<Begin Segment 22>

BF: When you look, when you look back now, and you think about what redress hoped to accomplish... I guess I should ask you, what do you think, when you first got involved, what do you think the goals were for redress?

WM: You mean at the commission level? Or what level?

BF: Um, more on a personal level. Like what would you hope that redress would accomplish?

WM: Well, redress would hopefully accomplish as a reminder to the nation and our people -- when I say our people, our Americans -- what happened. I mean, why is the government paying? Those who do not know anything about what happened in 1942 -- would learn. And the long-range goal, that the government would not do this again to other peoples, other people within our midst, because of race, creed, color, whatever.

BF: And looking back, kind of being retrospective, do you think it accomplished that?

WM: I hope so. I hope so. I can't say that it has accomplished it. It has educated a lot of people, including the Nikkei, by the way. But whether the country will, the nation will have learned a lesson -- I'm not sure. I'll have to wait and see.

BF: I guess the same question, or a similar question would be, do you think it could happen again?

WM: Yes. Yes. If you don't watch your guard, it will happen again.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.