<Begin Segment 10>

JA: Earlier you spoke of the racial and ethnic tolerance in Spokane in the prewar days. How, how about currently? We've read about incidents at Gonzaga University and problems with the Democratic party and JACL, so, can you explain what the situation is now?

SK: Well, some of the situation that exists as we see it through the news media probably stems to, to the fact that we have today a lot of outsiders, people coming in, and say a generation ago, putting down their roots in and around Spokane, so that much of what we didn't see before, during pre-World War II days, we now see. And I think the fact that we have more so-called minority groups in Spokane that we never had before, automatically brings certain kinds or problems, human relations problems that never existed before. We have a sizable group of Korean, former Koreans residing in Spokane. We have some, quite a few Vietnamese. Others like that, with their own problems of adjustment. So I think periodically we would see some reflection of that in the news media. But it's not, it's not anything great. It's not anything insurmountable. It's not anything new. I think it's just a matter of taking one problem at a time and fleshing it out and solving it.

JA: So are you saying that the new residents of the Spokane area are having difficulty of not being treated as outsiders?

SK: No, I wouldn't say that at all. I think, I think it's just a matter of the new residents getting, getting their feet on the ground and learning how to live in a community where they have to send their children to American schools. And finding their niche in the local community, which takes time, time of adjustments. And a lot of people, you'll, you'll hear stories about, "Well, they should be speaking English and nothing else." Well that's not, that's easier said than done. Judging by our own examples that we faced, where even to this day, we have Issei in their eighties and nineties and over who don't speak English, who can't understand English. And it's beyond reasonable feeling that, that we should assume that they should be speaking English. Not at their age, not with their background. So it's just, just a matter of, of tolerance and understanding so that time will take care of all those problems.

TI: How would you compare what the newer immigrants are going through today with what the, the Japanese did?

SK: Very similar, very similar. Because some of the problems that we saw as youngsters before, say pre-World War II, we know the similar conditions that exist among other minorities coming and trying to establish themselves in around Spokane. Like the Korean segment, they're trying to create, estab-, I think they already have a church for themselves. As for our church, we have a Caucasian minister who finally, after years of being associated with us, finally can tell us apart and call us by our right names, in comparison to when he first arrived. Reverend Vaughn, V-a-u-g-h-n, couldn't tell one of us from, from another and he didn't know who, whom to talk to or, or how to run the very ethnic-type church which was the Highland Park United Methodist Church. Now, he takes the lead in making mochi, in making, in running the sukiyaki and the chicken teriyaki. All the functions and activities of the church, he's the leader. Unfortunately, he's being transferred sometime this year, finally. But in the meantime, he sent his daughter to Japan. He has another son in Ireland. 'Cause they originally, his forebearers are Irish, apparently, and he's gone down so that he has encouraged the participation and the transfer of many who belong to other churches who caught on to our way of life and our church, so they're transferring, you'll see all shades of color in our church. Highland Park Methodist Church. Among the, the, the lay-leaders, among the ushers, you might see two blondes participating. You might see the local lay-leader a Caucasian. We're all mixed.

TI: And this was a lot different than it was before the war...

SK: Before war, it was strictly...

TI: ...the Methodists, it was, it was all Japanese.

SK: That's right, yeah.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.