They Called Us Enemy

I have read many books on the internment of the Japanese Americans during World War II and this is one of the best of the lot. It covers almost all the relevant facts of what happened before, during and after the internment. The graphic format it is in works very well with good character design and good use of words.

George Takai, in case you don't know, played the role of Mr. Sulu on Star Trek. He was quite young when his family was forced to move from their home in California and taken first to the Santa Anita Race Track assembly center.

An assembly center was the first place many would be taken since the actual internment camps were not yet ready. The family had to stay in a room that had been used to house horses and the smell confirmed that fact. They had one light bulb. The washing facilities were in a separate area and there was a communal toilet area, also in a separate area.

The book goes into all those details quite well. It also goes into the history of the questionnaire that they all had to answer with questions 27 and 28 determining just what would happen to the internees. Those who answered no to both questions (are you willing to fight for the U.S. and are you willing to give up all elegance to the emperor) ended up in Tule Lake which is where George and his family ended up.

(There's a lot of history behind that and it's too much to go into right here. Read the book.)

Tule Lake was the main center of what became major protests by the internees. The camp, by the way, was surrounded by barbed wire, lookout towers, tanks and armed soldiers.

The book also does a good job of going into the daily life of the internees. It progresses on through to the end of the war and slightly thereafter.

Again, I consider it one of the best books on the subject.

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