The result is a story of wry humor that tells the story of how one family teaches and entire town to learn tolerance, love, understanding, and acceptance. Through these trials, the Jackson family also learns their own brand of tolerance and acceptance, and how to be proud of their own heritage while embracing new ideas.
Part 3 -- the year is 1946, the place is Seattle, Washington. The setting is a High School locker room in which several boys are changing into baseball uniforms in preparation for a game. The room is filled with banter and joking. The camera focuses briefly on different groups, chatting, making comments about the game, and the group of all-White boys talking about their sports prowess. The door opens, and the coach walks in, followed by a young man with dark hair. The coach calls out, "Boys, I want you to meet your new teammate, Yoshiko. Yoshiko was just relocated to Seattle, and has been playing ball since he was three. I want you to be sure to welcome him and show him every courtesy."
Of course, the boys are aghast that so soon after the War ended they have to put up with a "Jap." The begin to shun Yoshiko, only being civil when the coach is around, but never allowing him to join their groups in school, or their extra-curricular activities. Yoshiko is obviously distraught, and keeps trying to make overtures to "become one of the guys." All this is to no avail, and Yoshiko feels alienated and distanced from his traditional parents and his new school.
One particularly tense afternoon after practice, Yoshiko is very distraught. He simply walked into the Soda Shop, ordered, and then tried to sit down with his teammates....
Suddenly, someone sits down next to him -- a rather odd looking boy with thick black glasses, braces on his legs, and an odd tilt to his head. The boy introduces himself as Sammy, and tells Yoshiko that he has something called Multiple Sclerosis, which makes it hard for him to walk, breathe and communicate. Sammy tells Yoshiko that the kids in the school do not like him much either, but his grandfather told him that it is the special ones that are outside the crowd.
Through Sammy, Yoshiko begins to see the world in a different way; one in which sometimes people cannot breathe right, move right, and need help. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Yoshiko begins to realize that it is not race that divides the students, but bias and prejudice. Despite all the negativity, Yoshiko is faithful to the team, always at practice, always trying, and even though he rarely gets to play, he remains a team supporter. The night before the playoffs for State Championship, Yoshiko and Sammy are eating a burger at the Malt Shop, when the suddenly hear a loud crash. Yoshiko runs outside and sees a black Buick on fire, the driver pinned inside by the steering wheel. Yoshiko realizes that the driver is Chad, the lead pitcher for the team and one of the boys that is most hateful to him. However, he does not even think; he tears off his coat to push back the fire, gets the door open, reaches in, and pulls Chad out as the car becomes even more inflamed. The next day, we see that Yoshiko is put in as starting pitcher and Sammy, never much into the game, is in the bleachers cheering him on.
