<Begin Segment 16>

FA: Did you ever think that you would be recognized for what you did in your lifetime?

JO: Well, I never thought that I'd be recognized by the Japanese American society. But, and I didn't really think that I would ever be recognized by any group anyway. So it's surprised that I have been. I actually, overall, I think that ordinary people are not recognized from a historical standpoint until fifty years after their death. And to really be recognized, I think it's going to take at least fifty years.

FA: You've had a hard life, Jimmie, because of your principles and your conscience. Was it worth it?

JO: Well, I think it's worth it. Indeed, I had a hard life, but I had a free conscience and I still believe in what I did and will continue to do so.

FA: Why is it that the community, Japanese American community still does not recognize, the whole broad community, recognize what you did?

JO: I think that goes, stems back to the, the cultural ancestry and what they have been taught. They, as much as they can brag about how Americanized that they are, I don't believe they are. In order to -- I think I'm far more advanced in Americanism than they are.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1990, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.