<Begin Segment 11>

AI: And so you were, you were teaching. And what grades was that that you were teaching?

RC: I was teaching at Sacramento High School. I was teaching English and history. And the man (...) whose class I took on a long-term appointment was in the service and I took over his classes. And I don't know what was -- I think they were on a par, the Pearl Harbor situation and the day the Japanese American children were taken out of school. The tears just flowed. And I had five classes, two social studies and three English classes. That day it was goodbye. And the saddest day -- the next saddest day, I guess I should say -- was the next one. When I walked into my room and the first period class came in, to see all those vacant chairs. And the rest of the day, all five periods, vacant chairs. And the hugs and the kisses goodbye, and the tears the day before were there. Because these, these kids had started kindergarten together. Some of them, they were arm over each other's shoulder pals, you see. And it was hard.

AI: So, even though Pearl Harbor had been bombed and certainly in the newspapers there were probably some very negative --

RC: There were.

AI: -- anti-Japanese statements, it sounds like, in your school, there was quite a bit of warmth and caring about the Japanese Americans.

RC: There was, there was. Because we, we were not an isolated area where there might have been three or four families that could be exposed to anger and bitterness and fury or whatever you want to call (...). There was a goodly population in Sacramento. And when you start kindergarten with youngsters and you grow up with them, you don't see differences. You know, you're pals, you're buddies. And over the years I've heard stories, wonderful stories of neighbors who came to the aid of the Japanese families when the time came when they had to leave their homes. And some of them had magnificent collections, valuable collections. And they had neighbors who they could trust to take care of them. And they were there when they returned. It was too bad it didn't happen to every one of the Japanese families. I know some that did not have that kind of relationship for some reason or other. But I have friends in Sacramento that I have been in touch with for years that they wouldn't have wanted the families to lose those beautiful things. And they cared for them. And yet I had a neighbor whose parents were farmers, up in the foothills. They were fruit growers. And there were Japanese who were orchardists up there. And they told the Japanese men, "We'll harvest your crop, and we'll sell it, and we'll deposit the money in the bank for you, and we'll prune your trees, and as long as you're gone, why, we'll take care of your property." Some did, and some did not. (Some) came back (to dead) trees (that) just had to be plowed up. They were destroyed because they hadn't been cared for. So, it shows human weaknesses, that (there) were good neighbors, and (there) were bad neighbors. And the good neighbors, they'll get their reward, you know.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.