1
00:00:08,866 --> 00:00:14,384
How many of you are familiar with the
Japanese-American incarceration?
2
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
00:00:26,289 --> 00:00:28,129
Held by my own country.
7
00:00:29,222 --> 00:00:31,253
I was six years old.
8
00:00:31,253 --> 00:00:36,185
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
00:00:41,153 --> 00:00:43,430
My family had 12524.
12
00:00:45,076 --> 00:00:48,875
My family and I were incarcerated for
three and a half years.
13
00:00:49,274 --> 00:00:53,541
In Poston, Arizona, during World War II.
14
00:00:55,709 --> 00:01:01,570
As a teacher, I would ask my students,
sometimes on the first day of school:
15
00:01:01,570 --> 00:01:04,249
"Draw an American for me."
16
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.
18
00:01:14,775 --> 00:01:19,166
And sometimes, the drawings would be of
a stick figure.
19
00:01:20,932 --> 00:01:23,236
Not much better than kindergarten.
20
00:01:23,236 --> 00:01:25,952
Excuse me, Marsha.
21
00:01:25,952 --> 00:01:30,382
Marsha is a kindergarten teacher, my wife.
[audience laughs]
22
00:01:31,728 --> 00:01:35,029
Draw an American for me.
You get somebody in mind?
23
00:01:35,029 --> 00:01:36,359
Hm?
24
00:01:37,283 --> 00:01:40,181
How many of you thought of drawing a
woman?
25
00:01:40,181 --> 00:01:41,561
[audience stays silent]
26
00:01:41,561 --> 00:01:43,631
Thank you.
27
00:01:43,631 --> 00:01:45,821
A majority of Americans are women.
28
00:01:47,739 --> 00:01:49,936
Who says it's a man's world?
29
00:01:50,361 --> 00:01:52,722
Men, [laughs].
30
00:01:53,919 --> 00:01:57,060
Women can do everything a man can do.
And more.
31
00:02:00,114 --> 00:02:04,222
How many of you thought of drawing a
blonde, blue-eyed, hunk of a guy?
32
00:02:04,305 --> 00:02:06,028
[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
00:02:18,133 --> 00:02:22,913
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
00:02:28,708 --> 00:02:30,598
I've never been Japanese.
38
00:02:31,143 --> 00:02:34,273
I'm an American, of Japanese ancestry.
39
00:02:34,273 --> 00:02:38,473
My father was Japanese, my mother was
Japanese, but I'm not Japanese.
40
00:02:39,404 --> 00:02:44,086
When I go to Japan, and I speak,
they laugh and they go:
41
00:02:44,096 --> 00:02:46,266
"We don't talk like that anymore."
42
00:02:46,279 --> 00:02:49,755
They know I'm a 外人 (Gai-jin),
a foreigner.
43
00:02:50,642 --> 00:02:52,641
When I was in London, shopping,
44
00:02:52,641 --> 00:02:55,114
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."
46
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.
52
00:03:27,470 --> 00:03:35,735
After 9/11—the attack on the twin towers
in New York—there was talk about
53
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,159
rounding up all the Arabs and Muslim
Americans in this country, and
54
00:03:41,552 --> 00:03:44,728
incarcerating them in concentration camps.
55
00:03:45,055 --> 00:03:52,615
Now to his credit, George W. Bush—the
president—he, called the Cabinet meeting.
56
00:03:52,974 --> 00:03:55,082
And he told his Cabinet members:
57
00:03:55,254 --> 00:03:59,705
"We're not going to do, to the Arab and
Muslim Americans in this country,
58
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.
61
00:04:11,432 --> 00:04:20,895
Now, why was Norm, his family, and 120,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans
62
00:04:21,327 --> 00:04:27,754
—two-thirds were American citizens—from
Washington, Oregon, and California,
63
00:04:27,844 --> 00:04:32,507
incarcerated after the attack on
Pearl Harbour?
64
00:04:33,341 --> 00:04:40,493
Well, Cabrillo College instructor,
Sandy Lydon—historian emeritus—
65
00:04:40,493 --> 00:04:46,494
said the Japanese strawberry farmer of
Watsonville had nothing to do with the
66
00:04:46,494 --> 00:04:48,294
attack on Pearl Harbour.
67
00:04:48,822 --> 00:04:54,188
Did you know that there were 158,000
Japanese and Japanese-Americans
68
00:04:54,188 --> 00:04:58,438
living in the territory of Hawaii—it
wasn't a state yet—
69
00:04:58,438 --> 00:05:02,828
who were not incarcerated,
with the exception of about 2,000.
70
00:05:03,685 --> 00:05:06,005
They're in the war zone.
71
00:05:06,365 --> 00:05:10,452
Well they needed the Japanese and
Japanese-Americans in Hawaii
72
00:05:10,717 --> 00:05:13,217
to run the economy of Hawaii.
