Interviews

1. Japanese Language School

2. Mentality of Issei and Nisei

3. Treatment by Chinese students

4. Attempts to sign up for military service

5. Recruited for the National JACL Redress Committee

6. Criteria for who gets redress

7. Changing "reparations" to "redress"

8. Appointing John Tateishi as National JACL Redress Chair

9. Inouye’s strategy for educating the American public

10. JACL reaction to the idea of a commission

11. Redress clash between Senators Inouye and Hayakawa

12. Recalling President Carter’s signing of the Commission bill

13. Poignant story from the CWRIC hearing in San Francisco

14. John Tateishi plays a role in changing people's minds

15. The unheralded help from beyond the community

16. Legacy of redress

17. Different races have to live together and interact

Clifford Uyeda

(1917 - 2004) Political activist

Different races have to live together and interact

To me, the United States is sort of a microcosm of the world of tomorrow, where all different races would have to live together and interact, and be able to get along with each other. That’s exactly what the United States has to do, and that’s exactly what the world needs to do. Because you can’t say, I’m Japanese, you’re Chinese, we’re different, and then start keeping apart.

I could still remember so many other Asians who really came to fight for the Japanese American Redress Movement, and they didn’t have to. They were not getting anything out of it. But they really felt, on principle, that they need to be active in it, and I feel the same way about their concerns. And for that reason, I think the future of Japanese Americans is really no different than the future of any other ethnic group in the United States, and no different than, say, the nations in the world, because the whole idea is to get along.

communities ethnicity group identity Redress movement

Date: July 1-2, 1998

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Mitchell Maki, Darcie Iki

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

Interviewee Bio

Clifford Uyeda was born on January 14, 1917, into a family of oyster farmers in Olympia, Washington. Uyeda studied at the University of Wisconsin and from 1941 to 1945 attended Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans, LA. Uyeda went on to become a medical doctor in San Francisco, CA.

Uyeda became involved in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in 1960 when he served as San Francisco Chapter chair of the Issei Oral History Project. He helped in establishing the School of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and played an important role in restoring the U.S. citizenship and presidential pardon of Iva Toguri, also known as “Tokyo Rose.”

After retiring from medicine in 1975, Uyeda became a full-time activist. In 1977, Uyeda served as National JACL chair of the Japanese American Incarceration for Redress committee. He was elected to serve as president of National JACL from 1978 to 1980. Uyeda continued to serve the community in various roles until his death from cancer in 2004 at the age of 87. (April 11, 2008)

Explore More Videos

Interviewee

Tag

Keywords

George Ariyoshi

Ethnic diversity

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

James Hirabayashi

Christian gatherings in homes

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

James Hirabayashi

Not bringing shame to family

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

James Hirabayashi

Role of the Japanese American National Museum

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

Grayce Ritsu Kaneda Uyehara

Importance of education in achieving redress for incarceration

(1919-2014) Activist for civil rights and redress for World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Peggie Nishimura Bain

Learning American cooking

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

Art Shibayama

Denied redress as a Japanese Peruvian

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

Roger Shimomura

Japanese American community life

(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor

Roger Shimomura

Receiving a negative reaction from father upon asking about World War II experience

(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor

Frank Yamasaki

Thoughts on redress

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Kimi Wakabayashi

Her early life in Canada

(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931

Mitsuo Ito

Redress Movement in Canada

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

George Azumano

Downtown in Portland, Oregon

(b. 1918) Founder Azumano Travel

Kip Fulbeck

Lessons learned from The Hapa Project

(b. 1965) filmmaker and artist

Alfredo Kato

Peru Shimpo for the Nikkei community (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

Discover Nikkei Updates

SUMMER INTERNSHIP

Discover Nikkei is hosting a summer intern through the Nikkei Community Internship. College students, apply by April 4!

SUPPORT THE PROJECT

Discover Nikkei’s 20 for 20 campaign celebrates our first 20 years and jumpstarts our next 20. Learn more and donate!

PROJECT UPDATES

New Site Design
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!

Interviews

Watch more clips

Clifford Uyeda

Different races have to live together and interact

Explore More Videos

Discover Nikkei Updates