Entrevistas

1. Early Childhood

2. Camp as a Young Boy

3. “Something ominous in the background…”

4. On Joining the Marine Corps

5. Racial Antagonism in the Marine Corps

6. “I was never an exceptional student…”

7. Being 1 out of 4 Asians at Harvard Law School

8. Asian American Lawyers as Victims of “Overt Racial Discrimination”

9. “I could never get a job offer from a private law firm”

10. Being Denied as a Japanese American Lawyer

11. “The Best Seat in the Courthouse”

12. The First Japanese American on the U.S. Court of Appeals

13. On the Increase in Asian American Representation

14. The Intersection between Internment and Judgeship

15. Leaving a Legacy

Tashima,A. Wallace

(n. 1934) O Primeiro Nipo-Americano nomeado para o Tribunal de Apelações dos Estados Unidos

“I could never get a job offer from a private law firm”

I know when I got out of law school, well when I was still at Harvard, I remember interviewing for jobs, and nobody would hire me- none of the big firms. And one of the parts is, I talked to someone, “Well,” he said, “Well, we would like to hire you; your grades are pretty good, but our clients would never stand it.” So he said, “I’m sorry, I just can’t help you out.” I wanted to go into private practice, but I could never get a job offer from a private law firm. So it was quite apparent that the reason was racial discrimination. You see, this was of course before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which completely in the years after that changed the landscape on discrimination hiring. But in those days, it was okay and quite well accepted.

discriminação relações interpessoais Japonês Direito escritórios de advocacia advogados discriminação racial

Data: July 2, 2014

Localização Geográfica: California, US

Entrevistado: Sakura Kato

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Entrevistados

Nascido em Santa Maria, Califórnia, o juiz Atsushi Wallace Tashima foi o primeiro nipo-americano e terceiro asiático-americano na história a servir em um Tribunal de Apelações dos Estados Unidos. Ele nasceu de imigrantes isseis e passou três anos de sua infância no Poston War Relocation Center [campo de concentração de Poston], em Poston, Arizona. Quando Tashima entrou em seu primeiro ano na Harvard Law School em 1958, ele era um dos quatro únicos estudantes asiáticos-americanos em Harvard. No entanto, Tashima passou a conduzir 34 anos de carreira como juiz federal. Em 1980, Tashima foi nomeado para o Tribunal Distrital dos EUA pelo Distrito Central da Califórnia pelo presidente Carter. Depois de servir 15 anos no Tribunal Distrital dos EUA, o presidente Clinton promoveu Tashima ao Tribunal de Apelações dos EUA no Nono Circuito, que abrange os nove estados do oeste da Costa Oeste. Em 2004, Tashima assumiu o status sênior e atualmente está no Nono Circuito do Tribunal de Pasadena, em Pasadena, CA. (Agosto de 2014)