They Called Us Enemy
Ratings81
Average rating4.6
New York Times Bestseller! A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
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I was just randomly browsing when I came across this book and I realized I hadn't read it despite admiring George Takei as an activist and outspoken defender of civil rights. So I thought why not pick it up right away.
While it is the story of George's childhood in the Japanese internment camps in WW2, what makes this more powerful is seeing the juxtaposition between the anguish and devastation his parents feel with his and his brother's tales of adventure. He was an innocent who didn't realize that living inside a fenced camp wasn't normal and that the country where he, his siblings and his mother were born had declared them “enemy aliens” for no fault of their own except their ancestry. His memories maybe more heartwarming but he does include how humiliating it must have been for his parents and all the other 120,000 Japanese Americans who were first labeled enemies, but then asked to plead allegiance to their captors and also fight for them as soldiers. It's truly a shameful and hypocritical part of history which highlights how America has at various times in the past failed to live up to its ideals.
Despite all the horrors though, George's parents are the heroes of this story. His mother ensures her kids are safe and feel as normal as possible during all the years, even sacrificing her principles to keep the family together. His father on the other hand takes a leadership role within the camps, helping everyone else navigate that life and do whatever he can to solve their problems. I found his wisdom and strength incomparable because despite all his hardships and being treated so horrifically by his country, he never loses his faith in the guiding principles of American democracy and I can see where George got all his ideals from and why he has become such a prolific activist. What did surprise me was that Earl Warren (future Supreme Court Chief Justice) was an early instigator of prejudice against Japanese Americans and a supporter of the internment camps. I had only known him as the person whose famously known “Warren Court” was one of the most liberal ever and delivered historical judgements like Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia. FDR died before the war was over but I wonder if Warren ever regretted the choices he made during that time.
Overall, this is definitely a memoir that needs to be read, to learn about one of the dark periods of American history. The art style is simple and the content may seem may feel sanitized, but that's because it's mostly told from the POV of a child and I think that's why this makes for a perfect read for children, a way for them to know their history in an understandable manner.
I read this in one sitting. This was one of my picks for the Read Harder challenge and appreciate being introduced to a book I may not have picked up on my own. George Takei shares his experience of surviving within American concentration camps while also providing insight to the political climate which directly impacted his life.
