Go back to PRESS
RELEASES
Contact: Diane Tanaka
310-222-5709
VANDALISM/HATE INCIDENT AT
GO FOR BROKE MONUMENT IN LITTLE TOKYO
(Torrance, Calif. --March 24, 2004) - The Go
For Broke Monument in Little Tokyo was defaced, stated the Go
For Broke Educational Foundation, with more than 20 star-like
symbols with circles around each etched into the granite surface
of its donor pillars. The Los Angeles Police Department has classified
it as vandalism but is investigating it as a possible hate crime,
stating the circles are satanic symbols.
The star-like symbols were discovered by WWII veteran Ken Akune
on Thursday, March 18 as he cleaned the Go For Broke Monument.
The incident was reported to the LAPD on Friday, March 19 and
it is believed the incident occurred sometime late Sunday March
14 - Wednesday March 17. “We are letting the police handle
the incident, as well as the Little Tokyo Koban, but also realized
we needed to voice our concern and disappointment about the incident,”
said Akune. “We have had flower pots knocked down, but nothing
of this magnitude has ever happened.”
“This incident is very disturbing because the Go For Broke
Monument is a civil rights symbol representing the patriotism
of the Japanese Americans soldiers of WW II during a time that
the civil liberties of Japanese Americans were being infringed,”
stated Christine Sato-Yamazaki, executive director and president,
Go For Broke Educational Foundation. “The veterans built
the Go For Broke Monument to ensure the civil liberties of all
Americans are forever guaranteed as stated in the U.S. Constitution.”
If anyone has information that could help the LAPD investigation,
please contact Central Properties Detective at 213-972-1203.
The first of its kind in the mainland U.S., the Go for Broke
Monument, which is 40-feet-in-diameter and 9-feet-high, represents
the World War II heroics of Japanese American soldiers who fought
bravely while their families were incarcerated behind barbed wire.
Dedicated in 1999, this landmark commemorates the Japanese American
soldiers while serving as a permanent reminder of the civil liberties
protections guaranteed by the Constitution to Americans of all
races and ethnic backgrounds. More than 16,000 names of Japanese
American soldiers who served overseas during WWII are engraved
in the granite monument. The Go For Broke Monument is located
at 160 N. Central Avenue, in the Little Tokyo district of Los
Angeles.
The Go For Broke Educational Foundation institutes educational
programs focused on the heroism and history of the Japanese American
soldiers of World War II, as well as the forced evacuation and
incarceration of Japanese Americans and civil liberties issues
raised by those events. Currently the Educational Foundation’s
programs include An American Story Teacher Training Program, Hanashi
Oral History Program, www.GoForBroke.org
educational Web site, and Resource Center.
