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His time in wyoming. The library of congress is the host of this event. Welcome to the eskin family. To all of you, the eskins who are so generous to make this program possible. Marsha, barney, and lee. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. And welcome to all our young visitors from Washington Area schools. So nice to have you here. And welcome, of course, to the cspan audience that is will be watching this in the future. Who among you has never been in this library . Okay. Quite a few of you. Well, in the event you havent been in this building before, welcome to the Worlds Largest library. The greatest and most extensive Cultural Institution on the planet. The nations very own, your very own library of congress. It was founded in 1800, not long after the founding of this country. It was conceived as a place that would furnish congress and the American Government with the information it needed as it carried out its duties of representing all of us. Initially the library was housed in the u. S. Capitol which sits right across the street from here. I hope you saw it when you arrived. In 1813 the british army invaded washington and the Capitol Building caught fire and it was engulfed in flames and so all the librarys books were burned to ashes. Well, expresident thomas jefferson, who owned the largest collection of books in the country at the time, there were almost 7,000 volumes sitting in his house, offered to sell his books to the u. S. Government to refill the librarys shelves. Congress jumped at that chance and now you can see jeffersons own books, those original volumes, sitting at the very heart of this building. Since the arrival of those books, 6487 of them to be exact, the library has grown to house more than 100 million publications and objects in over 450 languages. The shelves on which these items sit measure 833 miles. Thats a very long shelf of books going from, say, right where youre sitting all the way down the street, across town, down the beltway, down route 95 all the way to miami. It is the single most thorough collection of holdings in the world. So its fitting that]i  youree in these grand american halls to hear the story of a very inspiring american, a man whose childhood was robbed from him at a time of war and yet a boy whose resilience, strength of spirit and income to minable sense of justice led him to use that difficult time in his life to learn what he needed to learn to make sure no one else suffered what he suffered ever again. His name is Norman Mineta. He was born in say jose, california, and he enjoyed ten years of a happy childhood before he and the population of 120,000 more japaneseamericans like him were taken from their homes and held prisoner in internment camps around the country. It was because the United States was at war with japan but it had little to do with them. They were americans. He took that experience and turned it into something good. Convinced that he wanted to make this country a better place for others, he went into politics. He became the mayor of the city, a congressman representing his state, a champion for asianamericans, a soldier, a leader in one of americas most innovative companies, and then he was chosen by president s of different Political Parties to be members of their candidates. He became the United States secretary of commerce and then the United States secretary of transportation. His story is a lesson to us all. Its a model on how to turn adversity into something positive, something that contributes to the wellbeing of us all. Here to tell you that story is the author of a wonderful new book about secretary minetas childhood. She is Andrea Warren and her book is called enemy child. Here to relay some of his stories is secretary mineta himself. Were very fortunate to have him here. Andrey ye andrea will give us her story and then well have a moderator moderate the discussion. Each school represented here will receive a copy of andreas book for its library. Were very grateful to andreas publisher for that gift and were very indebted to the eskin family to make this possible. As we head into thanksgiving week, here is a story that tells us that we have much to be thankful for. There are heroes among us who make this country a better place, a safer place. Please welcome the honorable secretary mineta and two wonderful writers, Andrea Warren and monica hessey. [ applause ] im Andrea Warren, and its a real pleasure to be with you today. Imagine each one of you that it is 1941 and you are a boy, 10 years old, living in the small city of san jose in Northern California where the weather is beautiful all year round. You love baseball, comic books and going to the movies with your friends. You have three older sisters and an older brother who all dote on you, and you have parents you love very much. Your father, papa, has a successful insurance agency, and you live in a lovely stucco house in san joses japan town. Both of your parents were born in japan. You were born in this country but, like your parents, youre considered japanese american. Japan is causing trouble in the south pacific, but then hitlers causing trouble in europe and all of that is far away. For you, life is good. Until it isnt. On december 7th, 1941, japan attacks america bombing its military base at pearl harbor hawaii. 