73
00:05:13,492 --> 00:05:20,840
They were the plurality, they were 37% of
the population—census was taken in 1940.
74
00:05:22,716 --> 00:05:26,207
Their general Evman said it's not
necessary to do this.
75
00:05:26,207 --> 00:05:29,739
There is no plans for sabotage.
76
00:05:30,601 --> 00:05:36,532
We, who were 2,500 miles away from
the war zone, we get incarcerated.
77
00:05:38,039 --> 00:05:39,719
Why?
78
00:05:40,452 --> 00:05:44,755
I have to take you back a little bit, in
American history.
79
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.
81
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.'
89
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.
91
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.
94
00:06:50,330 --> 00:06:57,849
The communists, and, and Jews too,
were deported without trial.
95
00:06:57,849 --> 00:07:00,670
Just placed on a ship and shipped out.
96
00:07:02,998 --> 00:07:06,800
Immigration Act of 1924.
97
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
00:07:21,355 --> 00:07:27,205
Discrimination regarding immigration
as well.
101
00:07:29,510 --> 00:07:35,658
In the early 20th century, it was said in
the newspapers—Examiner, The Chronicle,
102
00:07:35,658 --> 00:07:39,409
The McClatchy papers, you know,
Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, and
103
00:07:39,409 --> 00:07:43,449
The Sentinel—that the Japanese race is
an alien race which can never be
104
00:07:43,449 --> 00:07:45,689
assimilated into the American way of life.
105
00:07:45,690 --> 00:07:49,570
There is nothing of value, of
Japanese culture.
106
00:07:51,926 --> 00:07:54,086
Nothing of value.
107
00:07:55,685 --> 00:07:58,269
How many of you have eaten sushi?
108
00:07:58,269 --> 00:08:01,009
[audience laughs]
Oh yeah, sushi's good for you.
109
00:08:01,009 --> 00:08:02,979
What about bonsai?
110
00:08:02,979 --> 00:08:05,084
Ikebana flower arranging?
111
00:08:05,084 --> 00:08:05,964
Origami?
112
00:08:07,262 --> 00:08:09,932
Wax on, wax off?
[audience laughs]
113
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:10,912
Karate?
114
00:08:12,325 --> 00:08:15,630
Ah, Japanese culture is rich.
115
00:08:16,252 --> 00:08:21,691
And so many enjoy participating in
Japanese culture.
116
00:08:22,250 --> 00:08:25,994
To make sure the Japanese did not
assimilate into this country,
117
00:08:26,834 --> 00:08:28,242
laws were passed.
118
00:08:28,562 --> 00:08:32,820
Asians could not own property,
marry whites,
119
00:08:33,959 --> 00:08:36,193
become citizens of the United States.
120
00:08:37,809 --> 00:08:40,139
After the attack on Pearl Harbour,
121
00:08:41,019 --> 00:08:43,469
December 7th, 1941.
122
00:08:44,779 --> 00:08:52,259
John L. DeWitt, commander of the western,
as his fourth army.
123
00:08:52,700 --> 00:08:55,900
At the Presidio of San Francisco.
124
00:08:56,085 --> 00:08:58,464
Had the ear of the President of
the United States.
125
00:08:59,201 --> 00:09:02,151
He said: "A Jap's a Jap."
126
00:09:02,988 --> 00:09:06,540
"It makes no difference whether that Jap
is a citizen or not."
127
00:09:09,818 --> 00:09:13,193
J. Edgar Hoover said: "Mr. President,
we don't need to do this."
128
00:09:14,656 --> 00:09:17,626
Francis Biddle who was the Attorney
General at the time said:
129
00:09:17,626 --> 00:09:20,601
"Mr. President, I don't think we
can do this."
130
00:09:22,118 --> 00:09:27,695
There were no lawsuits filed
on our behalf.
131
00:09:29,205 --> 00:09:38,536
Executive Order 9066, was past
75 years ago.
132
00:09:39,104 --> 00:09:44,332
You know, there was one group, nationally,
one group, that supported us.
133
00:09:44,332 --> 00:09:45,768
The American Quakers.
134
00:09:45,768 --> 00:09:47,451
The American friends.
135
00:09:48,839 --> 00:09:50,709
They're the only ones.
136
00:09:50,974 --> 00:09:54,904
Nationally, not even the ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union) supported us.
137
00:09:58,789 --> 00:10:01,689
Locally, luckily, we had some friends.
138
00:10:02,690 --> 00:10:05,539
City attorney of Watsonville, with John
McCarthy.
139
00:10:06,278 --> 00:10:09,241
Our police chief, Matt Graves.
140
00:10:09,241 --> 00:10:11,851
School teachers, public school teachers.
