<Begin Segment 8>

HH: Getting back to the redress movement, I understand that much of your work had to be that of a lobbyist. Where did you get your training or orientation to be a lobbyist?

GU: Well, that's why I was talking about the time that I was helping the War Relocation Authority. That was the time that the only work that the Isseis and those of us who were looking for jobs could find were service jobs. Because other people who were doing those jobs would find better-paying war industry jobs, so that was what was left for the people who came out to these cities. And so it was a very, very difficult time, and I felt that I could tell the story. I went out and talked to church groups trying to get jobs for the new arrivals and to communicate what we have to do to get reestablished. Because by the time we were seeking redress, there were stories about the "quiet Japanese Americans" and how well they're doing. They're well-educated, nobody really knew the story about what an actual struggle it was.

HH: One of the things that you did when you were, more or less, living in Washington during the redress movement was you had to go visit a number of congressional offices. And there's a certain way of doing things in Washington, kind of a protocol. How did you learn that all that business?

GU: Well, I learned a lot from Mike Masaoka. I know that some of the younger, the Sanseis who had gone to follow him to be the Washington rep never called on Mike's experience. But remember way back, I told you I was so impressed with Mike, and that impression that I had of him remained with me. And so the first thing I did when I went to Washington was to call on Mike and told him that I would be looking to him to help me. And he also was very honest with me, and he said to me, "Grayce, you have to know that things are different from the time that I lobbied in Washington." He said, "The members of Congress at that time only had one secretary." He says, "It's a very different Washington today." You're not going to be able to talk with the members of Congress in all instances. You'll be talking with a staff person who's assigned to the issue." And so that made me feel better because if I never got to see the members of Congress unless I really sat their stubbornly and waited, and I couldn't afford that kind of time, Mike told me about the difference. But we knew that in our case we were representing one of the smallest minority groups in this country. And when we say we're looking for grassroots support, we weren't looking just to get our people mobilized. We had to find substitute Japanese Americans. We knew that that was going to be our strategy, so we had to reach out to all the other organizations established in Washington for a long time who were also there concerned about human and civil rights for their people and for their issues. So we turned to the two groups, and one was the human and civil rights group such as the Mexican American group, the Jewish organizations, the Jewish veterans and the Anti-Defamation League, et cetera. And they were very sensitive to our issue. They were our major supporters. Then we turned to the church group. The American Friends had a lobbying program, and the Methodists and the Presbyterians, and in the meantime, Japanese Americans are members of those churches. So those churches pass national resolutions, and then we could turn to their lobbyists so that it wasn't just Grayce Uyehara going to talk with the members of Congress in Washington.

But then through Mike, I had a lot of support from our Japanese American members of Congress, Senator Dan Inouye and Spark Matsunaga, and then Congressman Bob Matsui and Norman Mineta, and later on, Pat Saiki. These people were always helpful, and they always met with me. And if I had a problem, I could go to these real pros and ask them to give me direction. But the major issue, major way of setting up the lobbying, as I said, was through these organizations. So I met with the representatives from these organizations once a month.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.