2500 american soldiers and sailors die. Almost as Many Americans died in the twin towers on 9 11. You see papa cry. He loves america. How could the land of his birth have attacked the lapped of his heart . The public is outraged by pearl harbor and america quickly declares war on japan. Within days the u. S. Is also at war with germany and italy. World war ii has begun. It is a horrible time for you and your family and your friends. Everyone is instantly suspicious of japaneseamericans. The fbi swoops in and arrests community leaders, teachers, journalists, farmers, priests, business owners. Anyone considered to have ties to japan or influence in the Japanese American Community. These men and women are september to prisons far from home. The Japanese American Community is left without leadership, without anyone to speak out for them. At School Classmates glare at you and accuse you of bombing pearl harbor. They call you a jap like its a dirty word and inside you burn with shame. Every japanese american you know is loyal to america and wants america to win the war. Your brother albert wants to serve in the army. If you werent so young, youd enlist, except that now the government is saying that if youre japanese american you cant serve. Theres widespread fear that japan will invade the west coast of the United States and a fear that japaneseamericans like you who live along the coast will assist them. 125,000 of this countrys 150,000 japaneseamericans live close to the Pacific Ocean. You stand out because of your appearance and your names. You tend to live together in communities like japan town so youre easy to find. All of you are now required to register with authorities. Then the government imposes an 8 p. M. To 6 a. M. Curfew. Some peoples Bank Accounts are frozen leaving them unable to pay their bills. Their businesses are padlocked. Papas license to sell insurance is not renewed. The fbi searches peoples homes looking for anything that could be useful to the enemy should it invade the coast. A garden hoe, a ceremonial sword, a flashlight. Then youre forbidden from moving away, and finally you learn that you will be sent to special camps for the duration of the war, supposedly to protect you from a hostile public, but as you really know, to be certain that you cant do anything to aid the japanese. You dont understand what these camps are or where they are, and being forced mr. Your homes is very frightening, but youve been taught to obey authority. And most of you agree that you will not resist. You will do whatever will best help with the war effort. Announcements are posted in Public Places telling people that they will be evacuated only giving them a few days notice to sell or give away anything. Pets arent allowed to go and you have to leave your dog behind. And this breaks your heart. Then you see your strong papa cry again because he is head of the family and responsible for taking care of you and hes unable to stop any of this from happening. You try not to burden your parents with your own fears and so you stay silent. On evacuation day you wear your best clothes and you each carry two suitcases. Thats all youre allowed. You are also holding your beloved bat, baseball and dplof. And a military policeman takes away your bat stating it can be used as a weapon. That bat was a gift from papa and is one of your priced possessions and now its gone. All along the west coast japaneseamericans board buses and trains headed to one of the ten camps the government has built. As you will learn, these are primitive camps all in isolated, inhospitable places around the country. On the long train journey you sit quietly doing what youre told. Timely you arrive at a plates called heart mountain in buy onlying. You are 1,000 miles from home. You look around with shock. The camp is surrounded by barbed wire because this is a prison camp. Guards in towers carry loaded weapons aimed at you. Your family is assigned one room in a poorly constructed baracks furnished only with iron could thes. You are no furniture, no closet, no kitchen, no bathroom, no privacy. A single light bulb hangs from the ceiling. You stand in line for everything. You eat in mess halls and the food is bland and poorly cooked. Bathrooms offer no privacy and this is humiliating, especially for your mother whos very modest. The temperature dips as low as 30 below zero on winter nights. The wind howls constantly swirling dust around. As you will learn, summers are better but then you must watch out for rattlesnakes and black widow spiders and always there is dust and the wind blows and blows. These are not work camps. In fact, there is little work to do and people have too much time on their hands. They are not death camps like the concentration camps under hitler, but they are brutal in their own way. You are the enemy. You are prisoners. You are watched closely. You must do what you are told. So you go to school and you join the boy scouts. Ive got a couple of slides out of order here, im sorry. You play baseball. Everyone pitches in to make the camps more livable sharing their talents and skills with each other, and working together to grow crops on the arid land around the camp to subsidize food rations. The harvest is so successful that its called the miracle of heart mountain. All in all you will be away from san jose for three years. Some japaneseamericans will be away nearly four. By the end many will be defeated, broken, but not most and not you or your family. You have strong parents who accept their circumstances and make the best of things. They will help you to do this as well. And you will hang on to your humanity. But you will never forget what happened to you. When its over, some folks have nothing to go back to. Their homes have been destroyed. No one will hire them. Your house is okay, and papa will rebuild his business, but like everyone else, your family struggles for the next decade. Theres still prejudice against japaneseamericans and they are still ashamed that others thought they could be the enemy. You want to talk about all of this but no one will. There