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00:00:08,866 --> 00:00:14,384
How many of you are familiar with the
Japanese-American incarceration?
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00:00:14,384 --> 00:00:15,577
[audience raises hands]
3
00:00:15,577 --> 00:00:18,627
Oh! Thank you, and good night.
[laughter]
4
00:00:18,627 --> 00:00:21,069
You guys are wonderful.
5
00:00:22,031 --> 00:00:26,055
I was a prisoner of war,
during World War II.
6
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Held by my own country.
7
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I was six years old.
8
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This is my prison number: 125...
9
00:00:36,185 --> 00:00:39,345
[checks paper]
12524.
10
00:00:39,345 --> 00:00:41,153
I'm the letter D.
11
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My family had 12524.
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00:00:45,076 --> 00:00:48,875
My family and I were incarcerated for
three and a half years.
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00:00:49,274 --> 00:00:53,541
In Poston, Arizona, during World War II.
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00:00:55,709 --> 00:01:01,570
As a teacher, I would ask my students,
sometimes on the first day of school:
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00:01:01,570 --> 00:01:04,249
"Draw an American for me."
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00:01:04,249 --> 00:01:09,769
"Take out a piece of paper, and
draw an American for me. Okay?"
17
00:01:09,836 --> 00:01:13,926
And then I would go around the room,
and check the drawings.
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00:01:14,775 --> 00:01:19,166
And sometimes, the drawings would be of
a stick figure.
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Not much better than kindergarten.
20
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Excuse me, Marsha.
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Marsha is a kindergarten teacher, my wife.
[audience laughs]
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00:01:31,728 --> 00:01:35,029
Draw an American for me.
You get somebody in mind?
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00:01:35,029 --> 00:01:36,359
Hm?
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00:01:37,283 --> 00:01:40,181
How many of you thought of drawing a
woman?
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00:01:40,181 --> 00:01:41,561
[audience stays silent]
26
00:01:41,561 --> 00:01:43,631
Thank you.
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00:01:43,631 --> 00:01:45,821
A majority of Americans are women.
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Who says it's a man's world?
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Men, [laughs].
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Women can do everything a man can do.
And more.
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00:02:00,114 --> 00:02:04,222
How many of you thought of drawing a
blonde, blue-eyed, hunk of a guy?
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[a few people raise their hands]
33
00:02:06,288 --> 00:02:09,847
Hitler would have been so proud of you.
[audience laughs]
34
00:02:11,234 --> 00:02:18,133
To many Americans, WASP is the
American—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
35
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If you're not a White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant, you're not really an American.
36
00:02:25,793 --> 00:02:28,589
You know, I'm not Japanese.
37
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I've never been Japanese.
38
00:02:31,143 --> 00:02:34,273
I'm an American, of Japanese ancestry.
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00:02:34,273 --> 00:02:38,473
My father was Japanese, my mother was
Japanese, but I'm not Japanese.
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When I go to Japan, and I speak,
they laugh and they go:
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"We don't talk like that anymore."
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00:02:46,279 --> 00:02:49,755
They know I'm a 外人 (Gai-jin),
a foreigner.
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When I was in London, shopping,
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and I had a nice conversation with
the sales lady,
45
00:02:55,114 --> 00:02:57,454
and at the end she says:
"Oh, you Yanks."
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00:02:57,801 --> 00:03:01,481
She's looking at me, and I'm a Yank.
47
00:03:03,041 --> 00:03:08,553
But in this country—parts of this country—
I'm a damned Jap.
48
00:03:10,476 --> 00:03:12,517
And I don't mean just the South.
49
00:03:13,501 --> 00:03:18,941
There are parts of Idaho,
Montana, North Dakota and such.
50
00:03:19,295 --> 00:03:21,503
It's kind of dangerous for me to travel.
51
00:03:23,318 --> 00:03:26,762
Racism still prevails in this country.
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00:03:27,470 --> 00:03:35,735
After 9/11—the attack on the twin towers
in New York—there was talk about
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00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,159
rounding up all the Arabs and Muslim
Americans in this country, and
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00:03:41,552 --> 00:03:44,728
incarcerating them in concentration camps.
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00:03:45,055 --> 00:03:52,615
Now to his credit, George W. Bush—the
president—he, called the Cabinet meeting.
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00:03:52,974 --> 00:03:55,082
And he told his Cabinet members:
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"We're not going to do, to the Arab and
Muslim Americans in this country,
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00:03:59,705 --> 00:04:03,088
what we did to Norm Mineta
and his family."
59
00:04:03,499 --> 00:04:08,545
And all talk, about rounding up the Arab
and Muslims, stopped.
60
00:04:09,102 --> 00:04:11,203
And we were grateful.
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00:04:11,432 --> 00:04:20,895
Now, why was Norm, his family, and 120,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans
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00:04:21,327 --> 00:04:27,754
—two-thirds were American citizens—from
Washington, Oregon, and California,
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00:04:27,844 --> 00:04:32,507
incarcerated after the attack on
Pearl Harbour?
