Densho Digital Archive - Sachiye Okamoto - Miho Shiroishi Interview (denshovh-osachiye

<Begin Segment 24>

KL: How did you and your husband eventually find a place to rent?

MS: We finally had to, after several months, have to go to a motel, and took up housekeeping there, because neither one of us wanted to go with the other one to his house or my house. Every day after work we'd go searching for an apartment, and they'd tell us things like, "Well, it's okay with me, but we have veterans here, and, you know, they wouldn't like it." As if we had anything to do with it. And actually, my husband went to Korea when he was in the army. In fact, they were the first unit (to go), when the Korean War started, because he was (stationed in Japan).

KL: What is his name?

MS: Robert. That was... you know, we have, there was a lot of prejudice after the war. One of the things when I was in camp at Manzanar is that we used to go out into the firebreaks and watch movies. They put a great big screen. And so I kept thinking all the time I was in camp that I would like to sit in the soft, comfortable movie theater, so that's what I did when I... the first time I had a chance, I got on the bus and went to downtown Long Beach and ran into the first theater. Well, it turned out to be an all-news theater, but it was still nice sitting. Coming back (on the bus), people would... you know, you're standing because there are no seats, people would, you could feel the pressure on you, like when the bus is jerking, to get you down on the floor, you could feel the little push with their elbows or whatever. You know, things like that. Although I was just twelve or thirteen, it just went on like that for a long, long time, even after I had my first child.

KL: When was that?

MS: I got married in '53, and (Gary) was born '54. We went to, near Pier Point Landing, Pacific Landing, and I couldn't believe this, because a lot of Japanese fishermen were going out of that landing by that time. And yet, when we went to, they were having some kind of a carnival there in the parking lot, so we took my son, who's like (two years) old, and there was a clown giving balloons out to kids, so everybody was lined up. When it came to, my husband was carrying the baby, and we were, the three of us were in front of the clown, he had the nerve to go around us (and give a balloon) to the child (behind us), until he went down the line. There were people standing on both sides (watching). And one of the ladies, (a mother) with a child (...), the girl had two balloons, so she told the girl to give my son a balloon, and that's how we got (one). Now, something like that, it (wasn't against us), but my kid, that really hurt (...). Because I was used to it, you know, I was used to that kind of treatment, so it was hard (when directed at my child). Anyway, I just cried and cried (later) to think that something... sorry. [Cries] But I did call the Landing and told them, I said, "It's okay with all these Japanese fishermen going on your all-day boat? (...) But why do you have a clown that's there for the children to give..." I thought that was terrible. But I just never forgot that. That was my first (hate) experience with (my child and it was more than I could bear).

KL: When did you notice a change? Did it just kind of gradually become better treatment?

SO: As far as with people?

KL: How people, how Caucasians or African Americans or non-Japanese American people treated you.

SO: It was after the Fair Housing Act passed.

MS: Well, maybe the Civil Liberties. When was that?

SO: I believe...

MS: Wasn't that in the '50s?

SO: No.

KL: The Civil Rights Act was in the '60s.

MS: '60s? I'm sure that helped.

SO: But as far as they could not refuse to sell you a place, that's, I believe it was in the '60s also.

KL: I used to know, but I don't remember the date.

SO: We bought a house in Los Alamitos, California, in 1961. And at that time, they didn't have that law passed. And so the only way you could buy a house in an all-white, or, not in the ghetto, the only way you could buy a house was if the owner sold it to you. And that's how we bought our house. It seems like it was a couple of years after that that this Fair Housing Act passed, which made it nice for, they couldn't refuse you.