is a conspiracy of silence. Back in school in san jose you work hard, just as you always have. You are well liked by other students and in high school are elected student body president. After college you serve in the korean war and then youre stationed in japan where you connect with your japanese relatives and discover a pride in your past. When you return to san jose you join your fathers insurance business. You marry and have two sons. You are active in community organizations. You serve on the city council and eventually run for mayor. You win,win, and at age 40 you become the first asianamerican elected mayor of a major american city. Then its onto congress. In all you serve ten terms, a total of 20 years in the house ofl you serve because you believe that Everyone Needs representation when the decisions are made, something japanese americans did not have. So you listen and you help. You work long hours to get all the work done. The day comes when you and others in congress organize to seek justice for the wrongful internment of japanese americans during the war. No one was ever found guilty of a crime against america, and yet all of you still carry the stigma of being considered the enemy. This must change. You want for all japanese americans an apology and restitution. It takes years. Four times you introduce the bill in congress before it finally passes and becomes known as the Civil Liberties act of 1988. Only then does the healing begin. But you arent done. You serve in two president ial cabinets. The first asianamerican pointed to be a cabinet secretary. And since then you have continued to work actively for civil rights and to further the ties between japan and the u. S. And for all manner of things that help keep this country safe and strong. Norman mineta, you have so much to teach all of us. You tell us that this is our country with all its flaws and we must protect it. You say and i quote, there are good citizens who didnt rise up to protest what was happening to their japaneseamerican friends and neighbors in 1942. But if we will speak out when we see someones Constitutional Rights being violated, if we will act together then we are Strong Enough to withstand any evil internal or external that threatens to unravel this beautiful place that is america. For all of us let me say thank you. [ applause ] this is a beautiful researched book and the kind of book can only come about from someone who lived a beautiful and richly lived life, so thank you to both of you for being here. We were talking backstage about how excited we are that most of the audience are middle schoolers which andy and i agree are some of our favorite people, and youre going to have a chance to ask questions in a little bit so please think of smarter questions than im about to ask but they are going to let me ask the first question. Secretary mineta, you had been approached many times by writers wanting to tell your story, and im curious what it was about andrea that made you want to talk to her, and im curious from andrea what you said to secretary mineta and what made you passionate about wanting to tell this story. Well, first of all, there has been a number of approaches about writing a book, writing or have a movie made, but i didnt want to do anything that and so with most people i just said no. And andraya was talking about a Childrens Book and so as we talked about it this was the kind of educational tool that i thought would be very, very useful to young people not knowing anything about the evacuation and internment of those of japanese ancestry during world war ii. Knowing about her background as a writer and researcher i said, sure, lets do the book. And i just was so pleased with the outcome. And andraya even though we talk a lot about it she went ahead and did a lot of research on her own and it just makes it a terrific book. Theres so many like what i would call a coffee table book, and yet its near to lets say fifth to ninth graders but something thats easily readable for everyone. What do you remember about approaching him and what you planned to say . Well, i knew that i wanted norman to be the center of this story. The first thing i wanted was to write a book about japanese american internment. Sense i write about history, nonfiction history. But i always have a young person at the center of my story. And i went to heart mountain to see the Internment Center on the side there, the internment camp. And it was there i learned about norms role and the Civil Liberties act of 1988. So being able to write a book about somebody who did something that great to give back to the Japanese American Community is what pulled me in first. That was the first thing. The second thing is that norm was the perfect age. Hes 10, 11, 12 when he was going through this experience. And since i write for Young Readers that made a lot of sense, too. Theres a third thing. I love the arc of the story. He made a friend in the camp who was not japaneseamerican, who was a boy from cody, wyoming, whos also a boy scot like norm was and they met at a boy scot event in the camp and later ended up both being in congress at the same time. And are dear friends until this day. And for me as a writer again just that beautiful arc. The fourth thing was a bonus. I didnt know it when i started this project. When i approached norm about doing it is meeting this very special person whos become such an important part of my life and has taught me so many things and has given me such a sense of not only gratitude for what he and the other japanese americans went through and they came through it the way they did, but a lot of faith in this country that we got through this and well keep going through the other things were