When
the airport is named after you, do you still have to take your belt and shoes
off when going through security? Norman Mineta would know (as in the Norman Y.
Mineta San Jose International Airport), but he is probably a TSA Known Traveler
anyway. The former Congressman, San Jose Mayor, and five-year Transportation
Secretary (still the longest serving) is also one of the last American
politicians with a history of bipartisan outreach, so it is fitting both sides
of the aisle are represented in Dianne Fukami’s Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story, which airs this
Monday on participating PBS stations across the country.
Mineta
was second generation Nisei Japanese-American, born to the first generation
Issei Japanese-Americans, who were legally denied citizenship most of their
lives. Quite logically, the Japanese internment casts a long shadow over the
film, first when chronicling his experiences in the Heart Mountain camp outside
Cody, Wyoming and then reporting his successful efforts to pass legislation
officially apologizing and redressing the systemic relocation mandated by
Roosevelt.
Ironically,
that is also where the film starts to get bipartisan, because a young Alan
Simpson, the future Wyoming senator, was a member of the only local Boy Scout
troop that attended events at the camp. A fast friendship developed between the
two scouts, which they continued as pen pals until reuniting in congress.
Naturally, Simpson shepherded Mineta’s House legislation through the Senate (after
which, Pres. Reagan signed it into law). It is just nice to see Mineta and
Simpson appear together in the film, still carrying on like the old pals that
they are.
Yet,
probably the one politician who gets the most time in Mineta’s doc besides
Mineta himself is Pres. George W. Bush, who appointed him Secretary of
Transportation, even though Mineta is a Democrat. We also hear from Clinton,
who tapped him to fill a short vacancy at the Commerce Department, but Bush has
much more interesting things to say (regarding September 11th and
bipartisanship).
Legacy is a conventional,
straight-over-the-plate documentary, but it has an inclusive spirit and
significant talking heads. (Look for former Rep. Dan Lungren for further
Republican interest.) Sadly, you will not find many members of Mineta’s party
left in Congress who can have a civil conversation with Republicans (and vice
versa).
Indeed,
there is a lot to learn from Mineta. Rather tellingly, he does not simply frame
the Japanese internment policy as a stain on the national character. He also
points to it as a rare example when a country admitted its mistakes and sought
to make amends. It’s a good point. Recommended as one of the increasingly rare
political documentaries with a positive message, Norman Mineta and His Legacy screens this Monday (5/20) on PBS outlets,
including WNET in the Tri-State Area, and Tuesday and Wednesday (5/21 &
5/22) on the World Channel.
