George Takei talks about internment, democracy

Oct. 25—Living at a Japanese internment camp during World War II, George Takei had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school.

"We could see the barbed wire fences as we recited 'with liberty and justice for all,'" he said. "We were all too young to understand the irony."

Takei told a large audience, including 200 high school students, at SUNY Oneonta during the Mills Distinguished Lecture on Monday, Oct. 24, about his life before, during and after the war and also about how fragile democracy can be. Takei's graphic memoir "They Called Us Enemy" was chosen as this year's Common Read.

Takei was one of 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast who were sent to Japanese internment camps during World War II, after President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

"There was no charge, no trial," he said. Residents were not given due process, they were rounded up and sent to one of 10 camps from Arkansas to California, he said. In addition to no due process, their bank accounts were frozen. "Many people lost their life savings," he said.

Takei said he was 5 years old when the U.S. Army rounded up his family and others in his neighborhood and bused them to a racetrack outside of Los Angeles where they lived until the camps were built. Takei, his brother, Harry, who was 4, his mother, father and baby sister, were assigned one horse stall, that had not been cleaned out of horse manure, he said.

Once the camps were built, the Takei family was sent on a train to the internment camp in Arkansas, he said. While there, he attended school and his father was a block manager, he said. His mom was able to smuggle in a sewing machine in a duffel bag, he said.

"There was a lot of contraband," he said, including photographer Toyo Miyatake, who was able to smuggle cameras into a camp.

After a year, the U.S. government realized it needed some of the young men and women in the camps to help fight the war and each adult was given a loyalty questionnaire. The men were assigned to the 442nd Regiment and sent to Italy. "The 442nd became the single most decorated unit," he said.

He said there were two questions his parents didn't answer correctly, number 27 and 28. He said number 27 asked them if they would be willing to serve and fight for the country. They responded no because they had three young children, Takei said. The second question was poorly worded and asked if they would swear loyalty to the U.S. and if they ever swore loyalty to the Emperor, would they denounce him. "It was a stupid question," Takei said.

Because his parents didn't answer correctly, the family was moved to the Tulelake internment camp in California, which was the largest camp and the most militarized, he said. They lived there until the end of the war. Once the war was over, residents were given $25 to start their life over with. He said the family moved to Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles and within four years, his parents were able to buy a three bedroom house in Wilshire.

Takei said as a teenager he asked his father why Roosevelt signed the executive order. He said his father told him people are imperfect. Roosevelt was a great president and was able to get the U.S. out of the Great Depression, but he didn't adhere to one of his most famous lines about there is nothing to fear except fear itself.

"Even that great president became fearful," Takei said. "That fear signed the executive order."

Takei said in the 1970s Japanese Americans started advocating for an apology and redress for being sent to the internment camps. He testified before Congress in 1981 and read the speech he gave. "I have come to understand democracy can be fragile," he said. He asked for acknowledgement that damage was done and asked for proper restitution for people sent to the camps.

He said President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law in 1988 and apologized. People received $20,000.

Takei encouraged people to vote on Nov. 8, as the country is "at another critical point."

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.