<Begin Segment 18>

MN: Well, what do you think about redress and the government actually apologizing and giving compensation?

TS: Well, I think it's a good thing and -- I don't think we got as we should have, but it's, like you say, it's better than nothing. And I'm glad they did it. It took a hell of a long time. My sister died before she ever saw that day and half of the other people died. But it's, it's kind of late in coming, but it's a positive thing. I knew I worked on the redress project. And when you think about it, the people who, who, there were a lot of people said, "You guys are off your ass. You're causing us embarrassment to ask for money." And I always said, "You don't think you're worth it?" Think of your self esteem. Somebody screws you and you're gonna say, "That's okay. You violated me, you ripped me off, but it's okay"? I mean, what the, how could anybody have one iota of self respect when you don't say, "Hey, you know something, you dented my car. Goddamn it, you're pay for the repairs of this." But to say, "No, no, no, I'll pay for this. It was your goddamn fault, but I'll pay for your mistake." I say fuck you. Jesus Christ, how many screws... you don't have to be a brain surgeon to know the Constitution and what it stands for, and they put us through a goddamn camp and umpteen years later they're gonna give you twenty thousand dollars in apologies and you're gonna say, "No, no, we don't want it." I haven't heard of one person yet who said -- and there were people who said, "I will never accept it." I haven't heard of one motherfucker yet that said, "I don't want the money." They, they got the money. We, they fought us tooth and nail for fighting for the money, but when the money comes they're out there like everybody else. But I think it was a good thing because it proved in some way that we deserve, we deserved a good thing. Then you're gonna violate us, you're gonna pay, goddamn it, because we're worth it. You're not gonna shit all over me and say, "Oh, I'm sorry," and I say, "Oh, yeah, forget it." Fuck you. So I kinda feel like in a lot of ways it was, it was a way for a lot of Nikkei to feel like, "Maybe I was, I was acknowledged as a human being," that you just can't do anything you want and we just say shikata ga nai and blah blah blah, just not be compensated.

I tell you, I just sued a Japanese orchard. I went there and, a year ago, and there was this dog following me around, a little cute white dog and he came next to me and was leaning against me leg, so I went to, to pet it and it bit the hell out of me, that little son of a bitch. And it took off running and I said, goddamn, my hand was bleeding like hell and it hurt like hell. So the owner ran in the house and brought me some peroxide and a Band-Aid, and I washed it off and, and I thought, Jesus Christ. And then somebody told me, "Toru, there's a sign in one of those barns over there that says do not pet the dog." Well, half an hour later I was in the other end of the orchard and the husband was out there. He said, and that same dog was hanging around. I thought, is that the same dog that just bit me? And he said, he said to the group that was gathering, "I understand that somebody got bit." I said, "I did." And he says, "Oh." He never said, "Oh, I'm sorry." He said, "Oh, my dog bit my daughter last week," as if, hey, it's a common occurrence, no big deal. And, and as we were talking, the dog was sitting in front of this elderly woman standing about ten feet away and it's lookin' up at this woman. The woman just started to pet -- "Hey," I said, "Careful, he'll bite you." And the owner said the same thing. I thought, these people don't give a shit. They're Japanese, we're Japanese, they have a dangerous dog that just bit the hell out of me, the guy never apologized. He didn't put the dog away and it almost bit another woman.

So when we got back, almost a year went by. I never heard a goddamn thing from them. And the people who organized this trip, JASEB in Berkeley, the woman who was in charge, I asked her, I said, "Hey, Vicky, did these people tell you that they had a dog that bites?" And she said, "No, but I saw the sign on the tree," she said. I said, "Well, did you tell everybody on the bus?" "No." And I thought, Jesus Christ. Here she's getting paid to look after us, she sees this sign on the tree that none of us saw and she's not gonna warn us? I get bit. She never once said, "Hey Toru, how are you doing?" They're with that couple up there, never called back, said, hey, how is that old guy doing that got the hell bit out of him by my dog, blood spurting all over the place. So almost a year went by. And I thought to myself -- and then the people on the bus said, "Boy, they're, they're lucky that Toru's not a hakujin." And I said, "Why?" "Because if you were a hakujin you would've sued them." So I thought about that and I said, yeah, you're right. If you're a hakujin you know your rights and you know that if you're damaged you should be compensated. But a Jap? "Fuck you. So my dog bit you? Tough luck. I'm not gonna apologize. I'm not gonna recognize, I'm not gonna acknowledge your wound. I don't give a shit about you." And I thought to myself, you know, I couldn't face myself in the mirror if I went along with this. I am a lesser than a hakujin. I know goddamn well if a hakujin got bitten under these circumstances they would sue, too. So I said, you know something, I couldn't live with myself. And I know there are certain Japanese who think, "That fuckin' Toru sued JASEB?" Fuckin' right I did.

I called my lawyer. I said, "I want, I want a thousand dollars for my injury," which is the minimum. My god, my lawyer got this letter to me, said, "They apologized, Toru. Here's your thousand dollars." And I said, thank you very much. [Laughs] Because I believe that I'm fuckin' worth it. You're not gonna shit on me and say -- but they never even said, "I'm sorry." They never said how they, if my dog bit somebody I would say, "My goodness, how are you doing? I feel so terrible my goddamn dog bit you. I'm so sorry." Zero. And to me it just goes to show you that if you're Japanese you're a piece of shit and you don't deserve the time of day. You don't deserve to be compensated, acknowledged for you damages. No. "Fuck you, go away. I don't want to, don't bother me with your --" I said, hey, they're gonna remember me, goddamn it, because I ain't takin' that shit from them or anybody else. But the fact that they were Japanese, I was, I felt kind of, maybe if I do this they're gonna say, "Toru..." I said let them say whatever the hell they want to say. At least I can look myself in the mirror and say, "Hey, this is one Jap that you're not gonna fuck over, because if you do there are gonna be consequences." It's not gonna be, oh well, can't be helped. Shikata ga nai. Fuck you. Not me, goddamn it. And I'm so damn proud. [Laughs] I'm proud as hell I stood up for myself. So maybe the therapy's working. Who knows?

MN: Just for the record, JASEB is Japanese American, is it Social Service of East Bay?

TS: Japanese, Japanese Service, Japanese American Services for the East Bay. They just changed their names, but that's what it was when I sued them. And I'm proud as hell. And I know goddamn well there are people gonna say, "That son of a bitch. Why would you sue?" Hey, I didn't, I didn't give a shit if it was a black, white or a purple organization. I'm not, I don't deserve, I didn't ask for pain and suffering. I didn't ask for my dog to go and bite them. All they could do is say "I'm sorry" and give me some money. That's, when you speed they charge you money for it. That's the penalty for it. That's the penalty. And when you, you injure somebody, the only way they could compensate me is money, but if I didn't stand up for it I guess I'm saying I'm not worth it. I mean, it's bullshit. I'm worth, actually, a lot more money. But they're lucky I just asked for a thousand bucks. But it was kind of a token thing. It was, it was a moral victory of kind. You ain't gonna fuck over me and have me say, "Oh fuck, Toru, Toru doesn't mean shit. You can do whatever you want to him. He'll never stand up for himself. He's a piece of shit and whatever he gets he deserves." Well, they learned different, man. You'll never forget me. And JASEB ain't gonna forget me either, and I think that's a feather in my cap. They're gonna know that you ain't gonna cast me aside and say, oh well, blah blah blah. No way.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.