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https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/627/

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.


discrimination Finding Home (film) identity interpersonal relations racism

Date: September 12, 2003

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Interviewer: Art Nomura

Contributed by: Art Nomura, Finding Home.

Interviewee Bio

Vince Ota, (Sansei on his mother’s side, Yonsei on his father’s), was born in New Hampshire. From there, he and his family lived in several cities throughout the United States and also lived in London before finally settling in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Growing up in a small town in Maryland, Vince did not have much contact with other Asian Americans, except during the summers he spent in Los Angeles with relatives. He describes his upbringing as “pretty White American.” Vince eventually moved to southern California where he attended community college and the California Institute of the Arts. He worked as a creative designer and lived in Los Angeles for seven years until moving to Japan. Vince has lived in Japan since 1996 and plans to stay. At the time of the interview, he was working as a creative designer. (September 12, 2003)

James Hirabayashi
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Nickname

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Not bringing shame to family

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Context affects meaning

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Past ties to present situation in Middle East

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Testing assumptions of Japanese scholars

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Steve Kaji
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FOB's

Hawaii born Nikkei living in Japan. English Teacher at YMCA.

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Barbara Kawakami
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Helping soldiers

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Barbara Kawakami
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Okinawan discrimination

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Didn't have rights that whites had

(1922–2014) Political and civil rights activist.

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Californians didn't know about evacuation

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Yuri Kochiyama
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The day Pearl Harbor was bombed

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Father as prisoner of war in hospital

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Patriotism versus loyalty

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Idealism before war, being red, white and blue

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Yuri Kochiyama
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Camp as a positive thing

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