During WWII, the Japanese bombed the sleeping giant at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. America’s reaction was to unleash its wrath on all Japanese, both in America and in Japan. The US officially entered the war and locked up all Japanese Americans in internment camps, even if they were loyal to the US.

They called us Enemy by George Takei is a comic written about his personal experience during his time in the Japanese internment camps and after the camps were ceased. The story gives us a firsthand view on what life was really like in these camps. It puts things into perspective on what the people could do and could not do, the living conditions, and day to day life. Throughout the read, there were a few things that disturbed me.

One of the things that had disturbed me during the read was the re-ocurring fact that ALL Japanese were evil and that none of them could be trusted. Even if they have been a loyal upstanding citizen for all their life. These people’s beloved country had just turned their back on them and were accused to be a part of the country that were against. They had nothing to do with the bombings of Pearl Harbor, they were just associated with it because of their race.

I was also disturbed by the fact that when George met Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the man that imprisoned the Japanese, she pretended like noting happened. She shook his hand all smiles, as if her husband didn’t subject them to horrid living conditions and the feeling of betrayal by their own country. It irritates me how horrid actions done by America are attempted to be “forgotten” and “swept away”. In fact, Roosevelt died without ever giving the Japanese an official apology. It took another 43 years and 8 presidents later for Ronald Reagan to officially apologize and “compensate” the Japaneses’ grievances. The Japanese had to live like nothing happened after they were released, as America had not come to acknowledge their actions until decades later.