challenged by. Secretary mineta, you were very young. You were about the same age many members of our audience were, and i wonder how your family talk today you what was happening at the time, how your parents explained what was going on . Well, as andraya said my dad loved this country. He came here by himself when he was 14 years old, and came to love the United States. Once was on the 7th of december when he couldnt understand the second time was the day we left may 29, 1942, left san jose to go off to camp and the third time was when my mother passed away. But the end of the last week of january 1942 he gathered the family together in the living room and he said i dont know whats going to happen to your mother and me. Were not u. S. Citizens. Were prohibited from becoming u. S. Citizens because of the oriental exclusion act of 1924 so all of you kids are citizens of the u. S. And always think of 545 north fifth street as your home because no one can take that away from you. But little did he realize that on february 12th president roosevelt would sign an executive order 9066 delegating to the department of war the ability to evacuate persons. Just said persons. And so these big placards started going up on utility polls and sides of buildings and it said attention all pois of japanese ancestry alien and nonalien. I was a 10yearold kid and i looked at that sign and i said whats a nonalien and my brother said and hes 9 years older than me, and he said thats you. I said im not an a nonalien, im a citizen. And he said, well, in this instance it means the same thing. Well, why wont they call me a citizen . Maybe some kind of psychological warfare. And so to this day i cherish the word citizen because my own government would not use it to describe us. Now, i dont know when the last time any of you stood on a chair and beat your chest and said im a proud nonalien of the United States of america. I dont think you have. And yet thats really what we were subjected to be by our own government. We werent even referred to as citizens. What i would add to that is that when you go back and research this history i thought i knew a lot about American History. There was so much i didnt know about this. The kinds of laws we had to exclude asians in this country that went clear back into the 1800s when there was a lot of concern it started with chinese coming here and taking jobs from white people. And this began a whole series of what are called the exclusion laws. So by the time when norms father came he came really at just the right time because after that there was a new law that said japanese couldnt come anymore because they were coming in large numbers to work it agricultural fields along the west coast. They were part of the gold rush. They helped build railroads and so forth and whites were getting concerned again about their jobs. And in california they actually said that japaneseamericans could not own property. They were not allowed to, couldnt put into their own names, but their children were born here as citizens. They wouldnt allow the japaneseamericans to become citizens. That was another law we had in the country at that time, but if youre born here youre a citizen. In norms families situation his father when he was ready to buy a house and setup a business put it into the name of his daughter who was the eldest child, and when she became 21 then the property passed to her. Theres a scene in the book that starts off as sort of funny and then it ends up a little scary, and the scene is that you go sledding as a young boy in heart mountain, in the internment camp and youre sledding so fast that you accidently shoot under the barbed wire where guards stop you because youve accidently escaped the camp and youre terrified. And i wondered if you could talk a little bit about other incidents like that that start off as very normal american experiences, playing baseball or something but that are happening against this backdrop of a prison and this injustice . We didnt have snow in san jose so we got to heart mountain, wyoming, in november 1942, colder than blazes. The wind was blowing and here we are from california, light clothing, light jackets and experiencing snow. Snow is something you drive to, its not something you find on your doorsteps. And so somewhere a bunch of us found some and we didnt have sleighs and we found this big Cardboard Boxes and we used them and flattened them out and used those as our as your sleds . Sled, thank you. And so here we are going around and all of a sudden my Cardboard Box sled instead of going this way it went this way, and i slid under the barbed wire of the fence. The barbed wire is probably about this high and i went under that outside the camp perimeter and about that time a military jeep comes by and picks up the four of us and we get taken to the jail, the brig at heart mountain. That was probably i was scared but i was more scared about my father coming to pick me up. And so we had he told me i shouldnt do that again, but it was a very scary scene because a military jeep had come by and patrolled two of them and picked us up. And eddie thought they might shoot you. Yes, thats right. Eddie, my good friend thought we were you showed some pictures of young people organizing baseball teams and i know that Hart Mountain and some other camps had for example language lessons or social clubs or choirs, and i wondered if you could talk a little bit about in your research what you learned about the resilience of the prisoners and the things that they did to create a semblance of normal life even in these horrific circumstances. I think this is where the parents get so much credit. They were real concerned about their children continuing their education, things