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AI: Well, I also noticed that in about 1975, you were a member of the Racism Committee of the Church Council of Greater Seattle and that they actually had a committee devoted to the issue of racism. And I'm wondering, how did that develop later within the church council and here locally in the Seattle area? What kinds of activities came out of that?

TI: Well, during that time, beginning of the civil rights revolution, questions were raised about the church and what they were doing or not doing. (We believed) interviewing the top administrators of the bishop level, the Baptists, archbishop of the Catholic Church and so on, we felt was vital to, for the Church Council of Greater Seattle (began a history). I had the good fortune anyway of referring a volunteer on that committee, and wanted to be vital role that we had.

AI: It seems that many of these issues of race were coming into, more and more into public consciousness, and at the time that you were conducting these activities in the church sphere, you were also active professionally among Social Workers Association. And I think it was in 1978 that you were president of the Asian American Social Workers Association in Western Washington. And also about that time, you worked as or acted as a consultant on affirmative action to the Social Workers Association. I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit.

TI: Yeah. I don't know how it came about, but I was appointed on a national commission within the National Association of Social Workers, composed of minorities across the country. And through that involvement, later I was hired as an affirmative action consultant. So there were about five of us that covered the United States, and we had about six states each. And we went -- I had like North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and so on, and Idaho, and even Hawaii. I visited those states and engaged them, challenging the professionals how inclusive it could be, responding to needs of Native Americans, could be other Asian Pacific Islanders in Hawaii. And so these kinds of unique opportunities came to me. And I had the good fortune of trying my best to bring a sense of equality within our professional body as well. And the struggle continues.

AI: So it's not finished.

TI: No.

<End Segment 2> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.