141
00:10:11,936 --> 00:10:13,348
And many others supported us.
142
00:10:13,409 --> 00:10:16,042
You know, the reward,
143
00:10:16,042 --> 00:10:19,096
they were called 'Jap Lovers'
for supporting us.
144
00:10:22,647 --> 00:10:25,706
They had their homes and cars vandalized.
145
00:10:27,271 --> 00:10:31,535
And they were among the very first to
welcome us back.
146
00:10:32,350 --> 00:10:34,075
We had some very dear friends.
147
00:10:36,752 --> 00:10:42,606
In 1942, our homes were searched,
without search warrants.
148
00:10:43,102 --> 00:10:45,855
The FBI came into our homes
149
00:10:45,855 --> 00:10:48,662
—they got the information from
the Bureau of the Census.
150
00:10:48,662 --> 00:10:51,640
The Bureau of the Census is not supposed
to do that.
151
00:10:51,963 --> 00:10:53,415
We were hacked.
[laughs]
152
00:10:55,684 --> 00:10:59,249
There were no trials, except for four
people.
153
00:11:00,735 --> 00:11:03,936
But for the rest of us, we had no charges,
154
00:11:04,814 --> 00:11:09,828
no attorneys, no due process of law.
155
00:11:15,248 --> 00:11:19,231
[shows paper] This, the Constitution
of the United States,
156
00:11:19,231 --> 00:11:22,214
ceased to exist for us.
157
00:11:28,873 --> 00:11:33,094
From camp—there were ten major camps—
158
00:11:33,094 --> 00:11:37,273
and from the camps, our men and
women volunteered to serve
159
00:11:37,273 --> 00:11:39,663
in the United States Armed Forces.
160
00:11:40,693 --> 00:11:45,927
The men—many of them were in the
hundred 442nd Regimental Combat Team,
161
00:11:45,927 --> 00:11:50,281
the most decorated army unit for its
size and length of service.
162
00:11:53,771 --> 00:11:58,001
My two brothers were in the MIS—
Military Intelligence Service—
163
00:11:58,001 --> 00:12:00,491
because they could read and
write Japanese.
164
00:12:00,946 --> 00:12:05,396
They went to Japanese school after
high school each day.
165
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,114
They fought against the Japanese.
166
00:12:10,204 --> 00:12:15,118
We used the Japanese language as a weapon,
against the Japanese.
167
00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:22,072
The MIS stayed after the war,
168
00:12:23,319 --> 00:12:26,956
with the restoration,
occupation restoration of Japan.
169
00:12:28,649 --> 00:12:35,912
Their service during the war saved
countless American and Japanese lives.
170
00:12:36,371 --> 00:12:39,392
It is estimated that it shortened the
war by two years.
171
00:12:41,927 --> 00:12:47,511
Congress formally acknowledged the work
172
00:12:49,340 --> 00:12:55,912
of the hundred 442nd and MIS, with
a Congressional Gold Medal.
173
00:12:56,254 --> 00:12:57,555
And we're grateful.
174
00:12:59,653 --> 00:13:04,212
Our forced removal was illegal.
175
00:13:04,388 --> 00:13:05,439
Right?
176
00:13:07,636 --> 00:13:08,968
No.
177
00:13:11,526 --> 00:13:12,688
No.
178
00:13:14,362 --> 00:13:16,001
It's legal.
179
00:13:17,452 --> 00:13:22,399
The government of United States can
evict anyone from their homes.
180
00:13:23,048 --> 00:13:27,569
If, under the guise of
"military necessity."
181
00:13:29,248 --> 00:13:31,375
Today, we won't use that term.
182
00:13:31,790 --> 00:13:34,851
We'll use the term "national security."
183
00:13:37,167 --> 00:13:44,849
Congress and the president apologized
for our wartime experience.
184
00:13:45,701 --> 00:13:52,453
Civil Liberties Act was passed on
August 10th, 1988.
185
00:13:53,354 --> 00:13:55,371
We have an official apology.
186
00:13:55,660 --> 00:13:58,357
You know, of the 120,000
[laughs]
187
00:13:59,752 --> 00:14:05,551
the government expected 60,000 to have
died, and 60,000 were still alive.
188
00:14:07,036 --> 00:14:08,456
But we fooled them.
189
00:14:08,723 --> 00:14:11,194
80,000 of us were still alive.
190
00:14:11,674 --> 00:14:16,524
You see, sushi is good for you.
[laughter]
191
00:14:17,522 --> 00:14:19,159
There's only one race,
192
00:14:19,703 --> 00:14:22,234
that's the human race.
193
00:14:25,092 --> 00:14:27,893
There are those who wish to classify us.
