New Mexico. The family moved back to Japan in late 1943 for a while and Marion returned to the States in 1948.
Marion Kanemoto remains a fierce defender of “Never Again”. She was instrumental during the 1980’s and 1990’s in a campaign to seek redress for the mistreatment that Japanese-Americans suffered during WWII. She is certainly an inspiration for all of us. Marion was presented with a memento of recognition which included a mounted Daruma doll (a good luck charm) with blank eyes. According to tradition whoever receives that the doll fills just one eye while setting a goal and then fills the second eye when that goal is reached. Marion was invited to fill both eyes because of her completion of a lifetime of achievement.
The second Community Leadership Award was presented to the SALAM organization which is a prominent Islamic Center in the Sacramento region. This award was presented to SALAM for its cross-cultural bridge building, for being a “shining light for understanding” and cutting through the many myths that have developed about Islam and Muslim-Americans in this country. The Florin JACL and SALAM have had quite a close relationship, especially after 9/11. The Japanese-American community has stood shoulder to shoulder with American Muslims since the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked while voicing that the unconstitutional mistreatment that their own had to suffer during the Second World War was not repeated.
Accepting the award on behalf of the SALAM organization, its Board Chairperson Waseem Bawa (after also filling in both eyes of a Daruma Doll) thanked the Florin JACL for this honor. He shared his own relatively short association with SALAM and said that he would be remiss if he did not recognize its founding visionary Dr Metwalli Amer (who was very much present here) who started this all about 30 years ago. He also recognized Dr.Anne Kjemtrup, SALAM’s previous Board Chair. He said that over the years the Florin JACL has stood shoulder to shoulder with the Muslim community. Bawa referred to the documentary shown locally not too long ago “And Then They Came For Us “which had documented Japanese-American experience. He added that Japanese-Americans are also making the case that any other minority group should not suffer discrimination. He also said that nobody would fault the JACL if they had not stood up for Muslims and others but you have. “I can’t express enough how grateful we are,” said Bawa. He also thanked Florin JACL and congratulated them on their incredible 82-year journey.
And the third and final Next Generation Leadership Award was presented to Breana Inoshita. Besides being a stellar intern at the Florin JACL, Breana already has many accomplishments to her credit. When a group of Asian and Muslim Americans was denied service at an area bowling alley she spoke up and helped to organize a “Bowling for Justice Night”. She is also known for encouraging cross-cultural exchange and assisted in setting up the Nikkei Student Union (NSU) organization at UC Davis and was its first President. She helped the group to observe a Day of Remembrance in 2017, commemorating the 1942 infamous Executive Order 9066 by President F.D. Roosevelt ordering the confinement of 120,000 Japanese Americans. Breana in many ways, represents the future of Japanese American activism and got to fill in just one eye of the Daruma doll presented to her.
To conclude here, thanks are in order to the Florin-JACL for standing with the Muslim community especially since 9/11. And this gives us something to ponder over too. What did loyal and patriotic Japanese-Americans have to do with Pearl Harbor? The answer is “Nothing”. What did American Muslims have to do with 9/11? The answer is the same. Why then are they supposed to somehow take responsibility for the actions of a man then reported to be hiding in a cave in Afghanistan?
(Happy New Year to our readers and let us hope for peace on earth in 2018)
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