<Begin Segment 18>

BF: And this is sort of breaking out of the chronological order we're going, but we're living at a time now where our country is again sort of...

AS: Yeah.

BF: ...I don't know if you'd call it at war, but...

AS: Government calls it "at war."

BF: Yeah. And there's all this heightened scrutiny now.

AS: Right.

BF: And sort of a different sort of... but in some ways, a lot of parallels between the treatment of people who look a certain way, look Middle Eastern. And I just wondered, as someone who's part of the Jewish community, and there's a long history of animosity between these groups and conflict, how, how do you feel about sort of some of the steps the country is taking currently in their battle against terrorism?

AS: Well, I certainly was very concerned about the profiling they were doing, and Middle Eastern men in particular, and some families... and actually, even here locally, I, now I can't remember, they seemed to have gone after people who, who had immigrated to this country and started, apparently, checking and visas and whatnot, whether they're here legally, or did they overstay. And what, the way they cracked down on some of those families in ways that I thought were really... it was not right. I mean, there's, if their family hadn't done any, there was no evidence that families connected with anything that's going on with the terrorists. This is just totally wrong.

So I was very sympathetic towards the, the Muslims here... and well, all over the country, but here locally, and when people were attacking some of the mosques, and really causing a lot of fear, I did volunteer to go to the -- well, I called, the Council of Churches was organizing people to go to mosques and other places where they might be needed, and so I called to volunteer and so they referred me to the Islamic school. And, and so I went there, would go there at a certain time, I can't remember, it was in the afternoon, and stay until the kids went, left school. And so the doors were locked, and so I would let people in. But I remember keeping my little cell phone close by, so if I, if there was anything that looked awry, I would be able to call 911 to come. But nothing ever happened, and so after... I don't know if I did it two weeks or so, they said, "It's okay. We appreciate what you've done, but it's not necessary." So things sort of settled down, but I've read enough in the newspapers that it's not done yet. It's still anyone who, I think, looks like they're Middle Eastern is subject to more scrutiny.

BF: And when, so when you volunteered to stand sentry at this, at this mosque --

AS: Oh, it was a school.

BF: It was, Islamic school?

AS: They did the prayers, but yeah, it was an Islamic school, not a mosque.

BF: Did any of, did anyone say, "Why are you doing this?"

AS: No. The parents would say, "Oh, thank you so much." They were very nice, very appreciative.

BF: What about in the Jewish community?

AS: Oh, I don't even know if I told anyone.

BF: Anyone knew?

AS: I would have. I mean, and I think people know that I'm very open, and very conscious about human rights and civil rights, and social issues and social injustices, and so I think, in fact, one person said to me, "You're even more, I guess socially, more concerned about social injustice, more active than your husband," who is quite active in all kinds of things. And that's not true, but I am more active. But certainly, the intensity of my concerns are, are very great.

BF: It does seem like you've, you've had a lifetime of being very, what would you call it? Politically conscious, socially conscious.

AS: Yeah.

BF: And I wonder if you've thought about where that came from, where that comes from.

AS: Well, I know that the Jewish religion does speak a lot about helping people who, you know, are more vulnerable, who are less fortunate, or that, you know, that there should be justice. And so I feel part of it came from that, and I felt it with my father, that he was, he had, also had a very strong sense of, of what is just and what isn't, and so I think, I don't know if there are genes for this or not. [Laughs]

BF: Right.

AS: But, but yeah, I notice things that, at a young age, that... and it stuck with me. I just felt it was terrible. I think I mentioned that before, that I, when they had the open housing, I don't know if it was initiative? Referendum? But I guess initiative, that I, that period of time, I volunteered to serve, I thought it was a committee, but there was only one person heading this. And so I would work with her and did it just as a job. And so I was so relieved when the, it finally passed. But you asked about, not everybody thought that was a good thing.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.