Last month, Visual Communications held its VC FilmFest 2000, and the winner of the Audience Award in the Feature-Length Film category was "Conscience and the Constitution," a documentary written and directed by Frank Abe.

Coincidentally, this past weekend in Little Tokyo was the anniversary of the dedication of the memorial to the veterans who served in the 100th Battalion/442nd RCT and MIS.

From reading this paper, I can see that "Conscience" has already stirred up some controversy among some in the community. Having gotten to know Frank Abe years ago from when I worked at the Pacific Citizen, I’m sure he expected nothing less. Years ago, Abe was instrumental in getting the Asian American Journalists Association to honor Nisei journalist James Omura as a pioneer among Asian American journalists. Along with Nisei who refused to be drafted, Omura is one of the principals Abe interviewed in "Conscience."

I saw the documentary. I attended the dedication. Regarding the Japanese American veterans who fought for the United States, I feel nothing but admiration and awe. And while it may seem contradictory, I also respect those who resisted the draft for ethical reasons.

I understand that some will never be able to reconcile these two seemingly opposite points of view. For me, it’s easy to do from an intellectual stance because I wasn’t there back then. Along with everyone else fortunate to have been born years later, I don’t have the emotional investments, anger, loss, humiliation and so on that Japanese Americans of that era had to deal with.

I realize that Japanese Americans alive at the time should have never had to be forced into the positions that the war put them in, namely having to "prove" one’s loyalty to the country in which they were born — or resisting conscription on constitutional grounds, that fighting tyranny and imperialism while one’s family was imprisoned was unfair and hypocritical. But who ever said life was fair?

When push comes to shove, I believe that the price the veterans paid was higher, and that the sacrifices they made resulted in a dividend that was greater than those who resisted. But Abe’s "Conscience" shows that those who resisted on principle also paid a very high price. No one got off easy, as those resisters who went to prison can attest.

It’s as though the government said, "You fight for us now, you’ll get your rights later," while the resisters said, "We’ll fight — but we demand our rights first." Immediate satisfaction vs. delayed gratification is never an easy choice. It was a gamble for those who fought — but gambling is where the phrase "go for broke" comes from, right?

As much as I respect those who resisted on principle, the veterans who served in spite of the racial prejudice, wartime hysteria and failure of political leadership ended up with a trump card against a system that held them and their families hostage. It should not have to come to that, but paying your dues in blood has a way of shutting up anyone who tries to impugn your loyalty.

Nevertheless, "Conscience" tells an important part of American history, especially Japanese American history. Unlike "Star Trek’s" Borg, resistance need not be futile. They were within their rights to resist, and isn’t having such liberty why this country was founded, isn’t that sometimes why we fight the Hitlers of the world?

Thanks to years of effort, the JA community came together and by 1988 forced the United States government to apologize to Americans whose rights and freedoms were wrongly stolen.

After that, some said the National JACL needed to apologize to the resisters and members of the Fair Play Committee for stirring up sentiment against them. Of course, if you watch "Conscience," you’ll see how poorly the latest in that quixotic effort to apologize went.

Instead of squeezing water out of that rock, maybe the remaining resisters should get together and forgive those who condemn them. There’s a better chance of that happening.

"Conscience and the Constitution" will appear on PBS sometime next year. Abe put much time and effort into it and even if you don’t like the stance the resisters took, it’s worth it to watch.

For more information on "Conscience and the Constitution," visit <<http://www.resisters.com/>>.

Until next time, keep your eyes and ears open.

(George Toshio Johnston has written this column since 1992 and can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect policies of this newspaper or any organization or business. Copyright © 2000 by George T. Johnston. All rights reserved.)

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Updated: June 9, 2000