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Voiceover Narration: Between the years 1885 to 1924, over 300,000 Japanese immigrated
to Hawaii and the mainland United States to work as laborers in agriculture, fishing,
lumber and railroads. Many became successful, especially in farming. For example, by 1920
Japanese farmers harvested over 10 percent of the value of California's crops
by focusing on the labor intensive fruit, vegetable, and flower harvests. Often the
entire family would help.
MH: My typical day was really rough sometime, because I had to get up at five o'clock and
help Dad with all the harvesting or anything that has to be done in the morning shift.
I tried to get all that done for him, as much as I can being the oldest. And so I helped
him and get things ready. And then, then I have to go to school at eight o'clock, catch
the bus and go to school, and then sometime I would walk home because it's faster than
the bus. That bus made too many stops coming home so that's the reason sometime I walked
home and made a shortcut through every place and got home. And then, that way I could help
Dad more on his job because he's got a lot to do. And a lot of time in tomato season
we had to sort all those red tomatoes in the greenhouses and that's a night job. So we
had to all that tomatoes sorted, packed, and everything at night job. Then I got my homework
done at midnight, is what I did, but I got it done. And my dad used to drive the horse
in the middle of the night sometime, and I said, "How can the horse see?" He says, "Well
if the horse can see, I can see, so we can make it." So he used to cultivate the strawberries
at pitch dark nights with a lantern hanging on the cultivator, but they had to be done
for him to get all that work done.
Voiceover Narration: The success and growth of the Japanese community was met with prejudice
and an anti-Japanese movement. Congress passed laws in the 1700s and 1800s that made Asian
immigrants not eligible for U.S. citizenship. Furthermore states passed laws barring Asian
immigrants from owning land, which was especially difficult for Japanese farmers. And then in
1924, Congress halted all Japanese immigration
Voiceover Narration: Although immigration from Japan stopped, the community continued
to grow as children were born in the United States. By 1941 two thirds of Japanese Americans
were U.S. citizens by birth. However, this new generation continued to face discrimination.
It was common for Japanese Americans to be with their white friends and then be singled
out and denied entry to places like restaurants and swimming pools.
FY: I've had some horrendous experience, or shocking experience. I would forget that,
you know, there are moments that you forget that we are racially different. There was
one day that Tony and Vito and another fellow, it was hot, said, "Hey, let's go swimming.
The pool is right up here." Crystal Pool and we looked, at, it cost a dime so I said, "Hey,
that's a great idea." So here we go, we, it was only a couple of blocks from the Market,
so we went there and they paid and I'm in line and when they came to me, they said no.
They just, they didn't say, they just waved their hands and said, "Out." And it just caught
me by surprise. And the others, they were shocked. They didn't know, they couldn't understand,
but I understood right away what it was about. And they, they start arguing with them, with
the clerk there, or the cashier and at the same time I was already halfway down the block.