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00:04:33,341 --> 00:04:40,493
Well, Cabrillo College instructor,
Sandy Lydon—historian emeritus—
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00:04:40,493 --> 00:04:46,494
said the Japanese strawberry farmer of
Watsonville had nothing to do with the
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00:04:46,494 --> 00:04:48,294
attack on Pearl Harbour.
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00:04:48,822 --> 00:04:54,188
Did you know that there were 158,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans
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00:04:54,188 --> 00:04:58,438
living in the territory of Hawaii—it
wasn't a state yet—
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00:04:58,438 --> 00:05:02,828
who were not incarcerated,
with the exception of about 2,000.
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00:05:03,685 --> 00:05:06,005
They're in the war zone.
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00:05:06,365 --> 00:05:10,452
Well they needed the Japanese and
Japanese-Americans in Hawaii
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to run the economy of Hawaii.
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00:05:13,492 --> 00:05:20,840
They were the plurality, they were 37% of
the population—census was taken in 1940.
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Their general Evman said it's not
necessary to do this.
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00:05:26,207 --> 00:05:29,739
There is no plans for sabotage.
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00:05:30,601 --> 00:05:36,532
We, who were 2,500 miles away from
the war zone, we get incarcerated.
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Why?
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I have to take you back a little bit, in
American history.
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00:05:46,256 --> 00:05:49,976
United States Constitution legalized
slavery.
80
00:05:50,979 --> 00:05:56,559
The U.S. government condoned,
and practiced racism.
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00:05:57,358 --> 00:06:01,161
The Naturalization act in 1790,
82
00:06:01,161 --> 00:06:06,037
Asians, could not become citizens of
the United States.
83
00:06:06,432 --> 00:06:08,723
The Cherokee Nation.
84
00:06:09,135 --> 00:06:11,281
You've heard of the trail of tears?
85
00:06:11,281 --> 00:06:13,854
They were forced, out of their homes.
86
00:06:14,334 --> 00:06:21,671
Dred Scott decision, he was a slave.
Even free territory.
87
00:06:22,388 --> 00:06:26,918
There was an anti-Irish catholic mentality
in this country.
88
00:06:26,918 --> 00:06:33,558
There were signs that were printed,
and displayed: 'No Irish Need Apply.'
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00:06:35,156 --> 00:06:39,314
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
90
00:06:39,578 --> 00:06:41,592
Plessy vs. Ferguson.
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00:06:41,592 --> 00:06:43,204
Separate but equal.
92
00:06:43,204 --> 00:06:45,430
How can the separate be equal?
93
00:06:46,501 --> 00:06:50,330
A. Mitchell Palmer Raids, 1919-1920.
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The communists, and, and Jews too,
were deported without trial.
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Just placed on a ship and shipped out.
96
00:07:02,998 --> 00:07:06,800
Immigration Act of 1924.
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00:07:07,939 --> 00:07:11,359
Japanese could not come to this country
anymore.
98
00:07:11,691 --> 00:07:14,431
Fred Korematsu case.
99
00:07:16,115 --> 00:07:21,349
Our history is a history of racism.
100
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Discrimination regarding immigration
as well.
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00:07:29,510 --> 00:07:35,658
In the early 20th century, it was said in
the newspapers—Examiner, The Chronicle,
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00:07:35,658 --> 00:07:39,409
The McClatchy papers, you know,
Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, and
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00:07:39,409 --> 00:07:43,449
The Sentinel—that the Japanese race is
an alien race which can never be
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assimilated into the American way of life.
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There is nothing of value, of
Japanese culture.
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00:07:52,046 --> 00:07:54,086
Nothing of value.
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How many of you have eaten sushi?
[audience laughs]
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What about bonsai?
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ikebana flower arranging?
110
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Origami?
111
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Wax on, wax off?
[audience laughs]
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Karate?
113
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ah, Japanese culture is rich.
114
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And so many enjoy participating in
Japanese culture.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To make sure the Japanese did not
assimilate into this country,
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laws were passed.
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Asians could not own property,
marry whites,
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become citizens of the United States.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The attack on Pearl Harbour,
December 7th, 1941.
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John L. DeWitt, commander of the western ___,
as his fourth army.
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At the Presidio of San Francisco.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Had the ear of the President of
the United States.
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He said: "A Jap's a Jap."
124
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"It makes no difference whether that Jap
is a citizen or not."
125
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
J. Edgar Hoover said: "Mr. President,
we don't need to do this."
126
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Francis Biddle who was the Attorney
General at the time said:
127
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Mr. President, I don't think we
can do this."
128
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There were no lawsuits filed
on our behalf.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Executive Order 9066, was past
75 years ago.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, there was one group, nationally,
one group, that supported us.
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The American Quakers.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The American friends.
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They're the only ones.
134
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nationally, not even the ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union) supported us.
135
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Locally, luckily, we had some friends.
