bedemissie 's review for:

They Called Us Enemy by Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, George Takei

5.0

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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" I searched all my civics books and history books...but there was nothing about the internment of Japanese Americans." "That remains part of the problem-- That we don't know the unpleasant aspects of American history...and therefore we don't learn the lesson those chapters have to teach us" (173-4).

"Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators...but they don't carry it the way the victims do" (140).

I would highly recommend this book to every person from 5th grade and above and it would be great on required reading lists for schools. 

Between the abuse and imprisonment at the border over the past few years--which Takei references--and the current illegal and immoral kidnapping and deportation of Venezuelans and other legal residents, the Japanese internment camps have been top of mind for me lately. At least in my US history classes, it was a subject that was always glazed over. They were mentioned, but we never dove deep, never learned the names or locations of the camps, never explored any firsthand accounts. I thought everyone had been relocated to California, not spread across multiple states as far as Arkansas. I'd never heard about the loyalty survey or the renunciation scam or the 442nd regiment.

Experiencing the horrors and anxieties of wartime in a racist country through the eyes of a child makes it more accessible to the average reader. I was particularly struck by how, despite everything, Japanese Americans were able to build and maintain community to support each other. It gives me hope that despite all the unforgivable things coming down the presidential pipeline for the next four years, we as Americans will show the same adaptability and resilience as Takei's family.