Densho Digital Archive - Rose Tanaka Interview (denshovh-trose

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AL: This is Alisa Lynch with Rose Tanaka, tape four of an oral history interview on August 9, 2011. We're talking about your career and your kids. And I know that you have done some educational talks, shared your story with young people today, and that's also what we try to do at Manzanar. And so I'm curious, from your perspective, when we think of Manzanar ten years from now, fifty years from now... you know, the National Parks, Yellowstone was created in 1872. I mean, Manzanar will be around for a long, long time, long after all of us. And so these interviews, I always like to ask people, what would you want people to know? If they didn't know you, any of the Nisei, what do you think it's most important that people know about Manzanar and the impact it had on your life and your community?

RT: Well, Manzanar taught me a lot; it was a great learning experience. I know that it is looked upon as a huge injustice on a large population of people that the evacuation occurred, and that they relocated... in a sense, it was targeting one ethnic group of people. But I've come to the conclusion, after many, many years, that we must learn from our history, and we must learn that history can teach us how to care for one another. I think back to the gift of how I got out of Manzanar, and I think about all the people who have helped me in my life, and how I tried to impress on my children to do public service. And this world has to care for each other, and I'm interested in world affairs, we worked through the... I think about what happened and then I compare it to what happened to the Civil War, I think about what happened to the Native Americans who were here in this country before the European population came, what we do to each other, and I see that it is still continuing. But I see the corrections that take place also. I think about people who have worked on correcting injustice, whether it was by marching with the Martin Luther King parade every year in Denver, I march with the Martin Luther King, we call it the "Marade" march/parade, "Marade." So we always march in the Martin Luther King "marade." My daughter, who was going through the civil rights period also as a college student, she went to Washington to demonstrate. My son, Paul, tried to help the Cesar Chavez period. So I like to work with young people to let them know that despite terrible times that happen, terrible things that happen, despite the things that happen, where you see cruelty or injustice to one another, that this country stands for doing the right thing. We have a constitution, we can choose to interpret it in different ways, but I think the basic thing is that if we are one people, one humanity, and even the people who wrote the Constitution were only thinking in terms of white people, that they are beginning to understand that this is a world population, that we have to take care of all people. So if we are going to correct the problems, we each have to vote. One of my big projects I've always been involved in is the League of Women Voters, because we believe in voting, but also being informed voters. And I try to practice that. And so if this is a true democracy, everybody has to participate and try to correct the things that are wrong with this society. And so that's one thing, having gone through the Manzanar and the evacuation experience only brought it home to me, helped me, educated me to the need for everyone doing what is good for each other. And I think it's important. I see the corrections that take place, people think these things happen, and how cruel people are.

And I speak to classes, I tell them I wouldn't be doing this anymore except that... because it's all behind me, I'm fine now, I've survived. But I said, you see something like 9/11 happen, and the hatred that came up against Muslims in our country, and we had to protect the Muslim women to go grocery shopping afterwards. We had to form circles around their mosques to prevent the rest of the population from attacking the mosque. These people were not responsible for 9/11, but there is all kinds of hatred in the world, and somewhere we have to try to correct the injustices that occur. And I speak to college students and I say to them that, "You're the future of this country and the world," and I'm pleased to see correction, because I see people who are of all different races in the classes now that weren't there fifteen years ago. The classes were for more privileged kids, but now we're trying to include everybody, and so I think inclusiveness and the correction, and it takes work on the part of everyone. It's not going to be perfect, but if we're going to have a true society that helps improve, we must all work on it.

AL: Well, I can't think of any better way to conclude. I just wanted to ask if there are any other things that people wanted to ask about before we conclude?

RT: We have to keep learning. [Laughs] We have to keep learning to do better.

AL: Well, Rose, on behalf of the National Park Service, especially all of us at Manzanar, just want to thank you, we all do, for the memories that you shared and the story. And hopefully, in years to come, all of us can look and learn, so I really appreciate all of the time you've shared with us and your willingness to talk to us.

RT: Thank you for listening.