<Begin Segment 16>

SF: What was your reaction when that woman -- I guess it's Lillian Baker -- said --

AH: That's the one. Lillian Baker.

SF: "This just didn't occur. Look what you did over... look what the Japanese did with American..."

AH: Yeah, I just feel she's ignorant. She is ignorant. She doesn't know. And she doesn't want to know. She's got her mind just blocked out completely.

[Interruption]

SF: Is there anything that you'd like to add?

AH: I think I spoke my piece, quite a bit. We covered a lot of phases of what had happened. I would like to say that this is my own, my own feeling. I'm not speaking for any group. But I feel a lot more comfortable now, speaking up about how I feel. Without keeping myself quiet. I have not spoken to a Japanese group, as such. The first time that this happened was at a last retreat for the Buddhist Church. We had it up there in Camp Houston and our Minister, he's white, and he, since the retreat was held on Memorial Day he wanted to do something in connection with the Memorial Day, the military, and all that. And he asked me, if he spoke, if I would speak with him. It turned out that he was a conscientious objector. And he learned about my experiences. So I couldn't very well say, "No." And so, it was predominantly a Japanese group. And I spoke of what I did, I told them this is a very difficult subject for me to speak. And I had no negative responses, but I did have two or three positive responses that they appreciated me speaking to them so candidly about what happened, and so I don't know what the reaction from the rest of them was. There was veterans there, and everything. But I think they all are at this point where they're not going to fire up a controversy. Like I mentioned once before, the only one that remains now is JACL, and the group that wants to have the "no-no" boys share... shared in the wartime occurrences of the Niseis and those that say no, they are not eligible for being a part of JACL's controversy. And that's still to be settled.

LH: I understand that the JACL was instrumental in the redress movement, and that... what are your feelings about that?

AH: Well, I think they did the right thing. Really, there is no other organization that will represent the Japanese. Whether they're as a U.S. citizen or as a Asian. It has a very strong voice now in the government. I always felt that you had to have some backing. And whether they shared the same point of view as you do or not, I think JACL is doing a fairly decent job. They're having all kind of controversies about it. Most people feel like they supported the government evacuation order. But I feel that they did the right thing -- only thing that could be done at that time to make it comfortable for the Japanese people. If they had made an issue of it, I don't know what would have happened. So, I think they did the right thing. I know I participated in a lot of redress committee meetings, and not much of a help, but... I think it all started in Seattle, a lot of this redress movement, and gained the national support.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.