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RB: Are there any specific stories around discrimination or prejudice that you felt during adolescence?

MA: I didn't feel there was a lot. Maybe an isolated instance once or twice, however I do remember there was this local swimming area. And when my parents arrived in 1945, 1946, this particular area did not allow Japanese Americans to attend their swimming area. And so when I was growing up, I was asking my mom, I said, "Hey, that's a nice area, can we go swimming there?" She said, "No, I don't think it would be nice. I mean, it would be good if you would go there." And I never really understood that until much, much later.

RB: Do you know if there were any formal segregation practices around this area?

MA: Against the Japanese Americans?

RB: For any groups in Seabrook.

MA: Well, I think that, yes, when I was growing up, it was the height of the racial tension back in the mid-'60s and there was clearly a black/white, I think, sensitivity. Even the high school that I attended in Bridgeton High School, I would say was forty percent Caucasian and forty percent African American, and the rest were minorities. And back during the, I guess the Civil Rights Movement, there was clashes between Caucasians and the African Americans, and it really was kind of an eye-opener for me. Because I had Black friends, I had white friends, and it was almost like, "Are you going to be up with them or with us?" So I was kind of torn in between, so I was kind of removed and not wanting to get engaged. But I did not feel that at that time it was really necessarily aimed at Japanese Americans, it was more of a Black/white issue.

RB: Do you remember any conversations in the Japanese American community at that time period around what was happening with the civil rights?

MA: I do recall there were some older Sansei or late Nisei that were in support of the Civil Rights Movement, and they went down to march in Washington, D.C. So there was an appreciation for what was going on, and I guess the social injustice that was happening to other minorities, especially to the Black communities and communities of color. But I do remember hearing people that were, I guess, politically aware and active, that they would make an effort to support the Civil Rights Movement.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2023 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.