Debate Over Paying Reparations to Japanese-American Internees

May we applaud you for the excellent editorial. We appreciated the editorial for it was so contrary to the spirit of people like Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) who continue to cast aspersions about our loyalty to our country (Part I, April 21). It is unfortunate that a senator of his caliber continues to miss a key issue: that we were victims of an unjust incarceration by our own government--the United States.

I suspect that there will be many letters and expressions decrying the reparations. However, whether we ever receive reparations, it is a wonderful feeling to realize that after all these years, the highest legislative bodies of our country have gone on record to admit that we were victims of a gross injustice during World War II. As you stated, “ . . . Redressing this old injustice is vital because it will make official what Japanese-Americans have been saying ever since they were so cruelly imprisoned--that they did nothing wrong.”

REV. ATHUR M. TSUNEISHI

Los Angeles