like boy scots, girl scouts, cub scouts because theyci loved the valuesf those programs. So japaneseamerican kids were involved in that. They were involved in music. There were so many things and they wanted life to seem as ordinary as it could be even though classrooms the kids are literally sitting on orange crates, they dont have enough textbooks. Eventually people who have carpentry skills will build desk and chairs and new textbooks will come in. The wyoming board of education actually did a good job in terms of the schooling of the kids in this camp. That wasnt true in all the camps by any means. That was wyoming who did that. And the resilience of not only keeping life going. You had chores. Norm had to collect the coal every day for the little potbellied stove they had in their room. He helped his mother was laundry, which was no easy thing. Back home she had a washing machine. Here everything had to be scrubbed in a tub. Youre carrying clothes ibin a basket to the laundry center, you stand in line to get in there, you scrub the clothes and no dryer. You take the clothes back to your little room and hang it up to try to get it all dry. So a lot of basic work like that. But the fun part, you had a couple of movie theaters you could go to. There were dances, concerts. People had brought Musical Instruments with them or ordered them from the sears and robuck catalog, or a friend from home would send them one. So you had bands and orchestras. Music was very important in the camps. Theres flower arranging. You mention the language classes. There were people playing chess getting together. The kids loved to dance, and they were doing everything they could to keep peoples spirits up. And people paid tremendous attention to how they looked, keeping their clothes clean, keeping them menldded and the women could buy fabric at the camp store. Things were relatively cheap and there were the latest fashions. Norm learned to ice skate while he was in Hart Mountain because they flooded the baseball fields, and then you had to get ice skates and im sure not everybody could afford to do that. But money was a real issue for just about everybody so you were lucky if you had a few dollars a month to spend on these things. But just these lets make life as good as we can under the circumstances. And im just floored by it. When we got to camp in november of 42 the schools were not going to be ready until april so the camp elders were really concerned about what do we do with the young people, so they had written to the boy scouts and girl scouts please come and organize the troops. So we had a whole bunch of troops about 9 or 10 troops in our camp. And wed have our own jam bory, and our scout leaders would write to the boy scouts and say come on in and join us in our jamboree and theyd come back and say were not coming in, theres barbed wire all around the camp, theres military towers with searchlights and machine guns, so were not coming in. There are pows, and our scout leaders would write back and say theyre not pows, theyre boy scouts of america. They read the same manuals you do, they go after the same merit badges you do. And so none of them came in. But then one day we got notice that the Boy Scout Troop from cody was going to come in. So they came in and we did our knot tying contest, how to start a fire without a match and wood working contest and all these things. And then we got paired off with a kid from cody to build our tent. Well, in wyoming it can rain a lot at any time, so in order to protect the tent you had to build a moat around it. So this kid and i built a beautiful moat, and he said, you know, theres a kid from my troop in that tent below us and i really dont like them, would you mind if we cut the water towards that tent, no skin off my nose and i said sure. So we built this beautiful moat. As luck would have it it started raining and our moat drained beautifully, went down that way. The tent pegs pulled and the tent came down, and the kid in my tent goes he kept laughing the whole time into the night. And i finally said to him, alan, would you please shut up so we could get some rest . Well, that was alan simpson. Please explain for the young people of the audience who dont know. Well, eventually alan simpson became the u. S. Senator from wyoming. And i got elected to the house of representatives in 1974, and he got elected in 1978. But here we are in 1943 in a pup tent together playing a prank on the bully. And we became the very best of friends and to this day we still vacation together twice a year. We go on trips. Im on the phone probably with him four or five times a week right now. So were the best of friends but hes a republican from wyoming and im a liberal democrat from california, but were still the best of friends. And worked together on the Civil Liberties act, and thats real interesting. I think you could probably pull it off on your own, norm, but i think alan was very helpful. He was very helpful because on the senate side he was very helpful in the beginning cosponsors of the bill and getting people to vote yes on hr 442. And it was named because of the 442nd regiment or combat team that served so well in europe during world war ii. The 442nd for anyone who might not know was an all japaneseamerican unit that was very well decorated in the war. I wanted to ask about after the war when youre returning home to a community that had excelled its japanese american citizens what that reentry was like and what the readjustment period was like after the war. Well, we were very fortunate in san jose. First of all, the San Jose Mercury herald had editorials at that time saying because there are other communities where farms were being burned, a lot of things