• What is the dispute about?
• What is the basis for the Japanese-American community’s claim that the Japanese YWCA created a trust covering the 1830 Sutter Street property?
• Why did the Japanese YWCA and SF YWCA create a trust?
• How do we know the Alien Land Laws were the reason for the trust?
• Does the SF YWCA have a basis for its claim that there is no trust?
• What is the basis for the claim that the Japanese YWCA paid for the property in 1921 and the construction of the Julia Morgan building in 1932?
• Why did the Japanese-American community sue the YWCA?
• What is the Soko Bukai and who does it represent?
• What is Assembly Concurrent Resolution 32 and what does it do?
• Why did the Legislature get involved if the issue and historical facts are in dispute in a pending court case?
• Are the facts recited in ACR 32 true?
• Does the Japanese-American community support the trust claim?
• Is the Japanese-American community accusing the SF YWCA of racism and being a segregated organization?
• What about the SF YWCA’s claim that it cares about the Japanese-American community and that the dispute is only the result of an "unfortunate misunderstanding"?

• What is the dispute about?
  In 1996, in order to alleviate a desperate financial crisis, the SF YWCA attempted to sell two of its historic properties, including the former Japanese YWCA property at 1830 Sutter Street in the heart of San Francisco’s Japanese-American community. Researchers from the Japanese-American community discovered SF YWCA records, including board of directors minutes, stating that, with the Japanese YWCA’s authorization and the money raised from its community, the SF YWCA acquired the Japanese YWCA property in June 1921 "in trust" for the "permanent use" of the Japanese YWCA and the women and girls it served. The property was the Japanese YWCA’s home until the internment of the West Coast Japanese-American community in 1942. After the War, the Japanese YWCA was not revived, in part because of the dispersal and dislocation of the Japanese-American community, but in large part because the SF YWCA opposed its reformation; and over time knowledge of the trust created in 1920-21 was lost. Today, despite the rediscovered evidence in its records, the YWCA has denied that any trust was created, and has repudiated its historic promises to the Japanese-American community.
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• What is the basis for the Japanese-American community’s claim that the Japanese YWCA created a trust covering the 1830 Sutter Street property?
  In 1920-21, in large part because the SF YWCA did not allow women of color to use its main residence home, the independently chartered Japanese YWCA proposed the purchase of a separate residence for Japanese women and girls. The SF YWCA’s official records show that the Japanese YWCA proposed that the property be purchased in trust and that, to its credit, the SF YWCA agreed to purchase the property "in trust" for the "permanent use" of the Japanese YWCA. Following the purchase of the original property in 1921, the SF YWCA reaffirmed its obligations under the trust in 1922 and again in 1934. Indeed, in 1934, despite its record title, the SF YWCA confirmed the Japanese YWCA’s ultimate control over the property, resolving that no proposed change in the property’s use could be effective without the Japanese YWCA board of directors’ approval. In the Japanese YWCA 20 Year Retrospective, written in 1932 on the occasion of the opening of the Julia Morgan building on the property, the Japanese YWCA women expressed pride in their building as their gift to the Japanese-American community. The San Francisco Superior Court cited these very documents in rejecting the SF YWCA’s demand that the community’s case be dismissed for lack of evidence of an enforceable trust. The SF YWCA has never offered any convincing explanation for why its records do not mean exactly what they say - that the 1830 Sutter property was bought "in trust" for the Japanese YWCA and the women and girls it served.
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• Why did the Japanese YWCA and SF YWCA create a trust?
  California’s Alien Land Law first enacted in 1913, made even stricter in 1920 by popular initiative, and not repealed as unconstitutional until 1956 - prohibited all Asian immigrants, including the Issei from Japan, from owning property for virtually all purposes. Violation of the Alien Land Law could be punished by forfeiture of the property and criminal sanctions. Because of this racially discriminatory law, the Japanese YWCA couldn't own the property, even if it was bought with community money. To get around this law, many Japanese immigrants had property put in the name of Caucasian friends or organizations. SF YWCA records show that the Japanese YWCA did just this, raising the initial purchase money and authorizing its sister organization, the SF YWCA, to hold the property in its name "in trust" for the Japanese YWCA’s "permanent use." These same records show that the SF YWCA, after having the proposal approved by its lawyer, agreed to hold the property "in trust" as proposed.
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• How do we know the Alien Land Laws were the reason for the trust?
  The Alien land Laws were powerful tools of oppression, just like the Jim Crow laws of the South. The Alien Land Laws were the product of virulent and opportunistic racism and, like today’s anti-affirmative action and anti-immigrant initiatives, their enactment was a major statewide issue. The Alien Land Laws pervaded every aspect of economic life for the "Issei," the first generation of Japanese immigrants. Coupled with the federal immigration and naturalization laws, which denied citizenship to immigrant Asians, the Alien Land Laws isolated the growing Japanese immigrant community politically and economically. That the SF YWCA’s records don’t mention the Alien Land Laws is not surprising. Because violations of those laws could (and did) result in criminal prosecution and confiscation of property, these trust agreements would commonly not be reduced to writing. Once this historical context is understood, however, the Alien Land Laws’ impact in this case is clear.
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• Does the SF YWCA have a basis for its claim that there is no trust?
  No. The court has rejected several of the SF YWCA’s technical arguments (e.g., the minutes weren't signed, or the property was obtained after the recorded intent to create a trust). The SF YWCA now argues that the Japanese YWCA property was treated no differently than other YWCA properties, that the Japanese YWCA had no existence or identity separate from the SF YWCA, that the women on the SF YWCA’s 1920-21 board of directors were politically ignorant of the Alien Land laws, and that they were not sufficiently sophisticated to have intended to accept a legal trust benefiting the former Japanese YWCA.
  
