Interviews
Different tension between East Coast and Los Angeles
Am I resentful for the way I was treated when I was a kid? I was bullied by one guy when I was in 5th and 6th grade. But, you know, several years later, when we were graduating high school, it was just obvious that he was a dick. And everyone knew he was a dick. So am I resentful? No.
Actually, most of the race conflict that I encountered was when I moved to Los Angeles. There’s like this kind of underlying hatred on the east coast between white and black, but in LA it’s everybody. Everybody hates everybody. So at that time… I don’t know because on the other hand, when I was in LA, it’s the gangs and stuff and the associations of the groups that you’re in, they’re not necessarily race-based out there. On the east coast, it’s all ghetto-ized, and there’s white areas and there’s black areas, and it’s very, very clear. Now, there’s Asian and Mexican areas. It’s all very clear. In LA, everyone’s so mixed up.
When I was in high school and I was hanging out with all these gangsters and stuff, the set is defined not by race but by the area that you live in. So I’m Gardena-Hawthorne. So they’re mostly Samoans and Filipinos and some Mexicans and a few Blacks and a few Asians. I guess my resentment was more towards the Japanese Americans than anyone else. I’ve always resented them more than anyone else growing up. I don’t understand it.
Date: September 12, 2003
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Interviewer: Art Nomura
Contributed by: Art Nomura, Finding Home.
Explore More Videos
Grandmother's influence on decision to go to Japan
(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.
A Possible Path towards Happiness… (Spanish)
(1958-2014) Former Bolivian Ambassador to Japan
Neighbors' sympathy after Pearl Harbor
(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement
Interest in Japanese migration studies (Japanese)
Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history
What is Nikkei? (Japanese)
Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history
Learning from Nikkei (Japanese)
Tsuda College President, researcher of Nikkei history
Japanese Canadians get the right to vote in 1949
(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.
Nickname
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Context affects meaning
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Memories of my infancy: Japanese 1, Japanese 2… (Spanish)
(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter
Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars
(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline
Mistreating the Japanese community (Spanish)
(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter
Discover Nikkei Updates
Be in our video celebrating Nikkei worldwide. Click to learn how to submit! Deadline extended to October 15!
Follow us @discovernikkei for new site content, program announcements, and more!