Densho Digital Archive - Hikoji Takeuchi Interview (denshovh-thikoji-01-0009)

<Begin Segment 9>

JA: Alisa mentioned something about a teacher that had taught you about being American.

HT: Oh, yes.

JA: Tell me.

HT: You know, the grammar school that I had attended used to be called the Amelia Street School. It was down by Alameda, by the gas tank building. Those old days we had two big huge gas tank, and it used to be by the gas tank there. And our teachers were real dedicated people that cared about kids. They used to bring in cheese, various type of cheese, and taught us the various types of cheese. This is the way it tastes; this is how it should be handled. She taught us a lot of things besides the three Rs. She taught us how to be human, and one thing that still is embedded in my head is she said, "One of the reasons why America, our country America is so strong is because no matter where the people had come from, they had one thought in mind. Though the faces and the colors may be different, in those days they never had to use the word 'minority.'" Mrs. McDougall, she used to be all white [gestures to hair] and glasses, she never raised her voice, but she knew... but we knew that she was the boss. She had control over the whole class at anytime. Never raised her voice, but very stern, but very kind. Said, "One thing that you must never forget, is this is the reason why America is so strong, because the people had, all had the same idea." She used to tell us that all the time. And the three Rs, she had a marvelous way of teaching things, too. She always taught in a way so that we kids can understand rather than 2 x 2 is 4, bang, bang, bang. No, she showed us why 2 and 2 is 4. She was one of those.

JA: What did she mean by all Americans having the same idea? What idea? Did she explain that?

HT: With me, this is the way I took it. She said that people had come from the foreign country and migrated to America, and it started off with the pilgrims. They hated what they had over there so they came over here, so we were taught, and they wanted to exercise what they believed in. No matter what happens, we may voice our opinion in a different way, but eventually, when you get to the nucleus of the subject, they all have the same idea, that they wanted to practice what they believed in. This is what I've always thought, that this is what she was trying to tell us: "Don't be worried about different colors and faces; we all have that one thought." She always said, "We were born over here, and we're all Americans. Don't ever forget that." This is Mrs. McDougall.

JA: And have you believed that ever since?

HT: Well, let's put it this way: if one is going to school, one goes to school to be taught, to be educated, so that no matter what it is, what your teacher tells you, the instructor tells you when you're a little kid, this is God speaking, this is what she wants you to believe. And when one is constantly told about these things, I think one will go on believing it, too. This is all we knew. And when you go to, when you go home, the folks, if you didn't behave and if you didn't learn anything in school, oh God, you're in trouble. The first thing they tell you is, "Why are you going to school for?" That's, we believed, we believed in what Mrs. McDougall was trying to teach us. This is all we knew. We didn't know anything else.