were happening. And they editorialized saying these are our friends and neighbors coming home, please dont do anything untowards them, so we were very fortunate in san jose. Solinas which is about 70 miles away had a National Guard unit that got wiped out in the death march. So there were intense feelings in salinas so as japanese americans and the first generations from japan were coming back they were being shot at. Farmers were being arsoned, and so it was very different there compared to san jose where it was very peaceful. And so we came back in 1946 and yet by 1949 i had become student body president at San Jose High School with a 3 japaneseamerican population. So it was very different than other communities. Fresno, sacramento went through some very Serious Problems as well. Andy, ive heard people say about history is that were never really writing about the past, were talking about the future. Were talking history repeats itself, and i wonder as someone who is a student of it yourself if you see resonance in writing about this time period and this experiences from the 40s, what you think we should take of them now and what we can learn going forward. Well, theres no way to not see comparisons. All we have to do is look at our southern border, everything thats going on there in terms of the well call them nicely, roadblocks were putting up against people, the hatred that has been expressed over and over against Muslim Americans since nie 9 11. The Muslim Americans that have lived here they didnt have anything to do with 9 11, but they look like the enemy. Its the very same kind of thing. And so theres this public distrust, this public hatred. And we see it in america weve seen it over and over again against immigrants coming in here, and we all have these stories in our own pasts unless were nativeamerican and we see the distrust and the prejudice and bias. And sometimes it feels like we really dont learn. And a story like norms will remind us weve got to be very, very careful about our own government. And i think this is one of things thats hardest and most important about the internment of the japaneseamericans. Two thirds were citizens because they were born here, but you have to remember that that other third because people go, you know, they werent citizen. They werent citizens because we wouldnt let them be citizens. They lived here for many, many years. Norms father had lived here for decades. He was a very loyal american. He loved this country deeply, and yet he wasnt allowed to become a citizen. So he didnt have the protection of the constitution, but norm it turns out didnt have it either. He should have been protected by it, and he was not. So, yes weve got this wonderful constitution in place but it doesnt mean that in times of war or for whatever reason that it wont be disregarded. And so this is why i think the take away here is we have to really watch our own government. We are this government. It is us, and things can start getting out of hand fast. And what weve got to do is speak up and speak out when it starts happening. And not enough people very few people did this for the japaneseamericans. Eleanor roosevelt was doing it. She had her picture taken with japaneseamericans. Wrote in her column about the germanamericans, the japaneseamericans. These are our citizen, our friends and neighbors and lets not forget that. And maybe she had some influence but not nearly enough. People wonder why the italianamerican and the germanamericans didnt go into camps in larger numbers because thousands of them did. Youve written a book about this, monica. Youve done all the research and know about that and know how those people were treated. They had the advantage of they looked more like of, you know, what an american was supposed to look like and the japaneseamerican stood out. And there was this real concern about that the invasion of the west coast. There actually were submarines japanese submarines sighted out in the Pacific Ocean and there were some incidents. But nothing, nothing to implicate japanese americans themselves. So we have really got to stay on top of this. He wanted to do something to help with the war effort so he applied to the university of chicago that was running a program for the army called the astp Army Specialized Training Program Teaching japanese to u. S. Army personnel, so thats what my dad did during world war ii. He was allowed to leave camp to go to chicago to be part of that program, and he had asked for my mother and me to leave with him. The army said no at the time. So there are a lot of things that as a result of the evacuation and internment we were talking about what happened to us to make sure that it doesnt happen to somebody else in the future. And part of that whole action was to make sure the Civil Liberties act of 1988 was passed. And yet i was secretary of transportation on 9 11, and keep muslims off airplanes, dont allow middle easterners to fly, and talk about rounding up middle easterners, putting them in camps. And we were having a Cabinet Meeting on thursday, september 13th with the House Senate Democratic and republican leadership, and towards the end of that meeting congressman david from detroit said, mr. President , we have a very large middle eastern population and Muslim Population in michigan and theyre very concerned about all the rhetoric and the Electronic Press and the print media about of banning travel for muslims and middle easterners and the talk about rounding them up. And president bush said, david, youre absolutely correct. Were correct about their rhetoric and we dont want to have happen today to muslims and middle easterners what happened to norm in 1942. And that morning of 9 11 i had pulled three