George Takei Recalls Time In An American Internment Camp In 'They Called Us Enemy'

[TomCADem]

While Trump and Pence act outraged about calling their mass incarceration of migrant families what they are: concentration camps, former Star Trek actor George Takei, a Japanese American internment camp internee reminds us that this not the first time that the U.S. engaged in a mass internment of people that was driven by racial prejudice and hate.

https://www.amazon.com/They-Called-Enemy-George-Takei-ebook/dp/B07P5GS3PT?pf_rd_p=4f55b452-7933-4b21-af37-39201b9c25bc&pd_rd_wg=UKlN4&pf_rd_r=TVCX20BHBNC6CVVW5H5Z&ref_=pd_gw_nn_ebooks&pd_rd_w=nfJCH&pd_rd_r=53c98ee5-466e-488b-9af0-1a7e3121c62b

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/742558996/george-takei-recalls-time-in-an-american-internment-camp-in-they-called-us-enemy

"Shame is a cruel thing," writes George Takei in They Called Us Enemy, his new graphic novel about his childhood years in an American concentration camp during World War II. "It should rest on the perpetrators, but they don't carry it the way the victims do."

This irony becomes most evident at the conclusion of Takei's book, where he depicts the U.S. government's tardy attempts to establish a sense of collective shame about America's wartime internment of Japanese Americans. "Here we admit a wrong: Here we reaffirm our commitment as a nation to equal justice under law," President Reagan is shown saying in 1988. But no matter how polished his words — or how many zeros on the restitution check Takei receives in 1991 — such attempts at official remorse ring hollow. What the government did to Takei and some 120,000 other Japanese Americans can't be undone, no matter how many speeches public officials deliver or how many checks they send.

The very structure of Takei's narrative underlines this fact more than a political speech ever could. It's young George's point of view that shapes the story, imbuing it with childlike energy. Even as the Takeis are wrenched from their home, transported hundreds of miles and forced to live in camps, young George's openness and curiosity are unflagging. His outlook provides a striking contrast to government officials' stale attempts to explain, excuse and ultimately seek forgiveness for the evil they've done.

In fact, despite the grimness of its subject matter, They Called Us Enemy is a lively, vibrant book. After years spent acting on stage and screen (he's best known for his role as Star Trek's Lieutenant Sulu), Takei has clearly learned a lot about shaping and directing his audience's emotions. He's helped by his co-writers, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and artist Harmony Becker. It's a shame Becker's artwork isn't in color, but she provides a master class on what one can do in a black-and-white format. By incorporating textures ranging from fine hatching to Ben Day dots, she demonstrates how digitally created drawings can have all the dimensionality of work drafted on paper.

[hunter]

1. My copy is in the mail.

My grandfather was beaten by the cops for protesting the internment of his Japanese Neighbors. Many had their farms and homes stolen.

[Hekate]

2. KnR

[lunatica]

3. I just read it

It’s an excellent history lesson. I enjoyed it a lot. I was very touched by how much George Takei loved his father and mother, and how much he honors them. George’s father was a leader. A man who always helped others, even a community leader in the camps. His mother took such good care of the three kids that to them the camp was an adventure.

It’s a graphic novel which I’ve always felt is a great way to make history come alive. It was sad in some places and it made me cry a couple of times. I love the book.