They Called Us Enemy

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.

You never know the journey someone has walked until you hear their story. At best, you can empathize with their journey, but you will honestly never know what someone has felt or gone through unless you have walked in their shoes. This story comes as close as one could get to walking in someone's shoes. That someone is George Takai of Star Trek fame. Here are the superficial things you know about George Takai. Firstly, George stared in Star Trek as ensign turned captain in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise. You also probably know that George Takai has a wicked sense of humor, having turned the phrase “oh my” into an art form. You may even know that George is a massive defender of LGTBQI rights. Takei currently serves as a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign “Coming Out Project.” What you probably don't know is that George was an internee of the Japanese internment camps during world war 2. A dark stain on America's history. And this is the crux of George's very personal memoir; They Called us Enemy.

When reading a story with the gravitas of Japanese internment, the holocaust, or something of the same ilk, there are two ways a story could go. Both are equally accurate, but they have very different effects on the audience. Firstly, a writer can present facts and tragedies, much like a history book. Some historical graphic novels do this. Or, you can offer the history and story with a personal twist to it. A la Maus and now, They Called Us Enemy. I find the historical graphic memoir a very personal way to present someone's history and a much more engaging read when paired with the graphic novel format.

They Called Us Enemy is the story of how a young George Takai and his family were given no notice, nor judicial recourse and taken and put into mandatory custody in Arkansas based on the color of their skin. George was locked in multiple detainment camps in Arkansas. All of their parent's assets, including a home and dry cleaning business, were unduly ceased, and their bank accounts were frozen. They were isolated from society, told that they could not be loyal to anyone but the Emporer because of their racial bias. They were put into a small barrack in the hot Arkansas swampland and told to live. George recounts his early memories of him and his brother and young baby sister playing in the dirt. Of how his mother had tried to make this barrack a home and keep their family together and healthy. The thing I was taken within this story was that a story such as this could get maudlin. This is not at all. It is a truthful accounting of events as George lived them and how those events affected who he was then and who he became. It is hard to read because we as a country were so blind then, but George always tinges the story with hope. There is still hope. Hope for better things and by the better angels of man's nature. It was uplifting, and I couldn't put it down once I started it.

Graphically, this is simple. The pictures help tell a story but are not there to completely distract you from the importance and gravity of the words, much like icing on a cake.

I recommend this for a multitude of reasons. It is one of the best graphic novels I have read this year. It is on a topic that is seldom talked about but should be and because I am a fan of George Takai, and I want to know more about the exciting life that he has lived.

I am enjoying these new graphic novel format biographies. While they don't have the space to get into a lot of detail, they do a great job of giving a sketched look into a person's life.

I did not know much about George Takei's life outside of his role in Star Trek. In fact, it is only recently that I've become aware that Americans of Japanese descent were forced into internment camps during WWII.

Takei tells the story like a Ted Talk while the art shows the story. I like that Takei's voice comes through so strong. I did have to get used to marrying the speech style storytelling with the action in the pictures.

My favorite part of the book comes in a conversation with Takei's father regarding our country and President Eisenhower. Mr Takei pointed out that Eisenhower did a lot of good things for our country. He wasn't a perfect person and he committed a deep wound to American citizens of Japanese descent. The wheels of government turn slowly and this is still the best form of government in our world. This speaks of a deep wisdom that can see beyond the moment into a bigger picture of time.

I want to develop that kind of perspective. To have wisdom that comes from having patience to see deeper and longer.

I heard a little about George Takei's childhood experiences from his speech at my alma mater once. This graphic novel captures and conveys a whole lot more about the details of mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Highly admire Takei's work towards social justice, lgbtq+ rights and in general his positive spirit. Reading this book just doubled that for me. It's an informative and emotional read, highly recommend.

This was a wonderfully presented graphic novel that told George Takei's personal story of his experiences at Japanese internment camps during WWII. It was also a memoir of George Takei's life after the war. The story from young George's perspective was really affective. As a parent with young children, it was especially impactful to read about how the children viewed the experiences with innocence, many times thinking things were fun adventures. And how much the parents worked to keep it that way.

This is a subject that's really underrepresented in US history. In my high school classes in the late 1990's in California, it wasn't hidden or ignored completely, but it was kind of a side note. I remember one conversation about it in class. We asked our teacher why they would do this to Japanese Americans, but not German Americans. I've been told a family story that my 2x Great Grandfather was German, never learned to read English and received the newspaper in German. He lived in Iowa. During WWII he had to register as a “resident alien”, but that was it. No one labeled him an enemy or relocated his family.

These recent-history stories are so important, and the personal memoir is so impactful. They Called Us Enemy continued past World War II, and included stories from George Takei's life including meeting and marching with Martin Luther King Jr, and being cast on Star Trek.

(There were no inapropriate scenes, language, or violent scenes.) I would say it is fine for ages 10/12+)
This story wondefully illustrates the atrocities of the Japanese internment camps of WW2, from both a child and adult's perspective.
The story does well to play both sides and does not simply “hate on the government”. It hightlights that all people make mistakes, and that everyone is deserving of respect and honor. You should also think the best of people.
Overall, I enjoyed the story!

Summary: A memoir of George Takei's time in the Japanese Internment camps during World War II with some discussion about how they shaped his life after that time.

I do not read a lot of graphic novels, but I have found they work really well for history and memoir especially for discussion of eras where the visualization really matters. The March Trilogy by John Lewis is a very good example of this type of visual history that would communicate very differently in a straight narrative.

George Takei has been most known for his role as Sulu in Star Trek. But he has deftly used that fame to draw attention to gay rights, immigration and most especially, the history of the Japanese Interment camps. A graphic novel of that time is a natural outgrowth of his other work.

I always like to include a piece of art when I talk about graphic novels because art matters so much to the experience of reading a graphic novel. This is a frame from toward the end of the book when George Takei is processing what it meant to be in the internment camps with his father.



I read this on my new Onyx Boox Nova 2 with a 7.8-inch screen. It is an eink device, so black and white screen. It was very sharp and the art and text were very readable, but at times I did have to look at individual frames and not the whole page. It was easier to read on the Nova 2 than a 6-inch kindle, but still not quite large enough to always read without zooming into particular frames.

Beautifully told and beautifully rendered. I'm familiar with George Takei as an internet personality more than for anything else, as Star Trek was never my thing, but have always been impressed with his storytelling, and this stands true in his graphic memoir about his family's internment during World War II as Japanese Americans. Absolutely wonderful book about a horrible injustice in U.S. history, and I appreciate Takei's implications (through graphic representation) and outright statements (through court cases) that we as a country have absolutely not learned any kind of lesson from his experience, or those of the other 120,000 Japanese Americans that were affected. (I guess one plus is that those who were interred got reparations, just 40+ years after the fact.)