Densho Digital Archive - George Izumi Interview (denshovh-igeorge-01-0013)

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JA: Alisa -- before I forget -- Alisa had a couple of questions that go back a little bit. We talked about choosing the things you brought to camp. What was the most valuable thing you brought to camp, to you?

GI: To me, I think it is the record I took.

JA: Tell me about that.

GI: Well, I think it was a record by Benny Goodman, "Somebody Else is Taking My Place." That, that music really had a nice beat and I used to, I used to let the dance group use that to play at the dances in the mess hall, and I remember that distinctly. But aside from that I, I don't... of course, another thing in camp, too, I was able to trade somebody for a short-wave radio they had in camp, and I got that short-wave radio for my dad. And my dad somehow or other was able, we were able to get that so he can listen to Japan early in the morning.

JA: I thought you weren't supposed to have radios.

GI: Not supposed to, no, later on, this was later on, and he was able to get Japan on this short-wave radio.

JA: So why did you choose to bring records?

GI: Because I love dancing. I used to dance a lot when I was a kid, and music is just part of my life. I just love, you know, mostly all that modern music.

JA: Tell me about dances at Manzanar.

GI: Well, I can't remember too much about them. We went to dances in Manzanar, but I can sure remember going to a lot of dances before the war. We, we had, we went all over, we went to, like, a place down called Lick Pier down in Ocean Park, that's where all the Nisei used to go dancing. And a few other ballrooms, and another ballroom that comes into my mind was a, a ballroom up on Vermont. I think it was The Palomar up there. They wouldn't let any Japs in there. There were a lot of places that wouldn't allow Japanese Americans to go into. So you can see, you know, how, how well-off we are today because we eliminated all that, and we have to be -- I mean, that thing, those things just didn't come about by itself. It's because we proved that we were good Americans, we're loyal Americans. In fact, we were way ahead of the black people. I hate to say that, but we were. I mean, at one time I guess we were, just about hated just as much as the black people was, but because the Japanese Americans proved that they are good American citizens, we were allowed more freedom. I remember when we first came back from camp, when I got discharged from the army or after we were married, we lived on the Crenshaw area, and did you know that there was a border line where no Japanese can live past Crenshaw Boulevard? There was a limitation there. So then they eventually, the whole thing just opened up. So we had our limitations even after, even after the war. And they would, there's a lot of places where they wouldn't even sell, sell to a Japanese family because we looked like the Japs. But we proved that we were better Americans and now we can do what we want.