<Begin Segment 20>

TI: Okay, so you were there for a year. And so how did you do in school there?

FD: Oh, I did well in school.

TI: And from your writings, I read that you actually were, in terms of academic achievement, like, number two in the whole school.

FD: Yeah, uh-uh.

TI: And so with many schools, at the end of the school year, when they do the graduation, they have the highest, the valedictorian speaking, and also the second person, the salutatorian, speak also. So what happened at Brecksville?

FD: Oh, they told me that my voice was too soft, that it probably couldn't be heard in the auditorium, and that therefore they were asking the next person to give the salutatorian speech. And since I was so shy and... well, it didn't occur to me that I could ask them to let me try out because I used to speak in front of the entire auditorium in junior high school. Brecksville High School consisted of only about three hundred students, but the junior high school had a thousand. And somehow I was able to make myself heard in the junior high school auditorium, so if they would let me at least try out in this auditorium, I think I could be heard. But then it didn't occur to me to say that because I was just so young and, well, unsure of myself, I guess.

TI: So the reason they gave was because you were so soft-spoken, wouldn't be heard. Do you think that was the reason why?

FD: Well, I suspected that it was because I didn't want to have a Japanese American up there, that is, having the honor.

TI: Do you recall anyone complaining about not letting you speak?

FD: Not that I know of.

TI: Like a teacher or someone, perhaps didn't think it was fair?

FD: I don't know if anyone did. And I was not assertive enough to say anything.

TI: But you were young and you didn't have your parents or other adults there to support you.

FD: Yeah, that's true.

TI: But it seemed like it would be a pretty difficult situation. How did you feel about not being able to speak?

FD: Well, I was disappointed and angry. And I was still unhappy about that, but of course there was nothing I could do.

TI: Have you ever considered maybe contacting the high school and just letting them know what happened?

FD: Well, by the time I thought of that, I think that the people responsible would have been long gone, so it would be of no use whatsoever to even attempt to...

TI: It's almost like for their school history they should be reminded what happened at their school. I mean, it's just a learning opportunity for their current student body, because oftentimes I think students think of issues of racism as being something someplace else. And for them to know the story would be, I think would be valuable for them. So maybe we'll send then a short clip or transcript of this so they can know what's happened. You mentioned also during the graduation ceremonies that perhaps there was a boy who also didn't like you or something?

FD: We were supposed to be arranged according to height, and the shortest... well, I was the shortest girl, of course, but the shortest boy said, supposedly said, I was told that he said that he "didn't want to walk with a Jap." And so another guy who was the next shortest, volunteered to walk with me.

TI: Now, how did you find this out?

FD: Because he told me?

TI: So, which, who told you?

FD: The second fellow, the second shortest. And so as I wrote in my story, that that spoiled the whole event for me. If he hadn't told me that this guy, the first guy, Martin, had said that he didn't want to walk with me. If I didn't know that, I would have been okay with not being a salutatorian. But then, well, it just hurt to have somebody say that he didn't want to walk with a "Jap," because I didn't consider myself a "Jap," I thought, "I'm American."

TI: So it feels like a really bittersweet ceremony for you as you sit there realizing you're not up there speaking, and that there was a boy who didn't want to speak, or walk with you because of your race. And you were kind of alone, too, because your parents were in Arizona and not able to celebrate your graduation.

FD: Uh-huh.

TI: I think about graduations today, high school graduations and how they're such a celebration and the whole family, and how alone you must have felt.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.