John Okada published the book No-No Boy in 1957. The story of Ichiro Okada, a Seattle native of Japanese descent, is told in the film No-No Boy. Okada was imprisoned during World War II for not opposing the emperor of Japan and for refusing to register for duty with the American troops. In this novel Ichiro is torn between being forced to choose between his home country identity and his Americanness. He does not want to go to war against his home country yet America is drafting him to. He refuses to. The closest way I can relate to this is minor colorism experiences, if that’s what you’d call this. I’m Puerto Rican, but I’m white-passing. My grandmother’s ancestors were German and Spanish Jews, so I’m much paler than the rest of my family. I’ve also experienced people trying to discredit my being Puerto Rican because of my skin color. I’d have people try to tell me I’m wrong when I say I’m Puerto Rican. I’ve never needed to choose between any, though, and I could only imagine how heart-wrecking and confusing that could have been for him or for anyone who has experienced what Ichiro has.