Interviews

1. Gained appreciation of his multiracial heritage through participation in Nisei Relays

2. Attending Japanese school

3. Making a speech in Japanese

4. Talking with Grandmother

5. Growing up and identity

Morton,Johnnie

(b.1971) Professional football player.

Talking with Grandmother

My grandmother used to baby-sit me when I was a little kid and we’d spend the whole day together she’d speak to me in Japanese and I’d speak to her in English and neither one of us had any idea what the other was saying but somehow we talked all day long.

families hapa languages racially mixed people

Date: February 7, 2000

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Johnnie James Morton, Jr. was born in Inglewood, CA in 1971, the son of an African American father and Japanese American mother. As a child, he attended Saturday Japanese school in Gardena for three years. Growing up in Torrance, California, he graduated from the University of Southern California after a distinguished career as a student athlete on the Trojan football team.

Morton is a twelve-year veteran in the National Football League and currently plays wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. He has done some modeling and acting work, including an appearance playing himself in the film Jerry Maguire. (August 10, 2005)