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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

Ryōhei Motohara, the farmer who owned the land that later became McAllister High School, sold it to Robert McAllister Sr. for pennies on the dollar when he and his family, along with over a hundred thousand Japanese Americans, were sent to inland prison camps. One year later, he joined the army and went to Europe with the all–Japanese American 442nd Regiment. He died in battle three months later, fighting for the country that had imprisoned his family and thousands of others for having the wrong last name.

This has been Weekly History Minute. Brought to you by the History Club.

[The unofficial, unsubmitted, unapproved addendum to the script for WHM]

Robert McAllister Sr. was a racist and a thief, and I, for one, don’t think he deserves the honor of having our great school named after him. Join me, the Asian Student Coalition, the South Asian Student Association, the Muslim Club, the Black Student Union, and La Raza in the quad today to sign a petition to change the name of the school from the name of a racist to the name of a true American hero: Ryōhei Motohara.

This has been Weekly History Minute, brought to you by me, Owen Takasugi.

31

SOMEONE FROM THE MERCURY NEWS CAME TO school to cover the lunchtime demonstration, so I can’t be part of it, or Mom and Hannah will kill me, one right after the other. In a rare moment of solidarity, in order to make sure I don’t get involved, they both showed me some of the uglier messages they’ve been receiving and reminded me that some people would see my involvement as a mission of personal vengeance against the McAllisters, and that would turn me into a target. So I’m lying low, at least for now. I compromised by wiring stonecrop cuttings and cedar twigs together for perseverance and strength. I pin the charms onto Owen, Aviana, and Zach, and melt into the crowd, where I see Will and Sam standing together.

Brynn takes the mic and introduces the three of them, which—wasn’t part of the plan, was it? Then she stays right up front, waving and cheering; I suspect that she’s just using us as a way to show everyone what a great, progressive leader she is. This is not her issue.

On the other hand, shouldn’t it be everybody’s issue? Maybe I’m just feeling left out, standing down here instead of up there. And pissed off, because she invited Em and me to hang and I said no, and Em said yes. I know. Petty.

Owen, Aviana, and Zach take turns on the mic and tell stories about their families’ internment experiences. Baseless FBI interrogations, buses, barbed wire. Lost pets. Broken friendships. But also baseball leagues, poetry clubs, and choruses. Flowers and vegetables coaxed from the unforgiving, arid land.