Granada Pioneer, Vol. II, No. 33

              Page 2_____________________________PIONEER_____________________February 26, 1944
	Just
  Incidentally 
		By Sueo Sako
   I doubt if many nisei
paid much attention to the
success story in last Sun-
day's Kansas City Star of
Patrick Noda, a former
Amachean, who overcame a
wall of racial prejudice
and secured the position
of Gait high school prin-
cipal   in  Iowa.
   It's another heart-throb-
bing tale of a "local makes
good." But behind Noda's
long ceaseless uphill struggle
to re-enter American socie-
ty lies a lesson that nisei
in America will be forced
to solve a number of pro-
blems individually and not
as a group.     Many    will
argue that Noda's case was
"pure luck." With that I
will agree,but he did much
to make his situation be
an exception.
   Realizing that the odds
were against him in secur-
ing the job he always dream-
ed of, Noda put a want ad
in a newspaper without
stating that he was an
American of Japanese ex-
traction. The result was
gratifying, but the moment
he mentioned that he was
a nisei, the offers just
disappeared into"thin air."
Once again racial preju-
dice had the inside road.
Undaunted, Noda was given
a little hope when an offer
from the Galt community re-
quested a personal inter-
view first.
   Knowing this was the
"make or break"opportunity,
Noda made such a fine im-
pression he convinced the
Galt community that he was
just one of them except for
the color of his skin.
   I am not attempting to
say all American communi-
ties are like Galt because
in many cities racial pre-
judice is an insurmountable
fortress, but we’ll have
to work and struggle to
get results.  Nisei will
have to do their part, but
American society must meet
them half-way if this coun-
try is to be a melting-pot.
   American society's part
is to see that emotional,
race-prejudiced and war-
hysterical citizens will
not sway the American pop-
ulace away from heeding ad-
vice given 0by one writer,
“It is time we realized
that the color of one's
skin be   it  yellow,   black
or brown,  doesn't put one
in a lower category than
the one who has white skin
….”
    I still recall the words
of wisdom for the race pre-
judiced uttered by a clear
thinker,"…We can't judge
a person's ideology by the
color of his skin....
   “If …arguing for the
physical superiority o f
white over other colors,
being an artist by profess-
sion, I can answer this
with authority-yellow is
much more beautiful than
white and  chocolate-brown
might be even more beauty-
ful than yellow.
   "No, it's not the color
of a man's skin that makes
him superior or inferior--
nor is it his blood. It's
the ideas he carries in his
head that are good or bad,
constructive or destruct-
tive."
   		GRANADA    PIONEER
   Published Wednesdays and Saturdays by the WRA and
distributed free to each apartment.               Editorial  of-
fice:  PIONEER building, Amache, Colo. Telephone 63.
Reports  officer:  Joe McClelland 		Editor: Sueo Sako
   Staff:  Allan Asakawa, John Tsuruta, Roy Yoshida,
George Hamamoto, Jim Otsuka, Jim Otsuki, Amy Minabe,
Ailene Hamamoto, Jack Kimura, Yayeko Morita,George
Morita, Yonemi Ono, Jack Ito, Toshiharu Matsumoto,
Junior Nakagawa.
A Wall Of   Prejudice
   A young man wears the uniform of the United States
Army Air forces.  On his sleeve are sergeant's stripes.
Over his heart are campaign ribbons,enough of them to
tell even the uninformed that he has been in the thick
of the fight. Anyone familiar with the meaning of
ribbons would know that he twice has won the distin-
guished  flying  cross,   that he  has  flown 30 missions.
   This young man not long ago returned to the United
States and found himself practically friendless.People
do not speak to him. He is treated with, discourtesy
and disrespect wherever  he  goes.
   "I don't know for sure," he recently told an audi-
ence in California,"that it is safe for me to walk the
streets  of my own  country."
   He is Sgt. Ben Kuroki, top turret gunner on a Lib-
erator bomber until he was given home leave. And the
reason Sergeant Kuroki has found himself within a wall
of prejudice   is that his  ancestors were  Japanese.
   The hatred in this country for the Pacific enemy
is fully understandable. The circumstances of Pearl
Harbor and the prisoner atrocities make our blood boil.
But if we are to preserve the spirit of fairness and
tolerance which is America, we cannot permit ourselves
to feel about loyal Japanese Americans as we feel about
the  perpetrators   of Pearl Harbor  and the atrocities.
			--Rockford, Ill., Register Republic
MARCH OF DIMES   DRIVE  NETS  $240
   With the “March of Dimes”
campaign definitely conclud--
ed, the official figures
show    the     total  amount   of
$240.35 was raised      by
15 different departments,
according to W. Ray John-
son, chief of community
management.
   Leading all other divi-
sions by a great margin was
the c ommunity activities
with $82.69, derived from
dance and basketball game
receipts. The elementary
and senior high schools
were second and third with
$39.75 and $36 respective-
ly raised by the students.
FIRE DEPT.
EXTENDS THANKS
   The Amache Fire Depart-
ment extends its sincere
thanks to the block man-
agers, block firemen, police,
appointed personnel and
off-duty firemen for their
splendid cooperation i n
extinguishing the recent
disastrous fire at 7K mess
hall, states Vern Campell,
fire protection officer.