<Begin Segment 19>

AI: You know, I'm wondering, I wanted to bring this up to, more toward the present, and as far as historical events goes, of course, September 11, 2001, was one of those events.

WW: Yes.

AI: And some Japanese Americans I've spoken to said that, that event and the aftermath reminded them of what happened after Pearl Harbor was bombed. And I'm wondering what your, your thought was, what your reaction was after September 11th.

WW: I didn't connect September 11th with the incarceration. I mean, I just didn't think of it in that manner. I was just thinking more what, what else might happen in the future if something like that has happened on our own soil. Of course, it's the first time my -- of course, other than Pearl Harbor, something that has happened on our own soil, but I just didn't connect the two. I was just concerned that it might happen in more depth somewhere else at a time, undetermined time, really.

AI: And, of course, after, part of the aftermath was that there were some backlash against Arab Americans, people perceived to be Middle Eastern and Muslim.

WW: Right.

AI: And then, of course, we've had the Patriot Act legislation, and some treatment of detainees that, without due process of law.

WW: Right.

AI: And as you followed these events in the news, what's your thinking, tell me a little bit about your reaction to hearing about these things.

WW: Well, yeah. I mentioned that I didn't connect the two when it occurred, the two events: Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center. However, the aftermath is when I started to be a little apprehensive with what might happen to people of Middle Eastern descent after what had happened to us. That's when it did hit me, that we just hope that history doesn't repeat itself, and hope that people will be intelligent enough and compassionate enough not to let something like that happen again.

<End Segment 19> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.