<Begin Segment 9>

TI: Okay, so, now, John, because of the time, I'm going to jump way ahead.

JT: Okay.

TI: Because you actually just finished a key part that I wanted. The next part is actually post-signing. I mean, it's really a reflection of what redress really means to our country and the community. And so you have to really switch gears here now. But just now, looking back, reflecting, what does redress mean?

JT: You know, in terms of the country, of what we accomplished and what we did for America, it has a huge implication. Much, I think much more than any of us even envisioned as we were doing this. But it was, it was an achievement that had these various ramifications for the future. The Nisei all along said, "This isn't for us, this is for the future." And I think they were in some ways... you know, they understood how this could happen again, even though we all never thought there was a possibility that it could happen again. I think what it means for the country is that we've played a part, the Japanese American community has played a part in strengthening the Constitution and ensuring that no other group in America ever experiences anything like what we had to go through. Post 9/11 tells you that it had an impact. That it was, it was guidepost, a moral guidepost for members of Congress in my conversations with hundreds of them after 9/11, of what was right and what was wrong. That in 1942, the government had no evidence. It was just this feeling that we weren't, we couldn't be trusted, and that we were a danger to the security of the United States. Post 9/11, the words were being echoed again, that we have terrorists among us. Yeah, we do, of course. But we don't know who they are, and you can't indict an entire class of people simply because you think they might do something. That's now America works, that's not how or justice system is set up. So I think what we did is insure the safety of this country for the future. And I think without realizing it and without taking credit for it, it was a magnificent thing that we really gave to the country. And it was the entire Japanese American community.

TI: Talk about redress as it affected the community. What was the impact on the Japanese American community?

JT: Yeah, the impact on the community was enormous. For one, it forced the Nisei to finally shed their fears of talking about it. It was difficult for them; it was awful for the Nisei to have to talk about their personal experiences, to be confronted with the truth. But even more so, to be confronted with the pain, the wounds that never heal. I'd like to think it was catharsis, and I do think it was in a sense because now, where the Nisei wouldn't talk about their experiences, now you can't get them to shut up about it. I mean, they want to talk about it, it's important for them to do so. And so I think for the community, it's been really healthy to have gone through this whole process. As difficult and at times as ugly and as painful as it was, but it's done something for us as a community. And it's made us realize that we have a place in America. That this is indeed where we belong, and we have a right to be here.

TI: Great, well done.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.