Densho Digital Archive
Frank Abe Collection
Title: Kats Kunitsugu - Paul Tsuneishi Interview
Narrators: Kats Kunitsugu, Paul Tsuneishi
Interviewer: Frank Abe (primary); Frank Chin (secondary)
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: August 22, 1995
Densho ID: denshovh-kkats_g-01-0007

<Begin Segment 7>

FC: As we look at the camp things, oh, this story is too complex. The Japanese Americans can't even agree amongst themselves what they should have done, there was this big split that is still there, they're never going to resolve it. What would happen, in your opinion, if the JACL said, "We made a few mistakes, we're sorry"? What do you think would happen if the JACL said that to Japanese Americans?

KK: I think they would gain more respect, certainly. You know, people have to realize that times change as Paul says, and it's no shame to admit you were wrong, because sometimes you are wrong, you know? [Laughs] I'm not always right. And I changed my mind on Vietnam. [Laughs] I tell you, when I look back on my life, it's not all shiny, whatchacallit. [Laughs] There are a lot of things I regret.

PT: But I think that question is particularly pressing for JACL because JACL claims to be a civil rights organization. And this issue of the resisters of conscience is a civil rights issue, and it ought needs to be addressed. We can, JACL as an organization will lose more support if it does not 'fess up and confess that they made an honest mistake. And that's really what it was. They honestly believed that it was in the best interest, our best interest to cooperate with the government, but in doing so they made the mistake of vilifying resisters of conscience, and actually...

KK: The pointing fingers at innocent people and so on.

PT: That's right, and actually driving, in the case of a supporter of theirs, James Omura, out of jobs and making him a pariah within the Japanese American community. That's the JACL legacy, and I'm a JACL member and I say we have to redress that within our own community.

FC: Are you JACL?

KK: I used to be. But I really don't see what I could give to JACL at this point and what it could do for me so I haven't been a member for more than ten years.

FC: How close do you feel to the Japanese American community these days?

KK: I feel very close. I mean, without the community I don't think I exist really because it is my home, my, where my heart is, and I just feel very comfortable in it and it's just a part of me.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1995, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.