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MA: So you came back to Petaluma and started school. Can you tell me about the time you went on a picnic near the Russian River and what happened there? You told me a story about sort of encountering discrimination that one time.

IN: Oh, yes. That was when I was about three years old.

MA: Oh, you were younger. Okay.

IN: Very young. And we decided to go on an outing. And of course there was a beach near a bridge, river, bridge. And we decided to go there, because they had sort of a playland area, so we went there, but there again, we knew there was an understanding that we were not to mix. So we stayed in the background, we unpacked our lunch, put our little blanket right near the fence, which was adjacent to a bunch of gum grove trees, eucalyptus. And so we were having our lunch there, and a gentleman came. And to this day, his face, at three years old now, was as vivid, vivid to me as it is today. He was a man, about I'd say sixty. And I don't know what authority he had, but he came and he told us that we were still part of the beach area and he wanted us to move over the fence to the gum grove where there was no sand. And I forget what we did, I don't know. But I know at that time, fear clutched my heart. Didn't understand at the age of three, but I knew something was wrong. And I think, I know so, things like that, leave a very deep impression on a child. Never to be forgotten.

MA: Yes.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.