Op-Ed Pieces
I guess I voice
my opinions pretty frequently. Here are links to some of my op-ed
pieces, dating back almost ten years! Damn!
Monday, May 7,
2007
Rafu Shimpo
Japanese Textbook Revision and Historical
Amnesia
http://www.rafu.com/yokota_0507.html
Saturday, July
22, 2006
Rafu Shimpo
Three Things I Have Learned About
Japanese History So Far
http://www.rafu.com/yokota_history.html
Friday, January
27, 2006
UCLA Daily Bruin
Fundamentalism Is An Attack on Reason
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2006/jan/27/fundamentalism-is-an-attack-on/
Wednesday November
9, 2005
Rafu Shimpo
The Yasukuni Shrine and its Meaning
for Nikkei Today
An op-ed on the recent controversies surrounding Prime Minister
Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine
Wednesday, July
6, 2005
Rafu Shimpo
A Message to the Graduating Class
of 2005
My graduation speech at the 2005 UCLA Asian American Studies Department
Graduation
Friday, November
5, 2004
Carnesale’s Proposal for an
$80,000 Four-Year Education Must be Stopped
An op-ed in opposition to a proposal to raise registration fees
at UCLA
Wednesday, May
5, 2004
Rafu Shimpo
Manzanar Redux
An op-ed on recent developments at Manzanar, the former World
War II Japanese American Concentration Camp
Wednesday, February
25, 2004
Rafu Shimpo
Unjust Incarceration Raises Questions
of Fairness and Due Process
An op-ed on injust incarceration
Saturday, December
6, 2003
Rafu Shimpo and UCLA Daily Bruin
Support the Supermarket Striker’s
Boycott, and Tell a Friend!
An op-ed in support of striking UFCW workers.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2003/dec/04/strikers-call-for-health-care-/
Wednesday, August
14, 2002
Rafu Shimpo
In Memoriam: Kenichi Yokota
A piece in remembrance of my Ji-chan and of my family's experiences
in Hiroshima.
Saturday, June
15, 2002
Rafu Shimpo
The Little Tokyo Recreation Center: A
Choice as Simple as Building Community or Watching a Continuing Decline
A piece supporting the development of a Recreation Center in Los
Angeles' Little Tokyo area.
Wednesday, April
3, 2002
Rafu Shimpo and UCLA Daily Bruin
U.S. Nuclear Policy Potentially Disastrous
DEFENSE: Bush Administration displays disregard for causes of strained
international relations
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2002/apr/03/us-nuclear-policy-potentially-/
Monday, January
7, 2002
Rafu Shimpo and UCLA Daily Bruin
Sept. 11 Detention Justification Falls Flat
WAR: U.S.’s high number of arrests reminiscent of the Japanese
internment
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2002/jan/07/sept-11-detention-justificatio/
September, 2001
Gidra
A Call to Vigilance Against Hate and Racism
The Aftermath of the Attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon
Monday, April
3, 2000
UCLA Daily Bruin
Hate Crimes Encouraged by Indifference
RACISM: UCLA could make larger effort toward diversity in repealing
both SP-1, SP-2
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2000/apr/03/hate-crimes-encouraged-by-indi/
Tuesday, October
6, 1998
UCLA Daily Bruin
Okinawans Fight for End to U.S. Occupation
MILITARY: Philippine Senate pushes for American military bases
on once-independent Pacific islands
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/1998/oct/06/okinawans-fight-for-end-to-us-/
March 25, 1996
Rafu Shimpo
Even White Men Sing the Blues
A piece on economic hard times.
November 25, 1995
Rafu Shimpo
For the Unknown Heroes
in Our Midst
October 7, 1995
Rafu Shimpo
Okinawa Kaiho-"Free Okinawa!"
A piece connecting militarism in Okinawa to militarism across Asia.
August 22, 1995
Rafu Shimpo
Radioactive Colonization: The Impacts
of Nuclear Weaponry on Non-White Populations
A piece opposing the continued testing and existence of nuclear
weapons.
March 7, 1995
Rafu Shimpo
The Unfulfilled Promise of African-American
Redress
A piece supporting African American Redress and Reparations
January 31, 1995
UCLA Daily Bruin
Reflections on the Riots: Misplaced Questions
and True Solutions
A piece reflecting on the aftermath of the L.A. Riots, three
years later.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/1995/jan/31/the-la-riots-misplaced-questio/
January 14, 1995
Rafu Shimpo
Native Tongues: Cherishing the Flavor
of Fresh Dug Roots
A piece on the importance of retaining one's indigenous language.
November 22, 1994
Rafu Shimpo
The People United, Will Never Be Defeated:
Inter-Ethnic Solidarity Between Asian Pacific Islanders and Latina/os
A piece on inter-ethnic solidarity through history and in
the New Otani Hotel campaign.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/1995/jan/13/history-shows-power-of-inter-e/
August 23, 1994
Rafu Shimpo
Forming a Social Movement Through Labor:
Coalition Building at the New Otani Hotel
A piece on labor organizing at the downtown Little Tokyo New
Otani Hotel.
May, 1994
UCLA Pacific Ties
Sweatshop Oppression and the Jessica
McClintock Boycott
A piece on the Jessica McClintock Boycott
May, 1994
UCLA Pacific Ties
Everything I Needed to Know About Racism
I Learned in Amerika
A piece on racism in America.
May 14, 1994
Rafu Shimpo
Breaking the Lines that Bind Us
A piece on the universality of the Japanese American Concentration
Camp experience.
April 14, 1994
Rafu Shimpo
A Call For Greater Understanding
A Statement from the UCLA Nikkei Student Union on the murder
of two Japanese students, Go Matsura and Takuma Ito..
March, 1994
UCLA Pacific Ties
Where Are You Really From?
A piece on how many people in the U.S. continue to label APIs as
outsiders, regardless of our long history in this country.
March 15, 1994
UCLA Nikkei Student Union Newsletter
The Righting of Racism in America
A piece on Bruce Yamashita, who had won a discrimination lawsuit
against the Officer Commission School of the U.S. Marine Corps
November, 1993
UCLA Pacific Ties
Identity Formation in the U.S., or What
Happens When You Forget Where You Come From?
A piece on maintaining one's connection to one's ethnic identity
November, 1993
UCLA Pacific Times
The Reactionary Backlash: USAC and the
Question of Interfraternity Council Responsorship
A piece on UCLA politics opposing the responsorship of the Interfraternity
Council after a string of racist and sexist incidents on campus.
