平成18年度外務大臣表彰授与式での祝辞－受章者サンドラ・タナマチ女史－ 2006年9月21日在ヒューストン日本国総領事 加茂佳彦
This is a very special evening for me as a Japanese government representative in Houston as I am hosting an important function to honor Ms. Sandra Tanamachi for receiving the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for what she has accomplished by deleting the controversial “Jap Road” name from Beaumont and getting the county commissioners to rename the road.
As all of us are most appreciatively aware, Sandra successfully led her crusade to fruition after years of enthusiastic commitment.She persuaded the community authorities that the derogatory name must go.The momentum she created eventually brought about the passage of state legislation that bans ethnic slurs to be used on any public facility in Texas.
This is not a small achievement by any means.Her efforts culminated in one of the most important political achievements ever made by a Japanese American. Reserved and reticent, Japanese Americans are usually not politically active or vocal.Hard work and diligence have secured them their honorable place in American society.Sandra, however, has reminded Japanese Americans the importance of wielding their political voice in unison to accomplish a difficult task.
I think it is fair to say that the history of Japanese Americans has been interwoven with the American dream and racial discrimination.Many of them came to Hawaii or California as migratory, contract laborers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.They struggled to become settlers and remain in America in their pursuit of happiness and prosperity, but the United States discriminated against Asians and would not allow Asian immigrants to become U.S. citizens.The 1790 Naturalization Act actually prohibited non-white immigrants from becoming citizens.The discrimination continued when Japanese Americans were incarcerated in internment camps during the Pacific War.Their sons, however, volunteered to serve in the U.S. military.The segregated Japanese American regiments, the 442nd and 100th, accomplished illustrious service with valor and patriotism that paved the way for breaking the ice, so to speak, of the average American’s perception of Japanese Americans.The heroic deeds of the 442nd and 100th regiments brought about the amendment to the 1790 Naturalization Act to the effect that the ethnicity requirement in acquiring U.S. citizenship was at long last abolished in 1952.
The 1960’s civil rights movements by African Americans inspired younger generations of Japanese Americans to organize a movement to redress the injustice that the U.S. had done to Japanese Americans in their homeland during the war.This was the most significant civil rights movement ever staged by the Japanese American communities across the country.It took 15 years for Japanese Americans to win a sweeping political victory, empowering them to be offered an official apology and compensation from the Federal Government of the United States.
Sandra took 10 years to successfully conclude her movement to change the name of Jap Road.This is a wonderful recapitulation of the spirit of the 442 and the redress movement of the past.This is a wonderful example that has been set for the younger generations of Japanese Americans to learn that determined effort can make a difference.
Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell spoke to a Houston audience yesterday and said that openness is the strength of the American society.He stressed that the democratic value system flourishing in the United States makes it the reservoir of trust and respect to the rest of the world. The Sandra Tanamachi movement has left a legacy for the whole United States in the same way that the redress movement or the 442 regiment did.She helped democratize America.She represents the best that America has to offer:courage, integrity, compassion, pride, leadership, etc.Sandra also represents the best that Japan has to offer:modesty, honesty, dignity, commitment, patience, etc.
That is why the Japanese Foreign Minister has decided to confer upon her this commendation.Congratulations, Sandra.