<Begin Segment 20>
TI: So how, how about housing? After the war, were Japanese Americans, did they start moving outside of the downtown area?
MA: Yes.
TI: And was that, was that difficult for Japanese to live in different neighborhoods?
MA: Yes. There were more real estate companies, more or less had a "color line." You can only buy houses up a certain street. First it was up around Seventh Avenue and Cowley, around there. And then a little later on, they extended that color line past Sherman and up to Fourteenth Avenue. And at that time, I was looking for a house, and I bought a house on Sheridan, which is one block west of the color line, and I was able get away from that color line. And from there on, they did away with that color line.
TI: Well, how, how did they enforce the color line? How did you know where that line was? I mean, what would happen?
MA: Well, your real estate says, "Well, you can't buy a house over there."
TI: And did people ever ask why or really want --
MA: No, they just said that's, that's as far as you can buy. You know that they're discriminating, but...
TI: Now, was this, you said "color line," was this true for Chinese, Korean, blacks and other people like that?
MA: I think so. Blacks, blacks and Orientals. But they were able to extend that after, oh, I think they, well, into the '60s they were able to do away with the color line. Like I was able to buy a house up on Thirty-ninth where I live now, that was in the '70s.
TI: Interesting.
MA: People didn't like us up there, but I got along real well with the people there.
TI: So when you moved in the '70s, you were one of the few sort of people of color to live up there?
MA: Uh-huh, yeah.
TI: Like Asian or black.
<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2006 Densho. All Rights Reserved.