Densho Digital Archive - Joan Ritchie Doi Interview (denshovh-djoan-01-0004)

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RD: Okay, let's go back to the camp for a second. Do you keep in touch with anybody that you knew in camp?

JD: Do I keep in touch with anyone I knew in camp? You know, you kind of forget whether you know 'em from camp. No, I don't believe I do.

RD: And then what happened, how did your parents rebuild their lives afterwards and what did they tell you about it? Because I remember a lot of Japanese families that were all Japanese -- not that your father was... he was half, but still -- that said just the Japanese expression for "it can't be helped"?

JD: Well, I guess maybe it was a little easier for my mom because my dad went out from the camps to, and they found these trailer camps to put people in, so they had somewhere to move to. And I remember first we moved to Santa Monica, and I don't remember what kind of home we lived in there. And then once the trailer courts were set up, then we moved into the trailer court. So we had that little advantage because my dad was one that went out looking for places for other people.

RD: Was he allowed to leave the camp more than others?

JD: Yes, he was. If someone was ill, say, one of our friends was born deaf, he was able to go to Chicago and find a home for them, a school to go to. So he was able to go in and out of camp.

RD: Did he not look Japanese?

JD: I guess he did. Definitely mixed. You'll see the pictures of him.

RD: We'll see. And finally, I find it interesting that there is such a lack of bitterness about people, or is it, do you think, that you just managed to suppress it all, or did you really not feel angry?

JD: You know, I don't think I'm angry. I think I'm more upset, because I feel like I'm insecure, I wish I could be more outgoing. I think in that way, it's upsetting.

RD: What do you think would happen if the American government tried to do it to today's young Japanese people?

JD: Never happen, I do not believe. The younger generation, our children, there would be no way they would go.

RD: And why do you think it's important for them to know all of us that we're talking about?

JD: So that it doesn't happen to anyone, actually, whether Japanese, Muslim, whatever, it shouldn't happen to anybody else.

RD: Oh, that's right. And when you came out of camp, did you feel like you had an increase in discrimination or racism from people on the street?

JD: I think we were... I'm not sure on the street, but I think that's why I became uncomfortable again to meet these people. Not that I think anybody, my classmates were intentional or anything like that, but I think it was all my insecurities.