Book Review: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (and others)

They Called Us Enemy
by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, with art by Harmony Becker (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Takei)

This powerful graphic novel memoir, written by actor George Takei (with help from Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott), and with art by Harmony Becker, is a compelling and haunting look at one of the darkest chapters in American history.

Takei, forever Hikaru Sulu in the minds of classic Star Trek fans, has been an activist in his later years, speaking out about cultural, political and moral issues close to his heart. The two topics he gravitates towards the most are gay rights — Takei has been open about his homosexuality since the 1980s and has been married to his husband Brad since 2008 (though they’ve been together since 1987), and the Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

This memoir tells the story of his family, George, his father and mother, and younger brother and sister, and the harrowing experiences they had in first Camp Rohwer in Arkansas, and then Camp Tule Lake in California. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, there was a great deal of undeserved distrust of Americans of Japanese descent in the United States. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, instructing the military to gather up all Japanese-Americans in the U.S. and “detail” them in ten Internment camps scattered throughout the country. This Japanese families, comprised of 127,000 individuals (112,000 on the West Coast, and the rest scattered through the country) was made up of 80,000 Nisei (first generation individuals born in the U.S. to immigrant parents), and the rest were either Sansei (grandchildren of immigrants) or Issei (the original Japanese immigrants not eligible for citizenship).

This book jumps back and forth in time, with framing sequences of a current-day Takei speaking at both a TEDTalk in Kyoto, and in 2017 at an event at Roosevelt’s historic home. But the majority of the book is told in flashbacks to George’s experiences growing up in the internment camps, and his memories of his parents. I was aware of his story in only broad strokes — I had enjoyed seeing a filmed version of his stage musical Allegiance (and the CD soundtrack of that show), which looked at the Japanese internment in a more general sense), but this book managed to tell a much more detailed version of the story.

This is a sorrowful story, but also leavened with a great deal of humor. As a child, George Takei did not necessarily see the imprisonment of his people as the horrible situation that it was — instead, he was just a little kid and that’s the way he remembers growing up. But, looked back on now from his 80s, it’s amazing the equanimity he is able to maintain when speaking or writing about it today.

And this is the perfect time to reflect on this dark chapter in American history, when war-inspired prejudice led to unthinkable actions. Takei speaks up frequently to point out the frightening parallels between the Japanese American experiences in the 1940s and the Mexican American and Islamic American experiences today.

Absolutely unforgettable read. Highly recommended.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the Broadway musical Allegiance, by George Takei (and others).]

[ publisher’s official They Called Us Enemy web page ] | [ official George Takei web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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