Other

Yasuo Kuniyoshi, born in Japan, lived his life in the United States. He was a highly regarded artist yet, in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Kuniyoshi was labeled an “enemy alien” … an “other.” The art community of America, collectors, artists and dealers, gathered around Kuniyoshi. In 1948, a show of his work was mounted at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art. A dinner was given. Hundreds attended to affirm their support for Yasuo Kuniyoshi. My mother and father were there. I have an original photograph of the many supporters at table … my father barely visible, my mother faintly smiling.

Photo of Yasuo Kuniyoshi: Peter A. Juley & Son, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons