A Japanese-American senator opposed redress claiming Japanese Americans were already too prosperous.

Evidence

Senator Hayakawa remained opposed to redress. On May 5, 1988, he sent a handwritten note to Baker that described Japanese Americans as “just rolling in prosperity.” His note continued: “They are a damn sight better off than whites, but they play on the widespread assumption that non-whites are all more-to-be-pitied than whites. Makes me damn sick to listen to those skillful hustlers. I crawl with embarrassment at their gimme/gimme attitude towards government.” — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 229

Categorization

• SHARE: A startling, concrete artifact: Hayakawa, himself of Japanese ancestry, wrote this note. Worth sending to anyone interested in reparations politics or identity-based opposition to compensation.