<Begin Segment 19>

AI: Well, now, we're moving into 1943 at Heart Mountain. And at the same time that you're the editor of the Heart Mountain Sentinel newspaper, you're continuing writing your columns for the Pacific Citizen.

BH: Yes.

AI: And you had during this time a couple of columns that were rather hard-hitting, and I want to just read a short quotation. You wrote about the "California mind"...

BH: Yeah.

AI: ...being as bad or worse than Jim Crow.

BH: Yeah.

AI: And you also equated some United States' nativists with the fascist Nazi storm troopers. This, this seems to be a very strong statement to make. And I'm wondering how, if -- whether you saw your role as a journalist differently there at, in your column for the Pacific Citizen...

BH: Yes.

AI: ...because you're very outspoken.

BH: Yeah. Well, the nativists in California, it's true that they were bigoted fools, and they were filled with prejudice and hate, especially against the Asians, Orientals. And I felt that they were fair game to be attacked. We had to fight back. And the Pacific Citizen being published independently outside of the camps could be much more outspoken than the, the camp newspapers. Now, we were concerned mainly with what was going on in the camp, although we took note of what was going on in Washington or in Congress. But PC was in the business of defending the rights of Japanese Americans. And Larry Tajiri was the editor, and he put no restrictions on me. And many of the things he wrote were just as strong or perhaps even stronger than what I had written. And he was demonstrating what a "free press" means.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2001 Densho. All Rights Reserved.