<Begin Segment 14>

LH: Okay Frank, how about your mom? Did your mom speak to you much about that time in Manzanar?

FK: No, I don't think, I don't think anybody spoke to anybody until we started this project and, and I think... whenever I talked to my mom about it, or ask her a question, she was very willing to talk about it. And I don't remember talking to my father that much about it. But neither of them probably ever brought it up, or started talking about it on their own. And I think that's probably true in most of the families here on the Island. In fact, some of the families still say, "We've never really talked about this with our kids, and we don't (like to) give interviews and, and talk about it," when they're asked questions. But I think that in most families, no one's, none of the adults have really sat down and talked about this experience with their kids. In fact, one of the, one of the guys said that his kids said, "You went through that?" So they didn't, didn't know that their, their parents actually had even gone through it, so...

LH: And this was a Sansei?

FK: Yeah. You mean as far as the kids or the...?

LH: Uh, the person, the man.

FK: Yeah, yeah. Let me see, no, he would have been a Nisei.

LH: A Nisei.

FK: And his kids would have been a Sansei, yeah, yeah.

LH: Do you think it's a cultural reason?

FK: To not talk about it? I don't know. I think that could probably be part of it. You know, you tend not, in the Japanese culture, you tend not to want to complain. And, and you want to gaman or be as strong as you could be and so forth. And I think that was an advantage, because it helped us, get us, get through this. But at the same time, I think the memories of that period of time are not a real, real positive one for most people, and very painful in a lot of cases. And, and I think it was hard for them to talk about this. In a lot of ways, it's shameful to a lot of people. That they were, that they were rounded up and put in sort of like a prison.

LH: In your view, what do you mean by shameful?

FK: I think it's like... being treated as a second class person and not as worthy as other people. To have your constitutional rights thrown away when no one else has... would make you think that you're being treated as a second class person and of less worth. And if you can't say to yourself, "There's a real reason for me being treated this way other than the way I look," then it becomes very hard. Because you have to say to yourself, first of all, that the... America isn't what I thought it was, because you're being treated for the way you were, just because of the way you look, because you look like an enemy and not because you really are. And I think when that happens, and it happens enough, then we -- if you try to, you're a little afraid of protesting because if you're turned down even more, it even -- it reinforces it even more, that, that you're a second class person. And I think after a while you could start believing that. And then, it becomes really difficult to have to bring this up again and have to go through the experience again of being treated less than you are. And I, so I think that's a real painful situation. And I don't know whether that has much to do with culture or because you're Japanese. I think, well, I think the, the newer generations of Japanese Americans, the kids are going to be more assertive... but at the same time, fear the situation where it seems like everybody is against you and no matter what you do the outcome's going to be the same. I think those are big odds to have to, to fight up against. And I think those are things you don't want to have happen to you again. So, it becomes really difficult to talk about it.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.