“Wow, America kinda sucks,” I thought to myself. 

I was reading They Called Us Enemy, a graphic novel about Japanese internment camps during World World II, which followed the biography of George Takei, and the events leading up to and during his time in these internment camps. The internees lived in hastily constructed camps where fences surrounded them, buildings had little privacy, and mystery food was served. There, they were allowed to build a typical community with schools, churches, and newspapers. Nevertheless, the internment camps would never be able to replace the homes that they were forced to leave. After going to the camps, their properties were allowed to be sold, and after leaving the camps, they weren’t given immediate compensation or resources to rebuild a new life.  

George Takei and his family were labeled as enemies, Japanese spies, aliens..…and overall people that didn’t belong in the U.S. They were wrongly judged solely for their ethnicity and not for their identity beyond where their ancestors were from. How could there be so much hate in America? Does freedom give you the ability to hate? I then thought back to what my grandma told me when violence towards Asians was at its height during the pandemic. “Be careful, especially now, there are dangerous people out there.” I was a little worried for my grandparents, which was pretty silly, considering that we lived in a predominantly Asian community, but I couldn’t help but think: 

“Wow, America kinda sucks.”

But, as I continued the graphic novel I saw a panel where George Takei was having an interview at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, and it read:

“But as we were driving here today, I thought, ‘I’m going to the home of the man (President Roosevelt) who imprisoned me.’ And now, I’m here in his home… Only in America could that happen.” 

Page 194, They Called Us Enemy

I realized that he was right, something like this could only happen in America. Only in America could you publically challenge a country’s important figure without being silenced, and Takei did so on Roosevelt’s property. And it made me realize, that compared to a lot of other countries, it’s amazing to have this kind of freedom of speech. Even if the U.S. does have its problems, not every country permits these kinds of freedoms, and it’s what makes it a privilege to be in America.