Speech #900119503

Japanese Americans can be found in almost every field of endeavor in Chicago at all levels of responsibility from executives to factory workers. Most notable contributions are being made in the fields of architecture. advertising. the arts. education and the sciences. A great boost to the attainment of firstclass citizenship was given when rights to become naturalized citizens. hitherto denied them. were given to persons of Japanese ancestry in 1952. The National JACL. through its Washington. D.C.. office under the able leadership of Mike Masaoka performed a herculean task in working for legislation which corrected this longstanding inequity. Since 1953. almost 2000 persons have been naturalized in the Chicago area alone. many of them in their 60s. 70s and 80s. One intrepid lady was 96 years old when she became an American citizen. Although JACL today continues its work of citizenship education and the correction of remaining problems related to Japanese Americans in the fields of naturalization. alien deportation. evacuation claims and immigration. the organization sees its part in the total picture of human rights for all Americans. With the experience learned as a minority group in America. the JACL is in an unusual position to expand Its work toward the attainment of equal opportunities for every citizen of the United States. To this end. work is being carried forth on both the national and community levels toward further involvement in meaningful civil rights activities.