136
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
City attorney of Watsonville, with John
McCarthy.
137
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our police chief, Matt Graves.
138
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
School teachers, public school teachers.
139
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And many others supported us.
140
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, the reward, they were called
'Jap Lovers' for supporting us.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They had their homes and cars vandalized.
142
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they were among the very first to
welcome us back.
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We had some very dear friends.
144
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In 1942, our homes were searched,
without search warrants.
145
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The FBI came into our homes—they got
the information from the Bureau of
146
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Census.
147
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Bureau of the Census is not supposed
to do that.
148
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We were hacked.
[laughs]
149
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There were no trials, except for four
people.
150
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But for the rest of us, we had no charges,
151
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no attorneys, no due process of law.
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[shows paper] This, the Constitution
of the United States,
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ceased to exist for us.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
From camp—there were ten major camps—
and from camps,
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our men and women volunteered to
serve in the United States Armed Forces.
156
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The men—many of them were in the
hundred 442nd Regimental Combat Team,
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the most decorated army unit for size
and length of service.
158
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My two brothers were in the MIS—
Military Intelligence Service—
159
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because they couldn't read and
write Japanese.
160
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They went to Japanese school after
high school each day.
161
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They fought against the Japanese.
162
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We used the Japanese language as a weapon,
against the Japanese.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The MIS stayed after the war,
164
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with the restoration,
occupation restoration of Japan.
165
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their service during the war saved
countless American and Japanese lives.
166
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is estimated that it shortened the
war by two years.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Congress formally acknowledged the work
168
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the hundred 442nd and MIS, with
a Congressional Gold Medal.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we're grateful.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Our forced removal was illegal.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Right?
172
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No.
173
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No.
174
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's legal.
175
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The government of United States can
evict anyone from their homes.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If, under the guise of
"military necessity."
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Today, we won't use that term.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We'll use the term "national security."
179
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Congress and the president apologized
for our wartime experience.
180
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Civil Liberties Act was passed on
August 10th, 1988.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have an official apology.
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, of the 120,000
[laughs]
183
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the government expected 60,000 to have
died, and 60,000 were still alive.
184
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But we fooled them.
185
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
80,000 of us were still alive.
186
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, sushi is good for you.
[laughter]
187
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There's only one race,
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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's the human race.
189
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There are those who wish to classify us.
190
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, you're Caucasian American,
191
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you're Asian American,
192
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you're Hispanic American,
193
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Black American.
194
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's only one race
195
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know dogs, we call them German
Shepards, French Poodles,
196
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Chihuahuas.
197
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They go to anybody, huh.
Right?
198
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're colorblind.
199
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I wish humans were colorblind.
200
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[sighs]
201
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Today, the present administration
202
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is constantly issuing new executive
orders, policies regarding immigration.
203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Contrary to the spirit of America.
204
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Fortunately—now—we have the Southern
Poverty Law Center,
205
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the American Civil Liberties Union.
206
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have so many groups and individuals
207
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
supporting what really is of
true America.
208
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Something we didn't see in 1942.
209
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Will it happen again?
210
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Memory is short.
211
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No.
Not under the guise of military necessity.
212
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So who's the biggest threat?
213
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Some suspect it will be the reporters and
producers of fake news.
214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[laughs]
215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It doesn't have to be an individual
or group.
216
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A national group, a racial group.
217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It could be an occupation.
218
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The days of Walter Cronkite, the conscious
of America, are long gone.
219
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now we have the internet, radio talk
show hosts, TV commentators.
220
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm grateful to be living here in
Santa Cruz county.
221
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The second most liberal county in
the nation.
222
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, if you know the history of Santa
Cruz city, it wasn't always that way.
223
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yeah, minorities were not welcomed in
Santa Cruz.
224
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Growing up, I didn't come to
Santa Cruz very often.
225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But that all changed.
226
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How?
227
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thanks to Cabrillo College.
228
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the University of Santa Cruz—
University of California, at Santa Cruz.
229
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The intelligentsia came.
230
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it changed the whole county.
231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Today, this is the most wonderful place
in the whole world to live.
232
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I kid you not.
233
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Gordon Hirabayashi.
234
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was a student at the
University of Washington.
235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A Quaker.
236
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He was arrested, convicted, imprisoned.
237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The prosecuting attorneys lied
to the judges.
238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yeah, he spent some time.
239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, his conviction was vacated.
240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not overturned, vacated.
241
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Gordon Hirabayashi said:
"Ancestry is not a crime."
242
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Today we would add:
"Islam is not a crime."
243
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
With our newfound energy, we have
a lot of work to do.
244
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know those, gentlemen who live not
too far from Charlottesville, Virginia,
245
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at a place called Monticello.
246
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thomas Jefferson,
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"Eternal vigilance is a price of liberty."
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It's up to us, all of us, to work in
peace, and harmony, compassion,
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To overcome hate and bigotry.
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And we can do it.
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Thank you.
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[audience applause]