Takei Responds To Internment Comments
2 min read
After the terrorist attack on Paris, David A. Bowers, the mayor of Roanoke Virginia, made a statement that caught George Takei’s attention and the former Trek actor took to Facebook to call him out.
Bowers rejected the idea of Syrian refugees coming to the US and he referenced an event very close to Takei’s heart. “I’m reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” he wrote in a statement released yesterday. “And it appears that they threat of harm to America from Isis now is just as real and serious as that from our enemies then.”
Takei wanted to set the record straight regarding that internment of Japanese-American citizens. “The internment (not a ‘sequester’) was not of Japanese ‘foreign nationals,’ but of Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens,” he said. “I was one of them, and my family and I spent four years in prison camps because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. It is my life’s mission to never let such a thing happen again in America.
“There never was any proven incident of espionage or sabotage from the suspected ‘enemies’ then, just as there has been no act of terrorism from any of the 1,854 Syrian refugees the U.S. already has accepted. We were judged based on who we looked like, and that is about as un-American as it gets.
“If you are attempting to compare the actual threat of harm from the 120,000 of us who were interned then to the Syrian situation now, the simple answer is this: There was no threat. We loved America. We were decent, honest, hard-working folks. Tens of thousands of lives were ruined, over nothing.
“Mayor Bowers, one of the reasons I am telling our story on Broadway eight times a week in Allegiance is because of people like you. You who hold a position of authority and power, but you demonstrably have failed to learn the most basic of American civics or history lessons.”
Takei then invited Bowers to come and see his show, saying “perhaps you, too, will come away with more compassion and understanding.”
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Good for George to kick this racist bastard of a mayor in the ass-Bowers should be ashamed for saying that.
Islam is a religion, not a race.
Good on George. Shame on that mayor for even trying to draw a parallel.
“We loved America. We were decent, honest, hard-working folks.” Therein lies the difference. I don’t think the muslims that shot up that recruiting center in Tennessee, the muslims that blew up the Boston Marathon, the muslim Major that shot up Ft Hood, the list goes on and on, really love America, do they? Neither did the muslims that blew up Paris last week love France. While internment camps might be a bit far fetched, once again Takei is on the wrong side of the story
Sure, but whenever anyone talks about taking on Islam as a whole, they usually mean brown and black folks. They never, ever bring up the few white people that sincerely practice the religion, even when a white American suburban teenager is found to join the ranks of extremists an ocean away.
That does not mean that you punish the vast majority of Muslims who do indeed love their country, however. All those examples that you cite pale in comparison to the number of overall domestic terror cases according to the FBI, but there’s no calls for racist policies to lock up certain populations of Americans. For every mass school shooting, there’s no talk (nor should there be) of racially profiling white men, and that happens far more often than Muslim shootings on American soil.nnAnd while we’re blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few in Paris, let’s remember the number of Muslims who protected, safeguarded, and tended to the injured during that very same attack. They outnumbered the attackers by far.
Hmm…so they never, ever bring up the white Muslim Boston Marathon bombers?
The mayor is attacking the refugees for who they are and their religion-therefore, he’s a racist bastard.
There is no evidence for your claim of racism. From what I read of his actual statement, he is concerned that these refugees are being relocated directly from an active warzone and referred to this action as “imprudent”.
You know, after reading the headline, I was ready to be completely sick of Takei and his whining. But he’s dead on here.
When a friend from Azerbaijan had to check the “race” box on the census a few years ago, I asked her what she was supposed to check. She said she was instructed to check “white,” even though she’s certainly not treated like it.
The expectation or notion that someone should be treated in a certain way due to race is definitely racist.
What about the christard thugs that struck in Oklahoma City? What a fucking coward you are. Make America a better place and kill yourself.
Except this guy doesn’t want to treat them differently because of their “race”, even tho islam isn’t a race. He’s talking about a religion, and a violent one at that. Considering what is going on in the world today, perhaps the discussion needs to be had about islam
What a nice, tolerant liberal. Sack up and serve 22 years, then you may speak to me again
I don’t tolerate anti-American filth like you.
I don’t often agree with Takei’s politics or social viewpoints these days- but man, keep fighting this fight. You’ve never been cooler.
Perhaps that discussion does need to be had; but punishing the innocent refugees that are fleeing the brutality of islamic extremeism is no solution. Caution is important to protect ourselves… but if we leave hundreds of thousands of refugees to the wolves because Isis has managed to make us afraid they might slip in with them, we have both handed them a victory, and countless innocent victims. There’s got to be a our better balance between safety and compassion than anything Bowers is advocating.
At the same time, these refugees are fleeing attacks from those same monsters. Yes, people adhering to the muslim faith have perpetrated horrible things against the western world… but they are also perpetrating those horrible things against civilians in the middle east who also practice that faith. I’m no fan of Islam, but it’s obvious that there are two different camps here, one of which is attacking the others just as much as it is us. Does that mean we’re going to turn a blind eye to the victims just because they share the same religion (at least in name, certainly not in application to their lives) with the aggressors? Wouldn’t that be kind of like refusing to rescue German Jews from Nazi concentration camps during WWII because ‘they’re all Germans’? nnAny racial or religious group that contains monsters and oppressors also contains innocents and victims; we can’t lump them all into the same group because they’re all equally ‘not us.’ Can we really be the great nation that we claim to be if we don’t help people when we have the chance, because we’ve let the terrorists make us too afraid to help anyone who isn’t of our own faith or race?
