<Begin Segment 18>

MN: Let me ask you about redress. When talks of redress came out, did you think that was possible?

TY: I didn't think it was possible, but I was supporting it, whatever. I remember when we went to one of the hearings in the state building, and there was this hakujin woman who was saying, "No, they don't need that because they were not put in concentration camps." And she went off like that and thought, oh, god, I'm glad I came to this, because now I could really see where we are up against the wall. So therefore I didn't think we were gonna get a lot of support for it, because here was this crazy hakujin woman who was making these remarks. But it passed anyway, which was good.

MN: Are you talking about Lillian Baker?

TY: I didn't say it. [Laughs]

MN: So you were there when she took that paper away from the veteran?

TY: Oh, yeah, I thought, "What is with this crazy woman?" And then of course, Sue, she used to have this, they would call into a station and go through that whole thing. I said, "Sue, why do you respond to her? All she does is upset you." I can't talk to her, she just has to do her thing. [Laughs]

MN: Were your parents alive to get redress?

TY: No, they didn't get redress. They passed away before.

MN: You know, you weren't at Manzanar, but would you like to see Poston be as preserved and built up as Manzanar is right now?

TY: Well, Poston has... if you're looking at stuff, buildings, 'cause they still have the school buildings there. Some of them crumbled, but they can be easily fixed, and they have a monument. Someone put that up there and I thought, "What is that?" It looked like a smokestack. That's what it looked like to me, I don't know what... they didn't consult me about it. Some San Francisco portion of the Manzanar people designed it, but whatever.

MN: Are you happy with how Manzanar is going now?

TY: Well, I think in a way I am, and other times I'm not. Because I think they're developing more of a... what, a... what? I'll pass on that. I was thinking that they were developing this hierarchy of people that you get to that and then who do you talk to afterwards? Who is it that you want to speak to? The guy who's in charge of the park portion of it now is a Japanese Hawaiian, so I don't know if that means anything or not, but it's the beginning of something. Because when there were hakujins in there, we could do terrible things to them. But we got a lot of the things that we needed through them, I don't know how much more we can possibly get. I know all these other people were going through the idea of building a national park or national... nani? Lot of that whole thing is... I guess one of the things that Rose also said is you can't say it's the same thing for every one of them. There has to be something unique about your wanting to get this designated. And I think that that's a thing that we forget. Oh, well, we'll just do another Manzanar. That's not it at all.

MN: I've asked all my questions, but is there other things you want to share with us that you want to add on to? Your life, Manzanar Committee or your gay and lesbian activities?

TY: I don't think so. I think I've done it all. Thank you very much.

MN: Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

<End Segment 18> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.