Interviews
Speaking out in camp
We got together with him and uh I think maybe four or five of us and we started talking with him and uh, he gave us a pretty good course on the Constitution and all the uh Roosevelt just looked at us like Oriental monkeys and uh that uh all our rights as citizens were stepped on within [inaudible]. So uh, well some of us felt the same way he did and as we organized he was uh deemed as a chairman of the Fair Play Committee. And uh, (clears throat) we held open public meetings in various camps uh various blocks of the camps. We were of course we were explaining what the government did was wrong and it was against the law and that uh we had no rights as citizens and did all this explaining, the information you know to the people and we had standing room only crowds at that time because the draft was a very important uh thing that was uh introduced into the camps.
Date: May 9, 2006
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Lisa Itagaki
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Explore More Videos
Reaction of Japanese American community toward draft resistance stance
(b. 1925) Draft resister
The role of the media in influencing people's opinions
(b. 1925) Draft resister
Reaction to a 1942 speech by Mike Masaoka, Japanese American Citizen League's National Secretary
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
Deciding whether to answer "yes-yes" on the loyalty questionnaire in order to leave camp
(b. 1925) Draft resister
Feeling angry upon reading of Supreme Court case, 'Korematsu v. United States'
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Is 'Korematsu v. United States' still a threat to American civil liberties?
(b. 1955) Lawyer
Role of the redress movement in helping Nisei to open up about their wartime experiences
(b. 1946) Lawyer
Not recognizing father after reunion at Crystal City, Texas
(1937 - 2021) Teacher
A child's memories of activities at Crystal City, Texas
(1937 - 2021) Teacher
Japanese American railroad workers are fired following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(b. 1923) Chick sexer
A racist encounter at a movie theater following the bombing of Pearl Harbor
(b. 1923) Chick sexer