people out of acs, aviation civil security, at the federal aviation administration. And i was in the bunker at the white house, so i said go over to my office and work with the deputy secretary and my chief of staff to start putting together the new regimen for security for the airlines to go back into the air. So when i asked them on tuesday afternoon how are you guys doing they said, well, were starting it out and the first one at the top of the list is no racial or ethnic profiling. And i said, wow, thats going to be a tough one. And then when the president set that up thursday i called him back and said we may have a chance to get this thing through, so keep it in there. So then i talked to the president on friday, the 14th because we were about ready to regulations for security to let the airlines go back into the air. And the president said keep it in there, so we did. I think we have just a few minutes left, but i want to give others a chance, too, though. Are there any questions from the audience . We have some roving microphones. I see a few hands right here in the center if someone with a microphone wants to find these two young ladies. Hello. I have a question for the author. If you would have, would you have interviewed a woman and a man and Norman Mineta together and like combined the book . I might have done that. It would have depended on the story. The first thing i wanted to do was tell the story of japaneseamerican internment and then find the right person whose story would reveal that history. And when i visited Hart Mountain it was very much Norman Minetas story that stood out for me. In some of my other books ive used multiple characters and ive certainly used women, female, girls and this is just sort of the way this story came together mchb you have to be careful as an author you dont diffuse it too much. It sort of depends on who your main character taoiseach but norm had such a rich story that as i was reading about him and certainly as i started spending time with him to interview him i knew i could tell more a concentrated story with him because i had so much history to reveal. First of all, let me congratulate her for standing up to ask this question, but more importantly i want to thank all the young people who are here. And if i might digress for a minute to just say that you own two things that no one else owns your name and your integrity. Protect both of those. Protect both. [ applause ] youll have shortterm, midterm, longterm goals, and so i want you to work hard at whatever it is youre going to undertake professionally and careerwise and keep that shortterm, midterm and longterm goal. But as youre looking at the longterm goal make sure you dont stumble over something right in front of you. Youll have a wonderful, wonderful career and life in the future. But i do want you to protect your name and your integrity. There are no shortcuts in life, and you have to really do things to ensure that you protect your integrity because without integrity you cant do anything. People dont wont trust you. They wont respect you, and whatever youre going to do in life youve got to have integrity, trust and respect to get things done. So to all of you, thanks for being here today. Thanks to the family for making it possible for all of you to be here today. So, again, please protect your integrity for the rest of your life. The other thing id like to say as you go into your career and professional areas in a Free Democratic society you have everyone from a read well citizen to the person over here who may want to consider running for Public Office. But that may be only 1 of the population that wants to do that. So theres the 99 out there so i want you to pursue your career goals. Do as much as you can, but say to your mayor, county executive, governor, even the president of the United States, you know, im a subject Matter Expert and id like to serve on a board or commission. So this way you can pursue your career goals and still take some time to sit on a board or commission for local government, state government, federal government because we need good people. For so many years weve had the situation where people who dont know anything about us, whatever your circumstance might be but theyre making decisions for you and you have to be at that table when those decisions are being made, so work hard. [ applause ] just one minute before you answer your question. And if you are interested in reading more there are some wonderful memoirs and biographies of young women and girls who are also interned. And if you have your teacher track me down at the Washington Post i will send you a list of great books to read. Yes . Hi, my name is mark turner, and you said you were a boy scout. Did you get to eagle scout or did you never got there. I got to first class, but unfortunately i never got to eagle. Are you a boy scout . Youll get a higher rank than normal mineta. Thats right. Keep working at it. Hi. My name is katey davis. I was wondering for the author if you had a chance to write another book about somebody else like george tike, would you do it . You know george tike has his own book like, not specifically him. That was an example. He has his graphic novel. I have only one other time revisited a subject a second time. I wrote two books about the orphan trains in america. The first book i did somewhat like norms where i focused on one character and told the history and felt like i was leaving so many stories behind and people were getting to the point where get their stories now or not get them. So i wrote a second book and i would never say no. Its certainly a possibility. I think its an incredibly deep and rich history and it needs to be taught much more in our