^M00:00:10 >> Marie Arana: Wonderful to see you all here. My name is Maria Arana, and I'm the Literary Director here at the library. Welcome to the 2019 Jonah Salkoff Eskin Memorial lecture. It's a special program in honor of the memory of a boy called Jonah. Welcome to the Eskin family, to all of you, the Eskins, who are so generous to make this program possible. Marcia, 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 C-SPAN audience that 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 haven't been in this building before, welcome to the world's largest library, the greatest and most extensive cultural institution on the planet. The nation's 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 needed as it carried out its duties as representing all of us. Initially, the library was housed in the US 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 library's books were burned to ashes. Well, ex- President Thomas Jefferson, who owned the largest collection of books in the country at the time, almost 7000 volumes sitting in his house, offered to sell his books the US government to refill the library's shelves. Congress jumped at that chance, and now you can see Jefferson's 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. That's a very long shelf of books going from say, right where you're sitting all the way down the street, across town, down the Beltway, town Route 95 all the way to Miami. It is the single-most thorough collection of holdings in the world. So, it's fitting that you're here in these grand American halls to 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 indomitable 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 San Jose, California, and he enjoyed 10 years of a happy childhood before he and the population of 120,000 more Japanese-Americans 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 a city, a congressman representing his state, a champion for Asian Americans, a soldier, a leader in one of America's most innovative companies, and then, he was chosen by presidents of different political parties to be members of their cabinets. He became the United States Secretary of Commerce, and then, the United States Secretary of Transportation. His story is a lesson to us all. It's a model of how to turn adversity into something positive, something that contributes to the well-being of us all. Here to tell you that story is the author of a wonderful new book about Secretary Mineta's childhood. She is Andrea Warren, and her book is called Enemy Child. And here to relay some of his experiences from a personal point of view is Secretary Mineta himself. We're very fortunate to have him with us today. Andrea will give you a brief description of her book, after which, Monica Hesse, a writer herself with the Washington Post, and the author of a wonderful book about children during wartime called The War Outside will moderate the discussion. Each school represented here will receive a copy of Andrea's book for its library. So, we're very grateful to Andrea's publisher for that gift, and we're deeply indebted to the Eskin family for making a special presentation possible. So, as we head Thanksgiving week, here's 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 Hesse. ^M00:06:01 [ Applause ] ^M00:06:27 ^M00:06:30 >> Andrea Warren: I'm Andrea Warren, and it's 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 small 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 Jose's, Japan, town. Both of your parents were born in Japan. You were born in this country, but like your parents, you're considered Japanese-American. Japan is causing trouble in the South Pacific, but then, Hitler's causing trouble in Europe, and all of that is far away. For you, life is good, until it isn't. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacks America bombing its military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Twenty-five hundred American soldiers and sailors die. Almost as many Americans as 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 land of his heart? The public is outraged by Pearl Harbor, and America quickly declares war on Japan. Within days, the US 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 Japanese-Americans. 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 sent 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 it's 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 weren't so young, you'd enlist, except that now the government is saying that if you're Japanese-American, you can't serve. There's widespread fear that Japan will invade the West Coast of the United States, and a fear that Japanese Americans like you who live along the coast will assist them. One-hundred and twenty-five thousand of this country's 150,000 Japanese-Americans with 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 you're easy to find. All of you are now required to register with authorities. Then the government imposes an 8 PM to 6 AM curfew. Some people's bank accounts are frozen, leaving them unable to pay their bills. ^M00:10:05 Their businesses are padlocked. Papa's license to sell insurance is not renewed. The FBI searches people's 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 you're 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 can't do anything to aid the Japanese. You don't understand what these camps are or where they are, and being forced from your homes is very frightening, but you've 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, often