  The SF YWCA has failed to present any persuasive evidence to support its claims. In making its claims, the SF YWCA ignores that (a) the plain language of its minutes state unequivocally that the property was to be purchased "in trust" for the Japanese YWCA’s "permanent use"; (b) its records contain no trust language like this for any other YWCA property; (c) the Japanese YWCA, although a YWCA affiliate, perceived itself and was treated by the SF YWCA as an independent entity (see, e.g., Japanese YWCA 20 Year Retrospective); (d) the Japanese YWCA was required to raise the money for the purchase, which it did, and to reimburse the SF YWCA for the funds loaned to complete the purchase, which it also did; and (e) the SF YWCA lawyer reviewed and approved the terms of the trust proposal before they were adopted by the board of directors. In short, contrary to the SF YWCA’s claim, the purchase and circumstances giving rise to the purchase of the Japanese YWCA property were unique, and the creation of the trust placing title in the SF YWCA, but giving the Japanese YWCA ultimate control of the property, was understood by everyone involved.
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• What is the basis for the claim that the Japanese YWCA paid for the property in l921 and the construction of the Julia Morgan building in l932?
  The Japanese YWCA property was purchased in June 1921 for $6500. The SF YWCA’s records show that the Japanese YWCA paid for the trust property by collecting $2000 outright for the original purchase, and repaying, with interest, an additional $1000 the SF YWCA had borrowed from the International Institute (at that time, a related YWCA organization). As to the remaining balance, which the SF YWCA had financed through a commercial bank because the Japanese YWCA could not do so, the Japanese YWCA’s 20 Year Retrospective recited in 1932: "In January of 1931, we completed the payments for the full amount of the purchase."
  
