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missflyer 's review for:
They Called Us Enemy
by Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, George Takei
Equally touching and painful, sobering and hopeful, George Takei’s memoir of living in the Japanese internment camps as a small child comes to life in They Called Us Enemy. With the help of Steven Scott and Justin Eisinger for text and the simple yet evocative artwork (in a black-and-white Japanese manga style) by Harmony Becker, Takei relates his story through both his childhood eyes and his adult eyes. We are treated to the innocent joy of a child who sees his experiences as a “vacation” (mostly), and the reflections and activism of an adult who wants to share his story so that newer generations not only never forget what has been done and but also encourage everyone to stand up for what is right in their daily lives.
I read this in pretty much one sitting, and it kept pulling on my emotional strings. Takei as a child mostly saw magic and normalcy in the internment camp – thanks largely to his young age and his parents’ efforts to protect him and his younger siblings. Takei as a teenager and adult had/has questions about the experience – why them, why didn’t his parents make different decisions, why didn’t they or many (enough) others, Japanese-American or not, stand up and speak out to the injustices going on – frustrations which resonate even today. He does not shy away from the darkness of the past nor how that darkness is still present, and uses his past as a way to reach out to others, to show them why what was wrong then is wrong now, and that you and I can make a difference. Every small gesture, every individual, has the opportunity to make a difference, and it is up to us to take those opportunities to speak out against injustice in all its forms.
Favorite quotes:
Childhood memories are especially slippery. Sweet and so full of joy, they can often be a misrendering of the truth. For a child, that sweetness…out of context and intensely subjective…remains forever real. I know that I will always be haunted by the larger, vaguely remembered reality of the circumstances surrounding my childhood. – page 51
Though they responded in different ways—caring for their families, fighting on the battlefield, or serving time for their principles—all these Japanese Americans showed incredible courage and heroism. They proved that being American is not just for some people. They all made difficult choices to demonstrate their patriotism to this country, even when it rejected them. – page 123
Most Japanese Americans from my parents’ generation didn’t like to talk about the internment with their children. As with many traumatic experiences, they were anguished by their memories and haunted by shame for something that wasn’t their fault. Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators, but they don’t carry it the way the victims do. – page 140
I read this in pretty much one sitting, and it kept pulling on my emotional strings. Takei as a child mostly saw magic and normalcy in the internment camp – thanks largely to his young age and his parents’ efforts to protect him and his younger siblings. Takei as a teenager and adult had/has questions about the experience – why them, why didn’t his parents make different decisions, why didn’t they or many (enough) others, Japanese-American or not, stand up and speak out to the injustices going on – frustrations which resonate even today. He does not shy away from the darkness of the past nor how that darkness is still present, and uses his past as a way to reach out to others, to show them why what was wrong then is wrong now, and that you and I can make a difference. Every small gesture, every individual, has the opportunity to make a difference, and it is up to us to take those opportunities to speak out against injustice in all its forms.
Favorite quotes:
Childhood memories are especially slippery. Sweet and so full of joy, they can often be a misrendering of the truth. For a child, that sweetness…out of context and intensely subjective…remains forever real. I know that I will always be haunted by the larger, vaguely remembered reality of the circumstances surrounding my childhood. – page 51
Though they responded in different ways—caring for their families, fighting on the battlefield, or serving time for their principles—all these Japanese Americans showed incredible courage and heroism. They proved that being American is not just for some people. They all made difficult choices to demonstrate their patriotism to this country, even when it rejected them. – page 123
Most Japanese Americans from my parents’ generation didn’t like to talk about the internment with their children. As with many traumatic experiences, they were anguished by their memories and haunted by shame for something that wasn’t their fault. Shame is a cruel thing. It should rest on the perpetrators, but they don’t carry it the way the victims do. – page 140