giving them only a few days' notice to sell or give away everything. Pets aren't 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 he's unable to stop any of this from happening. You try not to burn 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. That's all you're allowed. You are also holding your beloved bat, baseball and glove, and a military policeman walks up to you and takes away your bat, stating that it could be used as a weapon. That bat was a gift from papa and is one of your prized possessions, and now it's gone. All along the West Coast, Japanese-Americans board buses and trains headed to one of the 10 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 you're told. Finally, you are to arrive at a place called Heart Mountain in Wyoming. You are a thousand 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 barracks furnished only with iron cots. You have 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 poorly cooked. Bathrooms offer no privacy, and this is humiliating, especially for your mother, who's 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, and 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 subsidize food rations. The harvest is so successful that it's called the miracle of Heart Mountain. All in all, you will be away from San Jose for three years. Some Japanese-Americans 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. ^M00:15:17 When it's 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. There's still prejudice against Japanese Americans, and they are still ashamed that others thought they could be the enemy. You want to talk about all 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 you're 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 father's 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, and at age 40, you become the first Asian-American elected mayor of a major American city. Then it's on to Congress. In all, you serve 10 terms, a total of 20 years in the House of Representatives. 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 are done. You serve and two presidential cabinets, the first Asian-American appointed 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 US 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 were good citizens who didn't rise up to protest what was happening to their Japanese-American friends and neighbors in 1942, but if we will speak out when we someone's 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 this, let me say, thank you. ^M00:18:57 [ Applause ] ^M00:19:15 >> Monica Hesse: This is a beautiful and richly researched book, and it's the kind of book that can only come about someone who's 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 you're going to have the chance to ask questions in a little bit. So, please think of smarter questions then I'm about to ask, but they are going to let me ask the first questions. Secretary Mineta, you have been approached many times by writers wanting to tell your story, and I'm curious what it was about Andrea that made you want to talk to her, and I'm curious from Andrea what you said to Secretary Mineta that what made you passionate about wanting to tell this story? >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Well, first of all, there had been a number of approaches about writing a book, writing a -- what do you call? Or have a movie made. But I didn't want to do anything that from which I would profit. And so, with most people, I just said no. And Andrea was talking about a children's book. And so, as we talked about it this was a kind of educational tool that I thought would be very, very useful to young people. Not knowing anything about the evacuation and the internment of those of Japanese ancestry during World War II. ^M00:21:07 And then, knowing about her background as a writer and a researcher, I said, sure, let's do the book. And I just was so pleased with the outcome. And Andrea, even though we talked a lot about it, she went ahead and did a lot of research on her own, and it just makes it a terrific book. It's sort of like a what I would call a coffee table book, and yet, it's geared to, let's say fifth to ninth graders, but it's something that easily readable for everybody. >> Monica Hesse: What you remember about approaching him and what you planned to say? >> Andrea Warren: Well, I knew that I wanted Norman to be the center of the story, and the first thing I wanted was to write a book about Japanese-American internment. So, since I read about history, nonfiction history, but what I do is I always have a young person at the center of my story, and I went to Heart Mountain to see the interment center that's there on the site of the former Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, the internment camp, and it was there that I learned about Norm's role in, you know, 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. So, that was the first thing. The second thing was that Norm was the perfect age. You know, he's 10, 11, and 12 when he was going to this experience, and since I write for young readers, that made a lot of sense, too. There was the third thing. I love the arc of the story. He made a friend in the camp who was not a Japanese-American, who was a boy from Cody, Wyoming. This camp sits near Cody, who is also a Boy Scout, like Norm was, and they met at a Boy Scout event in the camp, and later ended up both being in Congress at the same time, and are dear friends till this day. And for, as a writer, again, just that beautiful arc. The fourth thing was a bonus. I didn't know it when I started this project. When I approached Norm about doing it is meeting this very special person who's 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 all went through and that they came through with the way they did, but a lot of faith in this country that we got through this and we'll keep going with the other things we're challenged by. >> Monica Hesse: Secretary Mineta, you were very young. You were about the same age that many of the members of our audience were, and I wondered how your family talked to you about what was happening at the time, how your parents explained what was going on. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Well, as Andrea said, my dad loves this country. He came here by himself when he was 14 years old, and came to love the United States, and I only saw him cry three times. Once was on the 7th of December when he couldn't understand why the land of his birth was attacking the land of his heart. The second time was the day we left on May 29, 1942, left San Jose to go off to camp, and the third time was when my mother passed away. But in January, the end of the last week of January 1942, he gathered the family together in the living room, and he said, "I don't know what's going to happen to your mother and me. We're not US citizens. We're prohibited from becoming US citizens because of the Oriental Exclusion Act of 1924. And so, but all of you kids are citizens of the US and always think of 545 North Fifth Street is your home, because no one can take that away from you." ^M00:25:28 But little did he realize that on February 12th, President Roosevelt would sign Executive Order 9066, delegating to the Department of War the ability to evacuate persons. Didn't say German, Japanese, or Italian. Just said persons. And so, these big placards started going up on utility poles and sides of buildings and said, "Attention. All those of Japanese ancestry, alien and non-alien." I was a 10-year-old kid, and I looked at that sign, I said, what's a non-alien? And my brother said, and he's nine years older than me. He said, "That's you." I said, I'm not a non-alien. I'm a citizen. He said, "Well, this instance, it means the same thing." Well, why will they call me a citizen? "Well, 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 don't know when the last time and if you stood on a chair, beat your chest, and said, "I'm a proud non-alien of the United States of America." I don't think you have. And yet, that's really what we were subjected to do by our own government. We weren't even referred to as citizens. >> Andrea Warren: What I would add to that is that when you go back and you research this history, I thought I knew a lot about American history. There was so much I didn't know about this that the kinds of laws that we had to exclude Asians in this country that would clear back into the 1800s when there is a lot of concern about it started with Chinese coming here and taking jobs from white people. And began a whole series of what are called the exclusion laws. So, by the time, when Norm's father came, he came really at just the right time, because after that, there was a new law that said Japanese couldn't come anymore, because they were coming in large numbers to work the agricultural fields along the West Coast. They were part of the gold rush. They help build the railroads and so forth, and whites were getting concerned, again, about their jobs. And in California, they actually said that Japanese-Americans could not own property. They were not allowed to, couldn't be put it into their own names, but their children were born here as citizens. They wouldn't allow the Japanese-Americans, the other Asians to become citizens. That was another law we had in this country at that time. But if you're born here, you're a citizen. So, and Norm's family situation, his father, when he was ready to buy a house and set up 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. >> Monica Hesse: There's 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 you're sweating so fast that you accidentally shoot under the barbed wire where guards stop you because you've accidentally escaped the camp, and you're terrified, and I wonder 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? ^M00:29:28 >> Secretary Norman Mineta: We didn't have snow in San Jose. So, we got to Heart, Mountain, Wyoming, in November of 1942, colder than blazes. The wind was blowing, and here we are from California, light clothing, light jackets and experiencing snow. I mean, snow is something you drive to. It's just something you find on your doorsteps. And so, somewhere a bunch of found some -- we didn't have sleighs, and we found these big cardboard boxes, and we used those. Flattened them out and used those as our -- >> Monica Hesse: As your sleds? >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Sled, thank you. And so, here we are going around, and all of the sudden, my cardboard box/sled, instead of going this way, it went this way, and I swooped under the barbed wire fence. The barbed wire is probably about this high, and that outside 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 how scared, but I was about more scared about my father coming to pick me up. And so, he adequately told me that I shouldn't do that again, but it was a very, very scary scene, because the military jeep happened to come by and patrolled, two of them, and picked us up and took us to the brig. >> Andrea Warren: And Eddie thought that they might shoot you. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: That's right. Eddie Kimara, my good friend, thought, "Now look what you did to us." >> Monica Hesse: Andy, you showed some pictures of young people organizing baseball teams, and I know that Heart 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. >> Andrea Warren: Well, I think that this is where the parents get so much credit. They were real concerned about their children continuing their education. Things like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, because the loved the values of those programs. And so, Japanese-American kids were involved in that. They were involved in music. There were so many things, and they wanted like to seem as ordinary as it could be, even though the classrooms, in the beginning, these kids are sitting, literally, orange crates. They don't have enough textbooks. Eventually, people who have carpentry skills will build desks and chairs, and new textbooks will come in. The Wyoming Board of Education actually did a good job in terms of the cooling of the kids in his camp. That wasn't true in all the camps by any means. That was Wyoming who did that. And the resilience of not only keeping life going, having it -- 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 with laundry, which was no easy thing. Back home, she had a washing machine. Here everything had to be scrubbed in a tub. You're carrying clothes in a basket to the laundry center. You stand in line to get in there. You scrub the clothes. No dryers or anything. Now you take the wet clothes back through the snow and everything to your little room and hang it up and try to get to all dry. So, a lot of just basic work like that, but the fun part, you had a couple movie theaters there you could go to. There were dances. There were concerts. People have brought musical instruments with them or ordered them from the Sears & Roebuck Catalog, or a friend from home would send them one. And so, you had bands and orchestras. Music was very important in the camps. There was flower arranging. You mentioned the language classes. There were people playing chess getting together. The kids loved to dance. I mean, they were doing everything they could to keep people's spirits up, and people paid tremendous attention to how they looked, keeping their clothes clean, keeping them mended, and the women could buy fabric at the camp store. Nobody had any money. You know, it was just down to nothing, but things were relatively cheap, and they would sell the latest fashions and do their hair. Norm learned to ice skate while he was at Heart Mountain, because they flooded the baseball fields. And then you had to get ice skates, and I'm sure not everybody can afford to do that, but money was a real issue for just about everybody. ^M00:35:07 So, you were lucky she had a few dollars a month to spend on these things, but just this let's make life as good as we can under the circumstances, and I'm just floored by it. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: When we got to the camp in November of '42, the schools were not going to be ready until April. So, the camp elders were really concerned About wait to 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 nine or ten troops in our camp, and we'd have our own jamboree, and our scout leaders would write to the Boy Scouts in Deaver, Ralston, Powell, Cody, and say, come on in and say, come on in and join us in our jamboree, and invariably, they'd write back and say, oh, no-no, we're not coming in. There's barbed wire all around the camp. There are military guard towers with searchlights and machine guns. So, we're not coming in. They're POWs, and our scout leaders would write back and say, no, these are not POWs. They're Boy Scouts of America. They wear the same uniform you do. They read the same manual you do. They do after the same merit badges you do. And so, none of them came in. But then, one day, we got notice that the Boy Scouts, a Boy Scout troop from Cody was going to come in. So, they came in, and we did our knot tying contest, and how a start a fire without a match, and woodworking contests and all these things. And then we got paired off with a kid from Cody to build our pup tent. Well, and Wyoming, it can rain a lot any time. So, in order to protect the tent, you have to build a moat around it. So, this kid and I built a beautiful moat. And then he said, "you know, there's a kid from my troop in that tent below us. He's a bully, and I really don't like him. Would you mind if we cut the water to exit towards that tent?" well, no skin off my nose. So, I said sure. So, we this beautiful moat, and 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 kid goes, "Ha-ha-ha, he-he-he, ho-ho-ho." He kept laughing the whole time, into the night, and finally said to him, Alan, would you please shut up so we can get some rest?" Well, that was Alan Simpson. >> Monica Hesse: Please explain for the young people in the audience who don't know who Alan Simpson is. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Well, eventually, Alan Simpson became a US 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 and a pup tent together. And we became the very -- >> Monica Hesse: Playing a prank on the boy downstream. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: And we became the very best of friends, and to this day, we still vacation together twice year. We go on trips. We have dinner. I'm on the phone, probably, with him four or five times a week right now. So, we're the best of friends. But he, Republican from Wyoming, and I'm a Liberal Democrat from California. But we're still the best of friends. >> Andrea Warren: And work together on the Civil Liberties Act, and that's real interesting. I think you probably could've pulled it off on your own, Norm, but I think Alan was really helpful. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Oh, very helpful. >> Andrea Warren: If you want to explain how. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: He was very helpful, because on the Senate side, he was very helpful in getting cosponsors of the bill and getting people to vote yes on the HR 442, and it was named 442 because of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Battalion that served so well in Europe during World War II. >> Monica Hesse: The 442nd, for anyone who might not know, was all Japanese-American unit that was very decorated in the war. I wanted to ask about after the war, when you're returning home to a community that had expelled its Japanese-American citizens, what that reentry was like and what the readjustment period was like after the war. ^M00:40:07 >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Well, we were very fortunate in San Jose. First of all, the San Jose Mercury Harold had editorials, at that time, saying because there were other communities where farms were being burned and arson, a lot of things were happening. And they editorialized saying, "These are our friends and neighbors coming home. Please don't do anything untowards them." So, we were very fortunate in San Jose. Salinas, which is about 70 miles away, had a National Guard unit that got wiped out in the Bataan Death March. So, there were intense feelings and Salinas. So as, Japanese-Americans and the Eisais, the first generation from Japan, were coming back, they were being shot at. Their farms 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 of San Jose high school with a 3% Japanese-American population. So, it was very different than other communities. Fresno, Sacramento went through some very serious problems, as well. >> Monica Hesse: Andy, I've heard people say about history, is that we're never really writing about the past. We're talking about the future. We're 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 in these experiences from the 40s, what you think we should take of them now and what we can learn going forward. >> Andrea Warren: Well, there's no way to not see comparisons. All we have to do is look at our southern border, everything that's going on there in terms of the, we'll call them nicely, roadblocks we're putting up against people. The hatred that has been expressed over and over against Muslim Americans since 9/11. Now the Muslim Americans who live here, they didn't have anything to do with 9/11, but they look like the enemy. That's the very same kind of thing. And so, there's this public distrust, this public hatred, and we see it. In America, we've seen it over and over again against immigrant groups coming in here, and we have these stories in our own past unless we're native American, and we see the distrust, and we see the prejudice and the bias. And sometimes it feels like we really don't learn, and a story like Norm's will remind us that we've got to be very, very careful about our own government, and I think this is one of the things that's the hardest and most important about the internment of the Japanese-Americans. Two-thirds were citizens because they were born here, but you have to remember that that other third, because people go, you know, they weren't citizens. Well, they weren't citizens because we would let them be citizens. Now they'd lived here many, many years. Norm's father had lived here for decades. He was a very loyal American. He loved this country deeply, and yet, he wasn't allowed to become a citizen. So, he didn't have the protection of the Constitution, but Norm, it turns out, didn't have it either. He should have been protected by it, and he was not. So, yes, we got this wonderful Constitution in place, but it doesn't mean that in times of war or for whatever reason, that it won't 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, can things can start getting out of hand fast. And what we've got to do is speak up and speak out when it starts happening and not enough people, very few people did this for the Japanese-Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt was out there doing it. She came to California and had her picture taken with Japanese-Americans. She wrote in her column about the Italian-Americans, German-Americans, the Japanese-Americans. ^M00:44:57 These are our fellow citizens these are our friends and neighbors, and let's not forget that, and maybe she had some influence but not nearly enough. And people wonder why the Italian-Americans and the German-Americans didn't go into camps in larger numbers, because thousands of them did. You've written a book about this, Monica. You know, you get all the research and know about that and how those people were treated. They had the advantage of a looked more like, you know, what an American was supposed to look like, and the Japanese-Americans stood out. And there was this real concern about that invasion of the West Coast. There actually were submarines, Japanese submarines, sighted out in the Pacific Ocean, and you know, there were some incidents, but nothing, nothing to implicate Japanese-Americans themselves. So, we have really got to stay on top of this. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: And, you know, people like my dad were an immigrant from Japan, but she wanted to do something to help in 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 US Army personnel. And so, that's 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 were a lot of things that, and as a result of the evaluation and internment, you know, we were talking about what happened to us to make sure that it doesn't happen to somebody else in the future. And part of that whole action was to make sure that the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was passed. And yet, I was Secretary of Transportation on 9/11, and keep Muslims off airplanes. Don't allow Middle Eastern to fly. And even talk about rounding up Middle Easterners, putting them in camps, and we were having a cabinet meeting on Thursday September 13th with the House and Senate, Democratic and Republican leadership, and towards the end of that meeting, Congressman David Bonior from Detroit said there, "Mr. President, we have a very large Middle Eastern population and Muslim population in Michigan, and they're very concerned about all rhetoric in the electronic press and the print media about banning travel for Muslims and Middle Easterners and the talk about rounding them up, and President Bush said that they would. "You're absolutely correct. We're equally concerned about that rhetoric, and we don't 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, 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, we're starting it out, but the first word the top of the list is no racial or ethnic profiling." And I said, wow. That's going to be a tough one. And then when the President said that on Thursday, I called him back and said, hey, 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 are about ready to come out with the new regulations for security to let the airlines go back into the air, and the President said, "Keep it in there." And so, we did. >> Monica Hesse: I think we have just a few minutes left, but I could stay up here all day. 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 the microphone wants to find these young ladies. ^M00:49:58 ^M00:50:07 >> Audience Member: Hello, my name is Fayita Tomlinson, and I have a question for the author. If you could have, would you have interviewed a woman and a man and Norman Mineta together and like combined the book? >> Andrea Warren: I might have done that. You know, it would depend on the story. The first thing I wanted to do was tell the story of Japanese-American internment, and then, find the right person who story would reveal that history. And when I visited Heart Mountain, it was very much Norman Mineta's story that stood out for me. But there wasn't anything stopping me. In some of my other books, I'd use multiple characters, and I certainly have used women, females, girls, and this is just sort of the way this story came together. You have to be careful as an author that you don't defuse it too much. So, it's sort of depends on who your main character is, but Norm had such a rich story that, as I was reading about him, and then certainly, as I started spending time with him to interview him, I knew I could tell a more concentrated story through him, because that's so much history to reveal. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Let me first of all congratulate Fayita 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 to things that no one else owns, your name and your integrity. Protect both of those. Protect both. ^M00:51:52 [ Applause ] ^M00:52:00 You'll have short-term, midterm, long-term goals, and so, I want you to work hard at whatever it is you're going to undertake professionally and career wise, and keep that short-term, midterm, and long-term goal, but as you're looking at the long-term goal, make sure you don't stumble over something right in front of you. You'll 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 make sure that you protect your integrity, because without integrity, you can't do anything. People won't trust you. They won't respect you, and whatever you're going to do in life, you've got to have integrity, trust, and respect to get things done. So, to all of you, thanks for being here today. Thanks to the Eskin 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 I'd like to say, as you go into your careers and professional areas, you know, in a free, democratic society, you have everyone from a well-read 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, there's a 99% of 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 president of the United States, you know, I'm a subject matter expert, and blood 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, we've had this situation where people who don't know anything about us, whatever your circumstance might be, but they're making decisions about you and for you, and you got to be at that table when those decisions are being made. So, work hard. ^M00:54:59 [ Applause ] ^M00:55:11 >> Monica Hesse: Just one minute, just 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? >> Audience Member: Hi, my name is Mark Turner from St. Stephen St. Ages school, and you said you were a Boy Scout. Did you finish -- did you get to Eagle Scout or did -- >> Monica Hesse: Oh! >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Never got to it. I got first class, but, unfortunately, I never got to Eagle. >> Monica Hesse: Are you a Boy Scout? Stay in it. You'll get a higher rank than Norm Mineta. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: That's right. Keep working at it. ^M00:55:58 ^M00:56:01 >> Audience Member: Hi, my name is Katie Davis. I was wondering, for the author, if you had the chance to write another book about someone else, like George Takei, would you do it? >> Monica Hesse: That's for you. >> Andrea Warren: Well, George Takei has his own book. So. >> Audience Member: Yeah, like not specifically him. That was an example. >> Andrea Warren: He has his graphic novel, yes. I have only one other time revisited a subject a second time. I've written two books about the orphan trains in America. The first book I did somewhat like Norm's, 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 it get their stories now or not get them. So, I wrote second book called We Rode the Orphan Trains. These are all nonfiction, two stories, and I would never say no. It's certainly a possibility. I think it's an incredibly deep and rich history, and it needs to be taught much more in our schools, and so, the more books the better. >> Monica Hesse: I think we have time for maybe two more questions, and I'm sorry. We're choosing the young people. >> Audience Member: Hi, my name is Abby Moon, from St. Stephen St. Agnes School. For Norman Mineta, I was wondering, from when you ran for political office to now, you think you've had an influence to have more Asian Americans run for public office into 2019 than when you started? >> Secretary Norman Mineta: 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. A 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 for that appointment to fill that vacancy. And so, there were 13 candidates. I interviewed with all the city council members and was appointed to fill that vacancy and became the first non-white 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 that's a principle I've stayed with all my life, whether I was mayor, a member of Congress, or [coughing] 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 public service without running for political office, by becoming a member of a board, or a commission at the state or local level. So, I encourage everyone to consider doing that. ^M01:00:06 But yes, what I tried to do since 1967 is to try to encourage young people to run for political office or to still be in public service, while still pursuing their own career and professional goals. So, I encourage you to do that. We need more and more people. >> Monica Hesse: I think we have one more question. No pressure, but it should be the best one, since it will be the last. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: The last question is always the zinger. >> Monica Hesse: Anyone? ^M01:00:50 ^M01:00:53 I see a hand right in the middle. You want to come to the microphone? ^M01:00:59 ^M01:01:06 >> Audience Member: Hi, my name is Sinai, and my question is for the author. How has this interview impacted you? >> Andrea Warren: I'm sorry, what was that? >> Audience Member: How has this interview impacted you? >> Andrea Warren: Oh, there's not an easy answer for that. You've listened to Norm. You've heard about his story. You know now how he has lived his life. He used the word integrity, and it's the hallmark of Norman Mineta. You know, when I was trying to find him to interview him, I couldn't find information on the Internet on how to contact him. And so, I started contacting various organizations that had something to do with Japanese-Americans, anything I can think of, and every time I was getting responses from people like, "Well, that's a great idea. Nobody's been able to get a book out of Norman Mineta yet. But, no, I really don't feel comfortable sharing his information with you, but if you can find it, I think it would be a great idea." But nobody would ever give it to me. 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 doesn't care about publicity. You know, I don't think this is an easy thing at all for him to be here and talking about himself. When the question came up about other Japanese-Americans running for office, Norm has mentored so many. He was mentored by Daniel Inouye. So, it's been something that's been passed along and passed along. The incredible Japanese American community is the other thing that is influence 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 happened before there could be reparations. And it's the only time it's happened in our nation's history, but it has been an incredibly enriching experience for me, and I feel very grateful that I'm the one who got to tell his story in the book. ^M01:03:14 [ Applause ] ^M01:03:27 >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Now before we break, can I do something of a personal nature. I'd like to have my wife stand up, because without her I would have never been able to do this. ^M01:03:42 [ Applause ] ^M01:03:49 She has cajoled, kicked, and whatever it takes influence me. She's been so helpful, and so, she's been a great teammate for me to be able to do these things. Thanks, honey. >> Monica Hesse: Thank you both so much for being here, and thank you all for being such wonderful listeners and asking such thoughtful questions. >> Secretary Norman Mineta: Great, thank you. Thank you. ^M01:04:17 [ Applause ]