  In 1929-1932, funds for the present Julia Morgan building were raised through a Community Chest fund drive dedicated in part to the Japanese YWCA residence project. Of the $20,000 earmarked for the Japanese YWCA residence, the Japanese YWCA independently raised at least $3500 from its community, and the Japanese YWCA formally assumed the obligation to repay the $1456 construction cost overrun. However, whether every penny for the new residence came from the Japanese American community is irrelevant. The funds were specifically raised for the Japanese YWCA’s facility in furtherance of an existing trust already dedicated to the Japanese YWCA and the women and girls it served.
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• Why did the Japanese-American community sue the YWCA?
  Ever since it put the historic 1830 Sutter building up for sale for $1.6 million in 1996, the SF YWCA has repeatedly repudiated and breached its legal and moral duties under the trust. To this day, the YWCA denies the existence of any trust or any obligation to the community. In addition to trying to sell the charitably dedicated property at a price based on commercial development, the SF YWCA tried to close the building and evict the Nihonmachi Little Friends childcare program and other community programs using the building; and since December 1996, in direct repudiation of the trust, has occupied the building with its own administration. By February 1997, the Japanese-American community was prepared to file suit to enforce the trust and preserve the building as a community treasure. Nonetheless, trying to resolve the dispute amicably, the community agreed to the SF YWCA’s request to mediate the issue. The mediation terminated six months later when the YWCA said that it would not discuss the trust or any ways to transfer the property to the Japanese American community. On September 30, 1997, left with no other options, the community filed suit to enforce the trust.
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• What is the Soko Bukai and who does it represent?
  The Soko Bukai, which means "San Francisco Japanese churches," refers to the association of Christian churches - principally Christ United Presbyterian Church, Pine United Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church - that have served the San Francisco Japanese-American community for over 125 years. In 1912, the Issei women of the Soko Bukai formed the San Francisco Japanese YWCA through an independent charter from the national YWCA in order to provide services to immigrant women and girls from Japan. The descendants of the Japanese YWCA’s founders remain member of the Soko Bukai churches. Because of these historic connections, the community recognized the Soko Bukai as the proper entity to represent its interest in preserving and enforcing the trust covering the Japanese YWCA property. The Northern California Federation of Japanese Christian Churches ("Domei") and the Japanese American Religious Federation ("JARF"), together with the wider Japanese American community, support the Soko Bukai’s effort.
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• What is Assembly Concurrent Resolution 32 and what does it do?
  Introduced in March 1999, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 32 recites the history of the former San Francisco Japanese YWCA property and the formation of the trust created to protect the property from the Alien Land Laws. ACR 32 resolves to honor the Issei women, whose legacy and spirit the building embodies, and resolves on behalf of the State to eradicate the vestiges of California’s invidiously discriminatory Alien Land Laws. On April 26 and 29, 1999, the California Legislature took the historic step of passing ACR 32 unanimously - 73-0 in the Assembly, with all 73 members joining as co-authors, and 28-0 in the Senate, ACR 32 was introduced in the Assembly by Mike Honda of San Jose, and Carole Migden and Kevin Shelley of San Francisco, with George Nakano of Torrance joining as a principal co-author. ACR 32 was also carried in the Senate by President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco and Patrick Johnston of Sacramento/San Joaquin.
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• Why did the Legislature get involved if the issue and historical facts are in dispute in a pending court case?
  ACR 32 represents the Legislature’s considered response to an issue of statewide importance. The Legislature realized - in part because of the San Francisco Japanese-American community’s dispute with the SF YWCA - that the insidiously discriminatory effects of the Alien Land Laws persisted even though the statue had been repealed as unconstitutional in 1956. The community supported the resolution, not with paid "lobbyists," as the SF YWCA charges, but with dedicated volunteers — including members of the Soko Bukai churches and an 83 year old member of the former Japanese YWCA whose mother-in-law was one of the Japanese YWCA founders.
  
  The Legislature, whose predecessors enacted the Alien land Laws, unanimously recognized its responsibility to eradicate the enduring effects of those discriminatory laws as a matter of state policy. The SF YWCA’s refusal to recognize and honor the trust, which has forced the community to seek the court’s protection, cannot and did not prevent the Legislature from acting independently to address issues of statewide concern.
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• Are the facts recited in ACR 32 true?
  Yes, the facts stated in ACR 32 about the underlying dispute with the SF YWCA are documented by the SF YWCA’s own official records and the surviving records of the Japanese YWCA. (See Summary of the Trust, and accompanying exhibits.) The SF YWCA has had three years to tell its story to the public, including to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Human Rights Commission and Superior Court. Also, contrary to the SF YWCA’s claims, the Legislature was aware of its position. The SF YWCA had spoken with Assemblyman Shelley’s staff, and had ample other legislator, before the vote. Moreover, the community itself informed legislators of the SF YWCA’s position, providing them with the SF YWCA’s 8-page Newsletter devoted to the dispute, as well as articles quoting its representatives. The unanimous passage of ACR 32, however, shows that the Legislature was unconvinced by the SF YWCA’s arguments. Indeed, for over three years, the SF YWCA has stood alone in its attempt to dispute the import of its own records.
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• Does the Japanese-American community support the trust claim?
  The Japanese-American community fully supports the Soko Bukai’s effort to preserve and enforce the trust. In a purely grassroots effort, community volunteers have gathered over 3000 signatures petitioning the SF YWCA to honor the trust and return the property, which was never theirs, to the Japanese-American community. The community has earned the support of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, including Supervisors Mabel Teng, Michael Yaki, Amos Brown and Tom Ammiano; the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, and Mayor Brown, who have all publicly declared their support and urged the SF YWCA to return the property to the community. With the unanimous passage of ACR 32, which recognized the dispute’s historical implications, the California Legislature declared its support as well.
  
