<Begin Segment 7>

TI: What about the reaction in the Japanese community, after it became public knowledge? Did you or your parents receive any correspondence or calls?

GH: Well, my parents, were very concerned about -- more than what they thought -- you know when they reflected on it, they, their concerns weren't all that important. They were, they were, they were worried about the possibility of success in the marriage because you're living in society. And it depended how we were able to cope with this and to what extent society would extend itself in the long run to a wider base. And so their concern was to explain it as positively as they, as she -- and it was my mother doing most of this 'cause my father's fairly quiet, and if he's in face-to-face conversation he would express it. But writing letters and that sort of thing, she left, he left it to her, who was in public much more articulate. She, the product of her effort to explain to her friends, was selling herself. She, in the process convinced herself, and then she could sincerely, I mean she wasn't doing this to make her case stronger, but she found herself, in preparing to make the answers to completely endorse the thing, removing all the questions. I mean the questions are there, but removing all the pitfalls that people can do before they move ahead. I mean, if we have to remove every pitfall, nothing would happen. There would be no marriages. There would be no careers. So...

TI: So while your mother was doing this, was there a sense that there were people who were questioning it, and...

GH: Yes, yes.

TI: ...and she had to...?

GH: It wasn't just listening to her story, it's back and forth, back and forth. And she's understanding the questions because those were the questions she initially had. And then the more she thought about it, and the more she got acquainted with the, well, with me, getting to know me as a kind of an adult ready for marriage discussion, that was a growing up experience they had to face, too. They always used to think of me as, well a young fellow, he's getting older, facing a job and that sort of thing. But you know, facing life, that's a, marriage, that's different.

But, and when I delivered the truck to Minidoka, she made sure that I contacted one of their closest friend, Mr. Katsuno, who was our neighbor at the Christian co-op farm that they had lived most of their occupational lives in. And he listened, he talked, but he wasn't -- he was more, at the beginning, raising certain questions as a ploy, I think it was a ploy. She said, "These young people do all kinds of things. I wanted, I wanted Gordon to get the benefit of your advice," and so on. "So I made sure that he would see you and this topic would come up, because I know you have your experience and wisdom to share that would be appreciated by him. And speak frankly for him, to him." And he, he raised the usual questions. And so we had some discussions on that. But he seemed, he seemed sort of resigned. I mean this was not a question he was going to face with the intent of being a major obstacle to the event. So I noticed that he didn't, he wasn't enthusiastically taking an opposition position.

TI: I wasn't quite sure when you mentioned a ploy. A ploy by, what you meant by that. You said this...

GH: Well, if I used it when I was talking about my parents?

TI: Right, and having you talk with Mr. Katsuno.

GH: Well, instead of doing all the arguing for me...

TI: I see, okay.

GH: ...she's giving him the chance to come out with it and raise the questions. And, 'cause he should face reality sooner or later, and sooner the better for his, for their future.

AI: Would you say that the major questions raised by your mother and Mr. Katsuno were similar to the kinds of questions that were raised by Mrs. Schmoe and Esther's family?

GH: Fundamentally yes, but I think some particulars at least, because of the language -- you know, I can't talk, for an Issei to talk fully, freely with their vocabulary, because I don't understand the big words that they might use. So that limits them. But the questions of what about the children, you know that sort of thing, I don't think it came up. That is a fundamental question and to be able to see that question in its full role, every parent faces that question. It's a serious question that they should answer. And for people -- interfaith marriage, interracial marriage, international marriage -- people facing other kinds of bridges in their relationship have those bridges in addition to the basic question. It's not this bridge as being the major thing. It's one of the things they have to handle, along with others. There are more fundamental other questions that need to be answered first of all, for marriage, in all marriages, that ought to be answered. So that -- and I think they, you know, I'm somebody that's been in courts and so on, and they're looking at somebody behind the bars, I mean barbed wires -- they're at a disadvantage of talking with effective weapons [Laughs] to slow this down. I think, I think my parents wanted, wanted them to be allies, and wanted them to be informed, and taken into their confidence and so on. So that we could have them as friends ourselves.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.