Tramway Reviews #3: They Called us Enemy

Welcome back to the Tramway,

and welcome back to another entry of Tramway Reviews. This' a book I wanted to read for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got to it. I finished it Monday August 24th, 2020, and felt so inspired to write a review that I've written this before the (now published) second review in the series.

    Today, I will be reviewing "They Called Us Enemy," By George Takei, with Steven Scott, and art by Harmony Becker.

They Called us Enemy cover. Ⓒ Penguin Random House, Cover used under fair use.

    "They Called us Enemy follows the story of George Takei's family as they're forced from their home during World War II to the Japanese Internment camps, that President FDR made legal with Executive Order 9066. The story follows the difficult decisions that Takei and other families had to make while behind barbed wire, facing racism around them.

    I love this book. It's one of the most important comics I've read. "They Called us Enemy" is in the genre of autobiography comics, and is as important as Art Spiegelman's "Maus." "They Called us Enemy" gives us a window into the past and one of America's darkest sins. We see the cruel living spaces, the dehumanizing effect of internment, and how the Japanese American community responded.

    One thing I learned from the book was that the US allowed some Japanese Americans to serve, albeit in a segregated unit, and they fought courageously in Europe against the Nazis. There's an irony of fighting for freedom for a country that stole yours away, preluding to the Vietnam War...

    Another thing I learned is that Japanese Americans could rescind their citizenship, though the motives behind the offer was racist. Essentially, America wanted to do a prisoner exchange with Japan for US citizens held by the Japanese Empire. In reality, Japanese Americans were extorted to rescind their citizenship to stay with their families in the camp, for fear of anti-Japanese Racism outside of the camps.

    Takei's story pulls at your heart. To continue, we move into minor spoilers for the biography. (Minor spoilers for the next two paragraphs)

    What I wasn't expecting when reading was that the story moves past the camps. We see George Takei grow up, his frustration with his country, and become an advocate. We even see him meeting Gene Roddenberry and joining Star Trek. The moment which surprised me most was that George Takei met Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 

    I think the most impactful moment of the story is when George and his Dad were helping an election campaign. Eleanor Roosevelt visited, and she shook George's hand. His father left early, saying he was sick, but in reality: he couldn't shake the hand of the wife of the man who unethically imprisoned his family.

    

    Takei does not hold back in the end of the book. He openly makes comparisons to the Racism of the Japanese Interment towards the Trump Administration's Islamophobic Muslim Ban. Having read this story, comparisons also come to mind of the Refugee Internment Camps that America has. 

   I predict that in 20-30 years, we will see a modern version of "They Called us Enemy" for the ICE internment camps. History, sadly, is repeating itself again. We have sadly not learned from our past, likely because we'd prefer not to remember it.

    Takei does not allow us to forget, nor should we try to. "They Called us Enemy" is an important reminder of one of America's darkest, racist sins, and a lesson that anyone can be demonized. Locking people up was wrong then, and it's wrong now. If you see them as simply "illegal criminals," then you need to read "They Called us Enemy." You'll be reminded that everyone deserves their human rights to be respected.

    Thank you for reading this entry of Tramway Reviews. Have you read "They Called us Enemy?" Let me know what your thoughts are. If you wish to own a copy of "They Called us Enemy," you can find it on Bookshop.org. 

    If you wish to interact with me, you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and GoodReads. If you'd like to connect with me professionally, please consider connecting on LinkedIn, mention that you came from Tug & Tram Blogging. 

Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you on the Tramway.