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AI: Well, you mentioned that much of the town there was of German ancestry.

WW: Yes.

AI: And I'm wondering, how, as you got a little bit older and made friends, what, did you get some sense of what their German American culture was like?

WW: Well, I, I never thought of it that way, really, and it didn't appear to me as though, although they are of German ancestry, they, I didn't see any difference in them as opposed to any other ethnic group, really.

AI: So then as you were getting older, and going into high school, at that point, what was your kind of sense of yourself? Because by then, you and your family had been living there quite some time, now you're in high school, kind of -- and in high school, of course, it's a time when most kids want to fit in.

WW: Right, right.

AI: And, and be accepted. So what was your situation? Did you feel that you were fitting in?

WW: I felt that I fit in, fit in quite well. Of course, I wanted to be like them, and, of course, obviously I couldn't be in all, all manners, of course. So that I had kind of mixed feelings there, wanting to be like them and assimilate with them, however, being physically different than them made it, at times, somewhat difficult. To them, perhaps, they couldn't sense anything, but I, myself, I could sense it.

AI: Were there, during your high school years, were there other ethnic or racial minorities in your school?

WW: No, I was the only one. Certainly all of 'em were all Caucasian, they all looked alike, and I was the only different person, so to speak. There might have been a few that were of Mexican heritage, however, they, I didn't look at them as being any different than the others. I just realized that I was a little bit more different than the rest of 'em.

AI: And did you ever feel that was, put you at a disadvantage in any way?

WW: I didn't feel like it put me at a disadvantage, 'course, academically, it had no bearing whatsoever. Only thing there is I tried to do better than them, because of, perhaps, maybe things that were instilled in me at home.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.