<Begin Segment 16>

MN: Okay, so you went to Los Angeles, and then you went to Jefferson High -- Jefferson junior high, right?

JM: In Long Beach. I went to Foshay.

MN: Foshay, okay, I'm getting... Foshay, and then you went to Dorsey.

JM: I went to Dorsey.

MN: And this was in Crenshaw area. And now, you know, today, Dorsey is really black.

JM: Uh-huh.

MN: But in your time it's very different.

JM: It was really white. [Laughs] And we were like the beginning of the color seeping into the school and they didn't like it. You'd hear comments like, "Who let them in?" Or, "Here come the roaches," things like that. They ran the school, and they let it be known they just tolerated you. And I saw... and especially between blacks, there were a lot of racial fights that broke out. So it was, you know, the tension there was quite... it was a tense group. They kind of locked it down, you couldn't leave. I still had some fun. I played B football. I never got in a game, so a lot of my friends showed up one day in the stands, they kept yelling, "We want Jim. We want..." finally, my coach, "Who the hell is Jim?" "It's me, coach." "Get in there." So I go running into the game and the gun goes off and my friends went wild. The humiliation of finally getting into a game, and the gun going off and the game ending. Brother.

MN: So from Dorsey, though, you were transferred to Belmont.

JM: I transferred to Belmont.

MN: Now, did you go to Belmont because you were having problems at Dorsey?

JM: No, we just were, we moved because we had relatives that lived in the Virgil area, and they found a house for us. We were living in this back house, and they found an actual house, the rent was cheap. The Virgil area was a Japanese area. We moved over there, and I wound up going to Belmont. Belmont was totally different from... it was a compete mix of every ethnicity you could think of. And we all got along wonderfully with each other. We would all say, "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of Mexico." [Laughs] All the Mexican students would bust out laughing. The only two fights that I ever heard of was within, was between women. They were fighting over some guy. And every afternoon for lunch, at lunchtime, we would go across the street and light up our cigarettes with the coaches. Our coaches would be out there and our teachers would be out there. Of course, if you walked across the street, they'd get you for detention. As long as you walked down this side, we're fine and we're all lighting up and what have you.

MN: Is that where you first learned to smoke, or were you smoking way ahead of that?

JM: I think I was smoking ahead of that.

MN: What other bad habits were you picking up? Were you drinking?

JM: I never could hold my liquor too well, so I never did. You mean in high school?

MN: Yeah, Belmont. [Laughs]

JM: Not really. I was a, sort of a, I was a pretty good student. In fact, I sang with the Belmont glee club. We performed at the, as part of a large group at the Hollywood Bowl and places like that. We went all over. I had one of the few bass voices. I played on their B football team which were co-champions of the Eastern league with Poly High School. All my friends were sent to Jackson.

MN: Tell us what Jackson is.

JM: Jackson is a, nowadays they call it continuation schools, but they were worse than continuation schools. You either went to Jackson or Reis, and that was one step from being kicked out. And if you gave 'em any lip at Jackson or Reese, you were out of the whole, you were out of the school system. Permanently expelled. So all the kids on the east side that were dysfunctional or had an attitude or gave the school grief, they were sent to Jackson. And all the kids on the west side, south side, went to Jacob Reese. I'll never forget the time I saw a track meet with a guy from Reese, and he was smoking a joint right... [laughs]. He was coming around the corner with a roach in his mouth. I had to bust out laughing. "Damn," I said, "that Reese is really something." Can you imagine that? He's toking up and he's running, you know? Oh, man. I said, "Now I've seen it all." I remember seeing my cousin at Belmont, the first time I went to Belmont and he was walking along the roof. He's yelling down there, "Hey, Cuz, hey Cuz." "Wow, is that you?" I said, "What are you doing up there?" He says, "Oh, I don't feel like going to class." Of course, the next month, he was sent down to Jackson.

MN: Yeah, but you were caught smoking on campus, too, right, at Belmont?

JM: Yeah, so they, they put me in front of the student court or something like that. And they said, "Do you know what you're in here for?" I said, "Yeah, I was smoking." Said, "Well, what do you have to say to it?" I said, "Well, only thing I have to say is, 'Who do you think you are, passing judgment on me?'" I should have said, "Screw you," but I didn't. They said, "That's enough. Ten days in detention." I had to give him some lip, 'cause all my friends were going down to Jackson. I would have, it would have destroyed my image if I went in there and meekly took whatever they gave me, so I just gave 'em attitude.

MN: But you know what? In spite of your bad attitude, you were doing well in school, and you got this award. Tell us about this award.

JM: Well, I was one of the outstanding students of the business department. They picked two students, a senior and a under... either freshman or sophomore, and it was me and this white kid that were given the award. So academically, I was always able to do well.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.