Today, we’re taking a break from what we’re usually reviewing to talk about a serious subject. This review will focus on racism that is disguised as Patriotism, Internment Camps, and the Executive Order 9066. This is the review of George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy.
You recall on December 7th, 1941 that Pearl Harbor was bombed and attacked which pulled the United States into the war, but what was happening behind the scenes after the attack was political pressure to punish and strip away citizenship, and rights of Japanese Americans in response to the attacks of Pearl Harbor. This would lead into labeling Japanese Americans as “Alien Enemies” of the people, which took place Seventy-Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After giving into the amount of pressure from Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in order to incarcerate Japanese, German, and Italian Americans in the U.S. Internment Camps.
They Called Us Enemy is one of the most emotional graphic memoirs (or memoirs in general) I have ever read. The story begins with two Soldiers coming to the door and telling George‘s father that he and his family have to come with them, explaining that under Executive Order 9066, Takekuma and his family have to leave their home immediately. George Takei discusses his family’s life before the attack on pearl harbor after the birth of his sister, Nancy Reiko, seeing time moving forward to December 7th, 1941 the day that would change their lives forever. Japan declared war on the US by attacking Pearl Harbor. What was meant to be a time to be getting ready for Christmas for the Takei Family (including every one of Japanese ancestry) ended up leading to giving up the life they knew. It would see the growth of racism disguised that was as Patriotism that took place in not only what the Takei Family had witnessed, but families of Japanese, Italian, and German Americans that were forced to live in internment camps that were located throughout the United States.
“People can do great things, George, They can come up with noble, shining ideals. But people are also fallible human beings, and we know they made a terrible mistake.”
Takekuma Norman Takei
George and his co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott have done a wonderful job of recapturing the events and the peril the Takei Family went through. Artist Harmony Becker‘s Pencil work is a great touch for helping bring the writer’s message to the reader to life, watching The Takei Family and other familes live life in Rohwer Relocation Center (aka Camp Rohwer) to living at Tule Lake (aka Camp Tulelake). This memoir inspires the reader to engage through democracy to insist we treat fellow human beings with fairness and dignity.
They Called Us Enemy is available now, where books are sold, including e-retailers such as Amazon. It is also available to read on Webtoons.
Final Grade:
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