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

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

This heartbreaking graphic memoir offers a glimpse into a portion of American history that is not often acknowledged. Even having grown up here in the U.S. and having taken history classes from elementary school through university, this book covered a subject that I had never learned about. In They Called Us Enemy, Takei and his co-writers have created a very moving and emotional portrayal of the imprisonment of Japanese Americans post-Pearl Harbor. The cruelty and xenophobia against Japanese people in the States in that era was even worse than I would have guessed. Many of the people at the camps, including most of George's own family, were actually born in the United States. Despite that, they were seen as inherently loyal to the emperor of Japan. Japanese Americans faced so much dehumanization before, during, and after their imprisonment. Reading this book allows us to see some of that through the eyes of George as a young boy. 

If, like me, you wish that you had known more about this era of history, then please read this quick and poignant memoir.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racial slurs, War, and Xenophobia