<Begin Segment 39>

DG: What... I want to just talk about what the best parts of like living in America and earlier we were discussing about how things have changed as far as welfare goes and things. So let's talk about both the best parts and the worst parts as far as how things have changed. One of the things that you were saying is that it really bothers you to see these people taking welfare now.

FN: Yeah it does, it really does. Because when you think of our parents coming through all those years, you know? Really struggling to just keep alive and never thinking of receiving anything from anyone. And then when you see all this welfare business, oh, I think that's just terrible. And they expect so much nowadays, don't they? You know, much more than they're getting.

DG: What about this country as a whole, is --

FN: The what?

DG: Are you, are you glad you're an American?

FN: Well I always have been because I've never thought of anything else. I've never thought of...

DG: Even if they did the terrible thing to you like incarcerating you and...

FN: Well no. As I mentioned. To all of us, Japanese, no matter who we were, we had to, we had to go and so. I think maybe we were too obedient in our ways. We didn't protest nothing even the, the people that had a little influence, they didn't either.

DG: Would, do you think you would protest more now if you had to do it over again?

FN: Well I'm quite sure that the, the fourth generation would never allow a thing like that to happen? Do you think? I don't.

DG: I don't know.

FN: I don't think they would ever, no.

DG: Would you, yourself?

FN: Myself?

DG: Would you say more?

FN: What, feel that if they did that?

DG: Protest more?

FN: Oh, maybe now I would feel it. We have, we have our right, more rights than that. We respect, we expect to be treated like everyone else as we are. We...

DG: Well do you think it was good that everyone was obedient?

FN: Huh?

DG: Do you think that it's good that everyone was obedient?

FN: Was what?

DG: Obedient. You said that maybe we were a little bit too obedient.

FN: Well in a sense I think that.

DG: You think.

FN: Well in those days no one protested. And the, you read the, the Japanese Citizen nowadays, you read that and it says well the Japanese were just, were, we just all thought there was no use protesting. What's the use. Just the, just those very few you remember. But in these days, I don't know. I think that people would be a little more, you know.

<End Segment 39> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.