Dale Minami to be roasted
in celebration of American
Bar Association awardNichi Bei Time - July 19, 2003
Like a perfectly seasoned macadamia nut, attorney Dale Minami will be roasted by his friends and colleagues at an Aug. 7 celebration in honor of his receiving the 2003 Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association.
He won't be canned, bottled or covered with chocolate and then sold worldwide afterwards, but the roasting itself will be pretty satisfying.
The Thurgood Marshall Award is a big deal. The ABA established the award to honor long-term contributions made by those in the legal profession to advance civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States. Minami, the 12th recipient of the award, joins a prestigious group of recipients that includes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Although the ABA will present Minami with the award at a formal dinner on Aug. 9, the members of the Dale Minami Fan Club wanted to commemorate the occasion in a much more "spirited" way.
Organized by Edwin Prather and Malcolm Yeung, the roast will benefit public interest law scholarships awarded by the Asian American Bar Association Law Foundation and the Robert M. Takasugi Public Interest Fellowship. The event will be held at San Francisco restaurant Ozumo and feature celebrity emcees Wendy Tokuda of KRON TV and Sydnie Kohara of KPIX TV.
Prather and Yeung are keeping the actual roasters a closely guarded secret, impervious even to the Woodward and Bernstein of the Nichi Bei Times (that's us, the Two Japanee Bruddahs, by the way).
As you know, Minami is widely known and recognized for leading the legal team that vacated the convictions of Fred Korematsu and other defendants in the wartime internment cases, setting the stage for later reparations for interned Japanese Americans. He also co-founded the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the first Asian American Bar Association in the country, and the Asian Law Caucus.
We sat down for an interview with Minami - well, we nevah wen actually interview him live kine, cuz the buggah wen hypnotize us wit one onolicious dinnah at da new Butterfly restaurant at Pier 33 (ho, dey get one mean kalua pig dish ovah deah, brah!) - and asked him about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
TWO JAPANEE BRUDDAHS: How did you feel about receiving the Thurgood Marshall Award?
DALE MINAMI: I was a bit stunned. I didn't expect it. And to be associated with Thurgood Marshall, a giant in the civil rights history of this country, was both flattering and humbling.
2JB: How has Korematsu affected your life and career?
DM: Working on the Korematsu case was the most satisfying legal experience I've ever had. When do you ever get the opportunity to work with an incredibly talented and harmonious group of lawyers - Lori Bannai, Karen Kai, Bob Rusky, Ed Chen, Leigh-Ann Miyasato, Debbie Ching, Eric Yamamoto, Peter Irons, Don Tamaki and Dennis Hayashi? We had the chance to retry history and were able to vindicate our parents, our family, the Japanese American community, erasing the stain of disloyalty imprinted by the U.S. government. We were given the opportunity to have an impact on a landmark Supreme Court case. And we got to do this all for an American hero - Fred Korematsu.
2JB: Is there anything that people don't know about the Korematsu case?
DM: Well, I think I received a disproportionate share of the recognition because I was the lead counsel. But I know clearly that Korematsu could not have been won without the intense commitment of those on the legal team.
2JB: With Garrick Lew, Don Tamaki and your other partners, Minami Lew & Tamaki has become a well-known law firm because of Korematsu…
DM: Yes, we're probably best known for that, but one sense it has become a slight liability in the perception of our practice. Many people think we do free civil rights cases, but we've actually had to earn our living doing other work. I do personal injury and entertainment law, for example. Don (Tamaki) and others do corporate and business law. Other partners do immigration, family law and criminal law. Our largest group does employment and labor law. So we have a diverse practice and sometimes we're not recognized for our other legal work.2JB: What kinds of civil rights projects are you working on today?
DM: I've got three big projects. The Robert M. Takasugi Fellowship offers stipends to deserving law students so that they can do public interest work during the summer. Another one is a campaign to get Congressman Howard Coble to resign as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Coble made some ignorant statements justifying the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Finally, we're working on a campaign to fight Patriot Act II and further rollbacks of civil rights engineered by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
2JB: What exactly is Ashcroft doing?
DM: John Ashcroft and the Bush administration are using Sept. 11 and the ensuing fear to ram through legislation like the Patriot Act and the soon-to-be Patriot Act II. This will allow the government unprecedented power to invade your privacy, arrest and imprison those it deems enemies and silence dissent. This is not healthy for our democracy.
2JB: So, Korematsu remains very relevant today…
DM: Yes… and I fear for our country's future. I believe that the incantation of magic words like "military necessity," which was used to justify the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, or words like "national security" - to justify racial profiling, arrests without probably cause, indefinite detentions, surveillance and even an overseas war - must be carefully scrutinized. We know now that there was no military necessity to imprison Japanese Americans - and we haven't seen any weapons of mass destruction and the national security justification that has led to recent abuses of our civil rights. The great danger is that these justifications will be used against those who oppose the Bush administration's policies and those who dissent, just as the government did during the '60s.
2JB: Finishing off with lighter subjects… Many continue to kid you on your now famous profile in People Magazine's "Top 50 Bachelors." How did you get that gig?
DM: Actually, I don't know. I heard an Asian American journalist nominated me. Jeff Yang of the former A Magazine said he nominated me. Truth is, I paid $25,000 to get into that issue.
2JB: Dale, you're practically an adopted son of Hawai`i. Since the Two Japanee Bruddahs like to give tips on places to eat back home, what are some of your favorites?
DM: I like Kaka'ako Kitchen, 3660 on the Rise, Alan Wong's, San Souci Beach, Olomana at the Hilton, Side Street Inn and Waiola Shave Ice.
2JB: How's yo' pidgin, brah?
DM: Eh, you like beef or wot?
2JB: Good enough. Finally, how do you feel about the roast being planned for you?
DM: Get me out of there. Fast.
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"Roasting Dale Minami" will be held on Thursday, August 7, at Ozumo on 161 Steuart Street in San Francisco, with the reception starting at 5:30 p.m. Roasting begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person in advance and $100 at the door, space permitting. Contact Edwin Prather at ekprather@mindspring.com or Malcolm Yeung at malyeung@yahoo.com, or visit www.daleminami.com for complete details.
Keith Kamisugi and Kyle Tatsumoto are the Two Japanee Bruddahs. Read past articles on their Web site at www.twojapaneebruddahs.com or email them at wot@twojapaneebruddahs.com.
Dale
Minami
Dale
Minami (front left), Fred Korematsu
(front middle) and the Korematsu legal team
