WASHINGTON – The Asian-American community in Washington embraced the ‘aloha spirit’ Thursday by paying tribute to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
“There is not a place I go to all across our country where people do not come up to me and say, ‘I was helped by Sen. Inouye. I used to work with him’ or some association,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said at a reception held by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, an organization that advocates for Asian-American civil rights and equality. “We honor Sen. Inouye by building on the legacy that he left for us.”
‘I really feel we are all family here. We are all ‘ohana’ as we say in Hawaii,’ Ken Inouye says at a reception honoring his father, the late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
Inouye’s son, Ken, and other speakers discussed the important strides the late senator made for the Asian-American community, including fighting for Japanese-Americans interned during WWII, gender equality, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and civil rights for all.
Ken Inouye shared stories of how his father fought to make the future better. He recalled an emcee at an event saying his father was part of the greatest generation.
“He [Sen. Inouye] says to me, ‘You know, it’s really nice that they call us the greatest generation, but I really hope that’s not the case,” Ken Inouye recalled. “He says, ‘Because if we’re the greatest generation, it doesn’t get any better. America is about always improving on itself, always correcting its wrongs and always trying to make the things that make it great, try to make those things better.’”
He recalled a similar conversation at a family dinner.
“Out of nowhere, he [Sen. Inouye] turns and looks at my daughter, his granddaughter, Maggie, who at the time was about two and a half … and says, ‘You know, she will be greater than all of us.’”
Both stories, he said, are part of the same narrative: believing that those who come after will build upon past mistakes, correct wrongs and make things better.
“We are all here for that same reason,” Ken Inouye said. “We want to make America a better place. I really feel we are all family here. We are all ‘ohana’ as we say in Hawaii.”
The reception also honored filmmaker and activist Valarie Kaur and former Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., for their contributions to equal rights and civil rights.