<Begin Segment 21>

FA: What did you think?

JO: Well, actually, what I thought was that an apology alone was insufficient. And just to the "no-no" boy, I thought it was for, for all dissents, and I think a apology is in order by the, by the JACL to the Japanese American community. And I was in favor that they at least make that gesture because of the gulf of misunderstanding or feelings that exist in the Japanese American community, which is not healthy.

FA: They would say that you created that gulf with your editorials.

JO: I don't believe... you know, that's the strange thing. I don't believe the editorial created anything. The situation was there; I merely took a position. The situation was created, actually, by the government, and if you want to blame somebody you have to blame the government.

FA: That's what they say. But then they also say that you blame them and it's not right for you to blame them.

JO: I blame the JACL for the policy they took in which they had no regard for the community's opinion, they were telling you, telling us, "We think this is what you should do, and this is what you're going to do." They were telling us; they weren't asking anything, people with opinions weren't allowed to express their views or listen, be listened to. And this is the problem.

FA: Mike Masaoka says, "We were young then, we were just teenagers almost. You can't really blame us, for we were so young and immature, we did the best we could."

JO: I wouldn't agree with that. Masaoka was twenty-five years, he was probably the youngest of leadership. The rest were in their thirties and forties, and I think, and I was nearly thirty and I felt qualified to express my opinion. I felt that the JACL or do feel today that they were mostly at least a few years older than I am and that's sufficient for anyone. They weren't teenagers. They're lumping everything together. The large majority of the Niseis were teenagers, but leadership isn't composed of the great masses. It's composed by just a few leaders, a small group, always. And the small group that controlled the JACL were in their thirties and forties.

FA: You saw the tape of Cressey Nakagawa, he says, "This thing is being kept alive in the newspapers." You and I are both are putting those things in the newspapers, quoting secondhand sources... but Cressey is saying this should just die, we should just let it die. It's so long ago.

JO: Whoever is guilty want the thing to be put to rest. They are not -- but it will die. A good chance that it will die if they apologize to the community and render some sort of a... well, what do you call that? Acknowledgement beyond words.

FA: But wait a minute, San Diego last August, they passed a resolution saying that they apologize to the -- they acknowledge the loyalty of the draft resisters.

JO: That's one small group. But if I were the draft resisters... you see, there's a different status between the draft resisters and some other peoples who were personally injured like myself. And those who have been injured are not going to, to be satisfied with some rhetoric. We want to see something like the United States government... if the United States government says, "I apologize to the Japanese American community," I don't think I would be satisfied or anybody else would be satisfied. These are only words. The reparation makes it credible. And I think the JACL do likewise.

FA: Again, the resolution acknowledges, an act to heal wartime wounds. They passed a resolution to heal wartime wounds. Isn't that enough?

JO: Well, if I, as I read the resolution, it didn't, it made the situation worse, not better. Because they didn't acknowledge anything; they defended themselves. And I think that is a very tragic mistake on their part.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 1990, 2005 Frank Abe and Densho. All Rights Reserved.