<Begin Segment 22>

MA: So in Chicago during that time when you were there, did you see, like, the sort of segregation of African Americans and whites and Japanese Americans?

GH: No, there was no segregation, I didn't think there was segregation, but there were, you could see, you could feel --

MA: Right, not, sort of, institutional, but sort of a...

GH: You could feel the bigotry, you know, you could feel it. And some people, some you don't, but some you do. And I used to -- I don't know why I had a chip on my shoulder -- my mother used to tell me, "You shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that." And I would get on the bus, and people, you know how they stare. And we're not used to that here. People stare at us.

MA: These are white folks?

GH: Yeah, they would just stare. And you know, they don't realize that we're human, and you don't go staring at people. I mean, it's very rude to stare. So I would outstare them, and I would just sit there and outstare them. I'd come home and tell my mother and she goes, "Why do you do that? You shouldn't do that." I said, "Well, they shouldn't stare, too. They shouldn't stare in the first place. They're so rude." Oh, I couldn't stand it. Whenever I see somebody staring at me, I used to stare them back. But that's what they used to do, and that really, really got to me. Because, you know, it's rude, huh, to stare. I mean, why are they staring? I used to wonder, "Why are they staring?" [Laughs] They don't know what I am or they don't like it because I'm there or what? And so anyway, that was kind of a game with me. Whenever I saw anybody stare, I stared them back.

But in working, we used to -- I was killing time, too, because I knew I was coming back in about a year to get married. And so we just did all kinds of jobs in an office, more in line with bookkeeping. So I was working here and there, different places. And so far, there was only one place where I didn't like the supervisor. I just felt that the way she treated me, I sensed it. But you know, sometimes we were a little touchy and a little sensitive about it. But I felt, that's the only time I felt it. But any other place, the old, old days before, they always say, "Japanese people are so reliable, they're so nice, good employees, they're hard workers." And sure enough, you want to live up to that. So everywhere we go, they always love to have you. And all my supervisors, if I should quit, I said, "I'm leaving and I just want to give you notice," and she would say, "Oh, please." And this one woman, she was so nice to me, it was a huge company and I didn't want to be in a huge company. So I said, "No, I think I'm going to go and work for a smaller company, I'm not used to this." She said, "Oh, but I can move you into another smaller department." She was trying to find me someplace to go to, you know, and practically begging me to stay, and I said, "No." Finally, I made up my mind I'm leaving. And so I eventually worked for a smaller company. And this man was so nice. He was with the Shriners group. And years later -- we kept in touch -- and years later, they came to visit in Hawaii and he came to visit me. So we took them around. So imagine that. I never thought I would be seeing them again. And then when I went back to Chicago years later, I went to visit them and they had us over for dinner, so it was nice. So there were some nice people. Some good friends we made.

MA: Is that where your family ended up settling permanently, was Chicago?

GH: Then they moved to California. Everybody moved to California, so eventually, he had to move. He had this huge apartment building that he had to sell, so he couldn't move, he sold it. So they all moved over, and everybody went to California. So he was about the last one to move.

MA: But you moved back to Hawaii?

GH: Oh, I came back here to get married way back. So I've been living in Hawaii all this time.

MA: And you're the only one left from your family, right, who's still here?

GH: Uh-huh. Because the one, the other sister who came back went back a few years later. She and her husband went back to Chicago to live there. So I was the only one here. All these years, I'm the only one here. [Laughs] So I have to just visit them all the time.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.