<Begin Segment 7>

FK: [Reading] When I was in school, we started each day with the "Pledge of Allegiance" to the American flag. I studied American history and the Constitution of the United States, and believed that persons born in this country was free and had equal rights. I've always been a good American citizen, I was willing to defend my country before the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor in 1941. I had tried unsuccessfully to join, first, the National Guard, and then the United States Coast Guard. My Caucasian friends were accepted, but I was turned down. Later, I participated in defense work until the union forced me out without a reason. When the exclusion order was posted on telephone poles in 1942, I felt angry and hurt and confused about my future. I could not understand how the United States government could do this to American citizens without a hearing or a trial. It was not right that all Japanese Americans were interned while Americans of German or Italian descent were allowed to be free. For forty years, I have carried with me the remembrance of being treated like a criminal, and classified as an enemy alien of the United States, even though I was born in Oakland, California. I feel that as an American citizen, I did not do anything wrong. I have always felt that the United States Supreme Court's approval of putting American citizens into concentration camps on the basis of race is unforgivable and should be corrected. I wanted you to know that Japanese Americans are loyal American citizens, and obey the laws of the land.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1983, 2010 Densho and Steven Okazaki. All Rights Reserved.