Densho Digital Archive - Ed Fujii Interview (denshovh-fed-01-0011)

<Begin Segment 11>

MH: What were your feelings about redress?

EF: Well, the amount might not have been sufficient, but we've been so humble. I think it was either that or better than nothing. So I kind of felt at least we got something for our crusade that we were on and being out, you know, evacuated and all those things. That alone was quite an ordeal as far as I was concerned, especially if you were a self-employed person like we were, you know, just had to get rid of stuff that you hate to get rid of because you just got it. That was hard.

MH: Is there any one regret you have about the redress? I think you mentioned it.

EF: Well, sorry the Issei didn't get the redress. They're the ones who should have got it. They're the ones that went through all this turmoil not being...

MH: Does that include your mom and dad?

EF: Yeah. Yeah. I thought they were good citizens. All Issei were good citizens. They didn't do anything against this country. They were hard workers. Yeah, that's my biggest regret, the Issei never were compensated.

MH: What contribution do you think the Niseis have made? You talked about the Isseis. How about the Niseis?

EF: Well, the Nisei came a long way. They had to pick it up from the Issei, and I think that was as far as I'm concerned the Nisei did great. They did great being, had to be of the, had to go evacuation and all that. Sure, Issei were there, but the Nisei were right alongside. As far as I'm concern, they went shoulder to shoulder with them, so they did great.

MH: What advice would you give to your children or to the young people in general right now?

EF: I don't think my kids got a racial barrier of any kind, so hey, they lived a life of being equal to anybody. They don't take a backseat to any person, and I think they've done well. They've done well. They assimilated into the atmosphere with no problem. Hey, they're doing great.

MH: So maybe you'd tell these young people the sky's the limit, huh?

EF: Yes, the sky's the limit. The sky's the limit for 'em. Hey, they had good teachers. They had good teachers, so they learned well. They had good teachers.