Densho Digital Archive - George Yoshinaga Interview (denshovh-ygeorge

<Begin Segment 23>

AL: Speaking of your farm, did your family get anything out of the Japanese American Claims Act in the 1940s? I know there's one in the '40s right after the war, I think it's 1948?

GY: Well, the only thing we got was that 20,000 dollars that the government issued as a form of apology.

AL: So what was your perspective on that, the redress movement?

GY: Of course I can always use the money but I didn't think you could the price on that. There's no way you could put a price on what happened to us, you know, whether it was twenty dollars or 20,000 dollars. And then a lot of people that I thought should have gotten something didn't get it. 'Cause like my mother, I got a check for her that nobody ever in that position or deceased got the check from the government.

AL: What did you... I mean, when they were doing the commission hearing for instance, did you cover those in the paper? Were you involved at all when they did the Los Angeles hearings?

GY: No, I used to cover it but I wasn't there. One thing about the Japanese American community is that I'm not trying to be a, pose as some important part, but I've been doing this for over fifty years and I don't really get that except for when I come to something like this all the people come up to me and say, "I read your column." But I don't get the kind of recognition in the community that a lot of people that I always say, "Who in the heck is he?" They're being honored for this and honored for that, and that is one mentality of our community I think.

AL: Did any of the players in, like did you ever meet Lillian Baker?

GY: Yeah, she and I were completely opposite in thinking at many times but a lot things she said I agreed with her.

AL: Like could you give us examples of where you disagreed with her and where you agreed with her?

GY: Yeah, there's a lot of people... well, actually the majority disagreed with her, you know. So whenever they try to insult me and say, "Who do you think you are, another Baker?"

AL: What would you say to somebody that says that?

GY: I'd said, "Yeah, I cooked two breads this morning." [Laughs]

AL: Are you insulted if someone compares you to Lillian Baker?

GY: No, I just... there was a time when I first started, when people would write nasty things to me. It used to affect me but now I just laugh, especially when you have a computer and you get fifty emails a day. That's why I hate to... computer you can't turn it off. I mean it's connected, so when I come to Vegas for three, four days, when I get home it takes me hours to erase all the spam you know.

AL: What do you think it was though that drove Lillian Baker? Why do you... I mean, she was very you would say passionate or very committed or whatever.

GY: I think she was just trying to kick up some dust. I don't think that was really something she firmly believed in. I just thought that she wanted to be the target of people being anti or pro Lillian Baker. That was my feeling 'cause in talking to her, she didn't sound like she talked.

AL: Did she correspond with you at all?

GY: Yeah, I used to. That's why, well, everybody thought that we were buddies but we weren't, we just... something that happened down the line.

AL: So you didn't have any kind of social, I mean you wouldn't call her a friend.

GY: No.

AL: That's not the woman you were married to for fifty-six years? [Laughs] So I know that Sue Embrey, who was a friend of mine and talked about Lillian Baker used to mail her everything she ever wrote. She would mail to Sue and Sue would see the return address and mail it back and that went on for decades of Sue not opening Lillian Baker's mail. I know from having watched the commission hearings on tape, I think it was a Los Angeles hearing she, Lillian Baker, tried to read the statement from Dillon Myer who was still alive at the time, and she was booed and pretty much everybody got up and walked out, not everybody, but a large percentage of people were very angry. Were you there for any other that? Were you at the commission hearings?

GY: Yeah, I was a couple of times. But the thing is I think issues like this is like politics. You have people that favor Obama and people that are anti-Obama. And it's about the same situation, and I find that I don't know why, but the pro-Obama people never send me things about how they feel, but anti-Obama people, my gosh I get every day I get dozens of email picking things that he's doing or he's not doing. So when these issues come up I think it's almost parallel to each other.

AL: What did you feel when you got the letter of apology?

GY: Whose?

AL: When you got the letter from I assume George Bush, the apology letter from the government saying, "We can never right a wrong..."

GY: Yeah, well of course when you get money. [Laughs]

AL: You just cashed the check and went to Vegas? [Laughs]

GY: Yeah, I donated it to the California Hotel so they're happy. [Laughs]

AL: But did you --

GY: I was not for or against it. I just, I said if they succeed... fine. We all receive... but I didn't think as I said, I didn't think you could put a price on what happened.

AL: So what would you think would be an appropriate redress?

GY: Well, I think an apology would be sufficient because when you put a price on it and among my friends everybody is talking about, ooh, we're going to get money, you know. What does that mean? I mean, you can't put a price on something like that. That we were ripped out of our homes and I always, this evacuation issue I wish I was younger. I would really like to put my thoughts on paper, you know.

AL: I hope you do. You're younger than you think.

GY: At my age I'm having trouble filling one page twice a week.

AL: But you always fill it and it's usually about Las Vegas and bad jokes. [Laughs]