Densho Digital Repository
Seattle JACL Oral History Collection
Title: Ray Ishii Interview
Narrator: Ray Ishii
Interviewers: Ana Tanaka, Joy Misako St. Germain
Date: April 21, 2022
Densho ID: ddr-sjacl-2-41-3

<Begin Segment 3>

AT: So earlier, you mentioned the I-200 initiative. And so I was just wondering if, really quickly, you could clarify what that was, and like, what the intention was behind that initiative?

RI: If I remember correctly, this was an effort to end affirmative action in Washington state, and in the hiring and contracting and all that the governments could do. I can't remember if it also filtered over to, you know, like college admissions and things like that, but there was a strong, there was a strong sentiment, right, that the affirmative action programs and some of the activities to lift up communities that have been traditionally downtrodden and oppressed, that that was in itself discrimination. And so it really galvanized a lot of folks, not just within JACL, but I know Karen Yoshitomi, who was the regional director then, she sponsored and I remember, hired an intern, Mary... let's see. Mary Tran Tien, who was a tremendous community organizer, and did a lot to organize within the API community around opposing these initiatives. And so really, it was a kind of a galvanizing issue at least among a certain part. I think there was still resistance from some folks in our community, which is natural, not everybody's going to agree to everything. But yeah, at least for that year, it was important that we start addressing issues, not necessarily directly impacting... well, it does impact the Japanese American community, but that has a broader impact. So...

AT: Right, yeah.

<End Segment 3> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.