<Begin Segment 21>

[Ed. note: This transcript has been edited by the narrator]

TI: Okay. Just going back to Broadway High School, you said, like, a quarter of the student body was Asian. What was the rest of the student body, what was the makeup of it?

SA: Well, they were coming in from Broadmoor, (the wealthier Caucasians and also the Japanese, Chinese, with ethnic background differences), and so we had a wide variety, I think from homes that were poor and middle to, I'm sure, the ones who had money.

TI: Okay, so mostly white, then, the other...

SA: Yes, I would say, (mostly white, others probably Hispanics, a few African Americans).

TI: I'm thinking, about this time, again, people are starting to date in high school. Did your parents talk to you about, that you were Japanese, or were there certain expectations of you because you were Japanese? Do you ever recall a conversation?

SA: No, I don't think, you know, nothing of that sort ever came up because that era, the boys and the girls really stayed far apart. If you even held hands, that was considered really an awful thing to see in public, so you can imagine it was an era.

TI: So any --

SA: People didn't date, I don't think. Eighteen, nineteen. Now they're out there at twelve. [Laughs] It's a big change.

TI: So any memories from Broadway that you recall? Anything that stands out in your mind?

SA: Well, I thought again, the student body got along very well. You see, it was a melting pot theory we grew up under. This is one subject that I love because it turned into this multicultural bit, and now we've got all these differences. They're even teaching Spanish and things on the east side in some schools from kindergarten on. Well, in that day, this melting pot theory was that all the immigrants should get into a pot and assimilate, and you churn out the product and everybody's (Americans, speaking English), which I think has a lot of merit. It keeps you united, and it keeps America on track. And it's when this cultural thing started, you know, where you bring in (your different backgrounds, ancestries), where we went, after school was over, after our basics are in to study, now we're interrupted with this multicultural bit, so you know, they come in with their kids and you have African American Day, (Native Americans, etcetera). When I was at Bailey, in the library, I used to wonder (if it's wise), and I taught most of the reading and some language arts (to those) they'd rotate (...) to me, (having trouble with English).

TI: So you're talking about later on when you were a teacher.

SA: But I noticed, this is it, they said to send in the ones that were blacks, because (it was) African American Day, or African Day. And I'd say, "How do I know which are black?" And then we had a Native American (Day), we called them, we didn't call them that then, Indians. And so I said, "How do I know, 'cause the blacks tell me they're part Indian?" So I asked one of the black teachers, "How do I know?" And she said if they have red in their hair, they're partially Indian. So gosh, a lot of 'em slipped through, I don't know what (ancestry) they were, but they wanted to get out of classroom, of course, so they said they're part Indian so they'd go into the cafeteria and make little crafts and things and have a great time. But you know, it gets rather complicated. I've always felt, and I read this in a London paper, they felt the same way, some teachers that were (in England said,) "If they're going to do these things, they better do 'em after school. There's enough interruptions in the (school) day, because the boys go out in sixth grade for patrol duty, and we have cafeteria helpers and they're all going (out of the class), it's hard for a teacher to teach. And then they wanted me teaching "health for the boys and girls as they grew," because I was an "ex-nurse," (and) had a nursing background. I really think these things could be done after school.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.