schools. So the more books the better. I think we have time for more two more questions. And im sorry were choosing the young people. Hi, my name is abby moon. For normal mineta i was wonder for when you ran for Political Office to now do you think youve had an influence to have more asianamericans run for Public Office in 2019 than when you started . Absolutely. In 1967 we had in san jose a directly elected mayor for the first time because the mayorship had always been rotated among the members of the council. So now we had a directly elected mayor, member of the city council ran and became mayor and that created a vacancy on the city council. So i was asked to submit my name for consideration to that appointment to fill that vacancy. And so 13 candidates interviewed with all the City Council Member i was appointed to fill that vacancy and became the first nonwhite to come on the city council in 1967. And so one of the things i said i was going to do was to represent people who had no representation or who were underrepresented in the community on the city council, and thats a principle ive stayed with all my life whether i was mayor, member of congress or a member of the cabinet. And in private business as well. But the important thing is to try to give the opportunity for as many people to participate in order to have that pipeline of people who would come into either to run for Public Office or who are willing to be part of the of Public Service without running for Political Office by becoming a member of a board or level. So i encourage everyone to consider doing that. But, yes, what ive tried to do since 1967 is to try to encourage young people to run for Political Office or to still be in of a service while still pursuing their own career and professional goals. So inyourj encourage you to do. The last question is always the zinger. I see a hand right in the middle. You want to come to the microphone . Hi, my question is for the author. How has this interview impacted you . Im sorry what was that . How has this interview impacted you . Theres not an easy answer to that. Youve listened to norm, heard about his story. How he lived his life, he used the word integrity, and its the hallmark of Norman Mineta. When i was trying to find him to interview him i couldnt find information on the internet how to contact him so i contacted various organizations that had something to do with cap feez japaneseamericans, anything i could think of. No, i really dont feel comfortable sharing his information with you, but if you could find it i think it would be a great idea, so it was a real process that any writer or researcher would appreciate to finally get to him and then kind of do my own sales pitch and so on. Norm doesnt care about publicity. I dont think this is an easy thing at all for him to be here and talk about himself. When the question came up about other japaneseamericans running for office norm has mentored so many. He was mentored by daniel inue, so its been something thats been passed along and the incredible Japanese Community is another thing thats influenced me so much and how they pulled together first of all to get the Civil Liberties act. There were years of coming together and of raising money for that and all the things that had to happen before there could be reparations, and its the only time its happened in our nations history but its been an incredibly enriching experience for me and i feel very grateful im the one who got to tell his story in the book. [ applause ] before we break can i do something of a personal nature . Id like to have my wife stand up because without her i would never have been able to do this. [ applause ] she has cajoled, kicked or whatever it takes to influence. Shes been so helpful so shes been a great teammate for me to be able to do these things. Thank you both so much for being here, and thank you all for being such wonderful listeners and asking such thoughtful questions. Great. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] that was amazing so much monica and secretary mineta and andy and thank you for being here. Come back. See us again. Tonight on American History tv our series landmark cases, produced in cooperation with the National Constitution center we explore the issues, people and places involved in some of the most Significant Supreme Court cases in our nations history. At 8 00 eastern we begin with youngstown sheet and tube colorado versus sawyer. In and then the case brown v. Board of Topeka Holding that segregated schooling violates the 14th amendment because segregated schools could never be equal. Watch landmark cases tonight on cspan 3 and anytime on cspan. Org. The u. S. House and Senate Return on monday to resume legislative business following their state work period over the fourth of july holiday. The u. S. House considers the 2021 National Defense authorization act with votes expected as early as 11 30 a. M. Eastern. The Senate Resumes today on the nomination of Russell Vought to be officer of management and budgement. Hes been serving in an acting capacity since january 2019. At 5 30 p. M. The senate votes on confirmation of the vote nomination. Watch live coverage of the house when they return on cspan, live coverage of the senate on cspan 2. Next testimony on efforts to repurpose therapeutic drugs to treat coronavirus patients. Medical experts testified before a house science subcommittee. Before i deliver my opening remarks i wanted to note the unusual circumstances under which were meeting today pursuant resolution 1965 today the subcommittee will be meeting virtually. This is not how any of us would prefer to perform our duties, but remote work is f

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