  The SF YWCA’s repeated charge that the Japanese-American community is attempting a "land grab" at the expense of the Western Addition African-American and Latino communities is wholly untrue. As the widespread support they have received reflects, the Soko Bukai, Nihonmachi Little Friends and the Japanese-American community have made abundantly clear that they are committed to providing charitable services to all peoples from the building. By its accusations, the YWCA attempts to divide the minority communities and to scapegoat the Japanese-American community.
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• Is the Japanese-American community accusing the SF YWCA of racism and being a segregated organization?
  No, the Japanese-American community does not accuse the SF YWCA of being racist. However, the SF YWCA’s official records document that, for many years before and after the trust was created, the SF YWCA had a formal "policy of not admitting Chinese, Japanese or colored girls to its Boarding Home." The Japanese YWCA was in part formed as a separate YWCA for this reason. The SF YWCA board or directors reaffirmed this whites-only policy in February 1920, only three months before the Japanese YWCA first proposed the purchase of its residential facility for Japanese women and girls. To its credit, the SF YWCA board agreed in 1921 to hold the property in trust as the Japanese YWCA had proposed in order to avoid the Alien Land Laws, and reaffirmed that decision on repeated occasions thereafter. But the SF YWCA’s current denial of the trust dishonors the good deeds of its 1920s board. And, by denying the trust, and claiming the building as its own, the SF YWCA inescapably seeks to profit from the legacy of the racist laws, particularly the Alien Land Laws, used to oppress the Japanese-American community over the last century.
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• What about the SF YWCA’s claim that it cares about the Japanese-American community and that the dispute is only the result of an "unfortunate misunderstanding"?
  Despite its words, the SF YWCA’s actions tell a different story. The SF YWCA’s repudiation of the trust dishonors its own history, and dishonors the memory of the Issei women who secured the property and building as their gift to the community’s future and whose the spirit, vision, strength and sacrifice the building embodies.

  In 1996, rather than trying to preserve the property, the YWCA tried to sell it for $1.65 million premised on razing the building for condominiums, and dismissed a community agency offer of $1.2 million.

  In September 1996, the YWCA tried to close the building to any charitable use, ostensibly for financial reasons, thereby evicting the independent community programs that had used the building for decades — Nihonmachi Little Friends preschool and the Harrison Out of School program for African American adolescents. Only massive community protest in October l996 forced the YWCA to rescind its decision.

  In December 1996, without any consultation with and only a day’s notice to the community, the SF YWCA repudiated the trust by precipitously relocating its administrative offices into the historic community building.

  In Summer 1997, while in ostensibly good faith mediation with the community, the SF YWCA proposed a lease that would have raised Nihonmachi Little Friend’s rent by 80% and allowed it to permanently evict NLF on 30 days notice for unspecified construction work. The community only later learned the planned construction work was to be funded by a City grant the YWCA had secretly requested.

  In February 1999, charging the Japanese-American community with misuse of public funds, the SF YWCA tried to censor the community’s right to address the YWCA’s failure to honor its trust promises at the annual Day of Remembrance, which marks the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans and its continuing legacy. The SF YWCA’s patently false charges were soundly rebuffed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

  In short, the YWCA has sadly failed to show respect for or understanding of the Japanese-American community or its history. The community’s denunciation of the SF YWCA’s actions is not the result of an "unfortunate misunderstanding", but rather responds directly to the YWCA’s refusal to honor its historic promises to the community.

   

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