Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese Camp stories impact on her career Japanese American identity Importance of overcoming Asian American stereotypes Challenges faced by female judges Becoming first AA State Bar President in California Receiving support from Sonia Sotomayer to run for the bench Advice to young lawyers

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My grandfather was imprisoned and he was being pressured to agree to teach Naval officers Japanese, and he wouldn’t do it. He said apparently in part because he thought they were going to get him agree to do that, and then ship him back to Japan as a traitor… so, but at some point, he figured it can’t get any worse so he agreed to to teach, and so he taught in Colorado and my mother was able to move out and attend Boulder High School in Boulder and then went to the University of Colorado before she came back and graduated from Berkeley.

Date: July 11, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Kayla Tanaka
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Colorado grandfather language teaching World War II