Diversity in All Forms! discussion

The diversity topic we cover in October is race/ethnicity.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

I'm looking forward to reading, They called us the Enemy. Great pick.

This book was just amazing! I always liked how witty and brilliant George Takei is and this book only capitalizes on this impression. The two things I liked most about this book is that:

1.) Takei tells the story of his experience, but he is also telling the story about the experience of a person that was affected by the internment into camps because they were Japanese or Japanese-American and living on the west coast during the rise of the Second World War. Takei presents this as if he is just a young person and not a renowned celebrity. When talking about his rise to fame, he makes sure that he ties it into the core message and main idea to this graphic text.

2.) Takei reminds us that being American does not mean taking on a physical appearance, but instead embracing American values and doing one's best to embody the opportunities and ethics of what this country was built on. This applies to both citizens born on American soil and immigrants looking to fulfill the mentioned ideals.

I started this graphic comic yesterday! Looks good.

What an excellent graphic book! Concise, engaging, more like a movie than a documentary, yet it covers the entire American-Japanese experience in World War II. The kids' viewpoint (George) was realistic, both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. I wish I could give George's parents hugs, insufficient as that may be.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was really impressed by this graphic novel! It brought out a lot I didn’t know about the racist laws passed during WWII that enabled the internment. I like how Takei told the story from the point of view of his younger self, and how children are able to find normalcy and even wonder in uncertain and uncomfortable circumstances (it reminded me a little of the movie Life is Beautiful in that way). I loved how invested his father was in true democracy and how that led to Takei’s own activism.

I also thought of Life is Beautiful!

It still amazes me at how few people know about this horrible time of history. For further reading, there is Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and George's earlier memoir To the Stars.

Maybe I know more about this subject because I live in the Pacific Northwest where this is a very personal subject.

I loved this graphic novel and think the decision to do it all in b&w was excellent. I loved how he brings it back and forth from different time periods. This book should be used in schools to show how important it is to speak truth to power.

Megan wrote: "I was really impressed by this graphic novel! It brought out a lot I didn’t know about the racist laws passed during WWII that enabled the internment. I like how Takei told the story from the point..."

Life is Beautiful is one of my favorite films! I read 3 other books that dealt with this topic, so I thought I might skip this book, but now....

Kirsten #EndGunViolence wrote: "It still amazes me at how few people know about this horrible time of history. For further reading, there is Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and George's earlier..."

I really liked Snow Falling on Cedars. I read two others on the topic (I'm blanking on the titles).

"Speaking truth to power" is so crucial, and so difficult sometimes.
I wish we had some people in our government right now who get through to the president without getting fired, or being accused of having a meltdown. I don't think we've ever had a time in history where so many high level positions have been left empty or powerless.

aPriL does feral sometimes wrote: "My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Excellent review April! Love the last line.

I haven't read Snow Falling on Cedars yet, I'll have to bump it up on my TBR. I'm glad there's so many more books out about this now! I've only read The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. I learned about the Japanese Internment in school, but only a little. I knew about the presidential proclamation that made internment possible, and I knew there was a large camp in Idaho that Dorothea Lang and Ansel Adams photographed as part of some government program. Lang complained Adams mostly photographed the mountains and made everything look too beautiful. The government wouldn't release her photos for years because of fear that it would cause unrest. I didn't know that there were other laws issued later that made it easier to seize property and force Japanese Americans to move to Japan. I didn't realize how many camps there were. I knew the internment wasn't in earlier history books, because my mom, who's a Boomer who grew up in LA, didn't learn about it in school, she learned about it later. Possibly from me.

I loved how honest Takei was about his feelings, how angry and frustrated he was as a teen and how he came to re-appreciate his father's true strength. I loved what a strong team his parents were. It's chilling how the government tried to erase what happened and it's so important that we talk about this ugly chapter in American history because we seem to be repeating it.

Megan wrote: "I haven't read Snow Falling on Cedars yet, I'll have to bump it up on my TBR. I'm glad there's so many more books out about this now! I've only read The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by J..."

Agree!