<Begin Segment 14>

MA: How common was it in the Twin Cities to have that happen at the time?

IO: Well, I don't know about Niseis, but I know that African Americans were having a lot of problems with it at the same time the incident happened. So the story in the paper's kind of jumbled up between the black family having a problem and I was having a problem. And as a result, I don't know. All I know is that there was a lot of confusion between the two stories, I think.

MA: Where did the Niseis live? Did they all live in one area, one neighborhood?

IO: Not that I know. They were all scattered, all in the Twin Cities area. But there were a fair amount in St. Louis Park, I guess. But I don't think they were all bunched up together, they're all scattered.

MA: After the newspaper published the story about your house, were most people sympathetic to you?

IO: Pardon me?

MA: Were most people sympathetic, the public?

IO: Yeah, 'cause there were a lot of letters to the editor writing about the pros for my side of the story, actually, instead of saying that they shouldn't sell it, they should sell it, they said. In fact, there were people who wrote in and said, "I'd be glad to have 'em as my next door neighbor."

MA: And after you moved into the Vincent Avenue house, you had no problems?

IO: No problem at all. We just didn't talk to 'em, that's all, and they didn't talk to us. In fact, they wouldn't talk. I tried to talk to 'em, but they wouldn't talk. They just ignored me. So I decided that I'll just forget about them, and never had a problem.

MA: And the man who was the agitator, worked with your brother, is that right?

IO: Yeah. But never talked to him, he wouldn't talk at all. His wife wouldn't for a long time, but then later on, later years, she did talk. But not, I mean, just casual conversation, not close like my next door neighbor on the south side, we were pretty close.

MA: And who was living with you? Was it your siblings or your parents?

IO: Oh, well, in Vincent Avenue, my father was already passed away, so my mother, my brother Ron, and my brother Don and myself, the rest were all gone. In fact, the rest of 'em were all married, yeah.

MA: When did your father pass away?

IO: 1952. I'm not sure exactly how, all I know is that he was on the way home, coming home from Japan on the ship. He either fell off or he jumped off, I don't know. I had no idea.

MA: But somehow he, it was during that trip, that boat ride?

IO: Trip coming back from Japan. All I know is the ship gave us a letter saying he disappeared, that's all.

MA: What was he doing in Japan?

IO: Visiting relatives. So he was already in his seventies, I don't know, seventy-eight, seventy-nine, I don't know exactly how old he was. But he went there and visited some of his relatives, and on the way back, that was it, disappeared.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.