194
00:14:28,459 --> 00:14:31,048
Oh, you're Caucasian American,
195
00:14:31,357 --> 00:14:32,709
you're Asian American,
196
00:14:32,924 --> 00:14:34,344
you're Hispanic American,
197
00:14:37,098 --> 00:14:38,609
Black American.
198
00:14:39,915 --> 00:14:41,948
There's only one race.
199
00:14:43,065 --> 00:14:47,739
You know dogs, we call them German
Shepards, French Poodles,
200
00:14:47,739 --> 00:14:48,825
and Chihuahuas.
201
00:14:48,825 --> 00:14:51,625
They go to anybody, huh.
Right?
202
00:14:52,355 --> 00:14:53,691
They're colorblind.
203
00:14:55,092 --> 00:14:58,200
I wish humans were colorblind.
204
00:15:00,055 --> 00:15:01,155
[sighs]
205
00:15:01,854 --> 00:15:04,082
Today, the present administration
206
00:15:05,539 --> 00:15:11,421
is constantly issuing new executive
orders, policies regarding immigration.
207
00:15:12,281 --> 00:15:14,851
Contrary to the spirit of America.
208
00:15:16,013 --> 00:15:23,528
Fortunately—now—we have the Southern
Poverty Law Center,
209
00:15:24,321 --> 00:15:26,283
the American Civil Liberties Union.
210
00:15:27,065 --> 00:15:31,209
We have so many groups and individuals
211
00:15:31,574 --> 00:15:36,566
supporting what really is of
true America.
212
00:15:36,866 --> 00:15:40,374
Something we didn't see in 1942.
213
00:15:41,772 --> 00:15:43,970
Will it happen again?
214
00:15:46,119 --> 00:15:47,930
Memory is short.
215
00:15:50,889 --> 00:15:54,325
No.
Not under the guise of military necessity.
216
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,104
So who's the biggest threat?
217
00:15:59,779 --> 00:16:06,433
Some suspect it will be the reporters and
producers of fake news.
218
00:16:06,433 --> 00:16:07,452
[laughs]
219
00:16:07,902 --> 00:16:10,063
It doesn't have to be an individual
or group.
220
00:16:10,540 --> 00:16:12,686
A national group, a racial group.
221
00:16:14,786 --> 00:16:17,189
It could be an occupation.
222
00:16:18,532 --> 00:16:22,828
The days of Walter Cronkite, the conscious
of America, are long gone.
223
00:16:24,282 --> 00:16:31,112
Now we have the internet, radio talk
show hosts, TV commentators.
224
00:16:32,420 --> 00:16:36,898
I'm grateful to be living here in
Santa Cruz county.
225
00:16:38,185 --> 00:16:40,797
The second most liberal county in
the nation.
226
00:16:43,031 --> 00:16:48,395
You know, if you know the history of Santa
Cruz city, it wasn't always that way.
227
00:16:49,102 --> 00:16:52,138
Yeah, minorities were not welcomed in
Santa Cruz.
228
00:16:53,586 --> 00:16:56,937
Growing up, I didn't come to
Santa Cruz very often.
229
00:16:59,525 --> 00:17:01,686
But that all changed.
230
00:17:02,107 --> 00:17:03,306
How?
231
00:17:03,832 --> 00:17:06,059
Thanks to Cabrillo College.
232
00:17:06,662 --> 00:17:12,786
And the University of Santa Cruz—
University of California, at Santa Cruz.
233
00:17:12,786 --> 00:17:14,820
The intelligentsia came.
234
00:17:15,725 --> 00:17:17,810
And it changed the whole county.
235
00:17:17,810 --> 00:17:22,403
Today, this is the most wonderful place
in the whole world to live.
236
00:17:22,667 --> 00:17:24,161
And I kid you not.
237
00:17:25,863 --> 00:17:27,660
Gordon Hirabayashi.
238
00:17:28,886 --> 00:17:31,352
He was a student at the
University of Washington.
239
00:17:31,538 --> 00:17:32,585
A Quaker.
240
00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,921
He was arrested, convicted, imprisoned.
241
00:17:39,306 --> 00:17:45,847
The prosecuting attorneys lied
to the judges.
242
00:17:48,774 --> 00:17:50,515
Yeah, he spent some time.
243
00:17:50,515 --> 00:17:52,812
Now, his conviction was vacated.
244
00:17:53,152 --> 00:17:54,858
Not overturned, vacated.
245
00:17:56,487 --> 00:18:02,019
Gordon Hirabayashi said:
"Ancestry is not a crime."
246
00:18:03,795 --> 00:18:09,054
Today we would add:
"Islam is not a crime."
247
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With our newfound energy, we have
a lot of work to do.
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You know those, gentlemen who live not
too far from Charlottesville, Virginia,
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at a place called Monticello.
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00:18:26,929 --> 00:18:28,178
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]