I’ve read many graphic novels and one of them brought something to my mind. The graphic novel that brought that something to my mind is the historical story of the Japanese Americans, “They Called Us Enemy.” The author of the graphic novel tells his story about his life during the time of Japanese American incarceration, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the bombing of two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He like many other Japanese Americans, has been incarcerated by Americans and lived a tough life in the camps created for the incarcerated. It all started with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The key idea of the story is to show the audience that the actions done to the Japanese Americans in the past are of no doubt wrong and must be shown to the world. The main idea of “They Called Us Enemy” is that the Americans incarcerated Japanese American civilians because they were born from Japanese ancestry. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, but the Japanese Americans had nothing to do with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and yet they were still incarcerated for being Japanese. One of the scenes in the story shows an American soldier questioning a Japanese American about their loyalty to America. This scene stood out to me because it shows us that the Americans wronged the Japanese Americans in many ways, and yet they asked the Japanese Americans if they would remain loyal at all costs or not. To me, the action doesn’t make sense because the Americans imprisoned and excluded them from America which makes it obvious for Japanese Americans to remain disloyal.

Overall, the novel made me think about the dislike of Asians. The Americans imprisoned the Japanese not only because of Pearl Harbor but also because they were simply Japanese. In the first place, the Americans probably never liked the Japanese, and they automatically assumed that they were enemies. The word enemy is vague and always refers to a rival or opponent, but is not a specific group name. The way Japanese Americans are treated by the American government is exactly how “enemies” are treated. These are all simply due to dislike of an ethnic group that does not match yours.

Here is a scene from the graphic novel, “They Called Us Enemy.” American soldiers are questioning the Japanese Americans for their loyalty to America. They Called Us Enemy Pg. 157