My question is; why aren’t middle eastern countries taking in their own? Pure islam and western ideas just do not mix. Why not have a place to hold them like we used to do on Ellis Island?
Christians kill more people than Muslims. We illegally invaded Iraq and that is part of a reason why this mess started. In doing so we also killed 100,000+ people in Iraq who weren’t guilty of anything. Yet because white people started the war I guess that’s no considered terrorism?
Because it’s 2015. It’s not like they aren’t being vetted for 1-2 years. Also France, you know the one who was attacked, is still letting in several times as many refugees as the USA.
Who was the guy who killed 20 children in Newtown CT? Who was the guy who blew up the OK city federal building? More people are killed in the USA by crazy white people than crazy Muslims.
When Takei started “Allegiance,” I thought it was ancient history, an interesting but shameful incident in American history that could never happen again. I’m shocked and saddened to see that Takei’s story IS still relevant and does still need to be presented to the public, to remind us NOT to let this happen again.nnKeep telling the tale, George!
And who pulled us out of Iraq? Also, civilian casualties and so on happen in war, no matter how terrible it is, it happens. Furthermore, where are your facts and statistics to back up your claims? Your comment is a joke. You site only one example from recent history and blanket that across history. You clearly don’t read history otherwise you would know how Islam has been the death of innocents for centuries.
See, people don’t even know what racism means anymore. All they know is that it is a negative word and apply it to anyone they disagree with.
Just wait. The terrorist groups are patient. That Paris attack was planned a year in advance. They also have openly told their game plan to the world, but people here still tune that out and turn a blind eye. There will be an attack on a big scale on US soil. It is only a matter of time.
This whole issue is apples and oranges. People back then assimilated into American culture and did love the US as their country. People don’t melt in the pot anymore. The mayor was wrong in comparing this issue with internment and Takei is wrong in thinking that refugees will love the US once they get here. Aside from this, terrorist elements will blend in with the refugees. Anybody that thinks otherwise is in denial and underestimates muslim extremists.
Exactly! And that’s what a lot of “white” Americans do…
It is a group of people who are being collectively blamed for the actions of a few who happen to have something in common with them. nIf race is not a comfortable enough parallel for you, perhaps we could use one with a religious basis instead. And not even the most blatantly infamous one. Let us look instead at Bosnia, Darfur, Somalia, not to mention the Soviet Union’s incarceration and persecution of Jews. nNow please, tell Kang again how it makes a warg’s fart of a difference whether the group in question is a race or a religion.
Kang always has such fun with that box as well. Kang is too brown to check “white” and too Latino to check “black”. Since there is not a “none of the above” and they actually get pissy at you for using “other” if you are mixed, Kang usually settles for “non-white Hispanic”.
You think there ain’t no brothas in the Army?
Racist is the wrong term here. Bigot however still applies.
He also has an excellent editorial on Fox News.
So; what percentage of American Muslims are you talking about here? Three out of how many? How about the remainder, that are *not* shooting at or blowing up people? Or are they all just sleeper cells, every single one of them?
Psst… we did turn away a shipload of German Jews.
Yes, and all those Muslims out there are just waiting for the signal. Better round them all up while we still have time. Do not forget that toddler sleeping in the corner, he might have a suicide diaper.
Look up the UN totals for the people we killed in Bush’s lying, ILLEGAL war. Yes innocent people die in war, Iraq was a useless war that should have never been fought and Bush and Cheney and everyone else who lied to us about that war should be hanged for war crimes.
Can we just intern Takei? (Again?)
Are you daft? This isn’t about race. It’s about a group of people that wish DEATH upon you, me, and everyone else that doesn’t prescribe to their way of thinking. Nobody cares if they are white, brown, black, yellow, red, or blue when it comes to the threat of terrorism.
Since when was the Iraq war about religion? I certainly don’t recall anyone yelling “God is Great!” when the Iraq War occurred. You also do realize that there are people of many races and religions in the American government (to say nothing about the other governments that were part of the Iraq War coalition), right? I’m hardly a fan of the Iraq War and there are plenty of reasons to criticize it, but don’t go and try to make it about things that it’s not. It makes you and those that disagree with the war look like fools. nnYou sure seem to think that everything is about race and religion. When did you become such a bigot?
Agreed. I have zero problem with refugees coming to America. Having said that, these refugees also need to be willing to adopt the American laws, constitution, and way of life in favor of their “Sharia law” that seems to be so popular among Muslims. There are, unfortunately, some Muslims in America that have already tried to institute Sharia Law in their communities. I don’t know about you but I refuse to adhere to a law that supports treating rape victims as criminals, killing homosexuals because of them being gay, and forcing non-Muslims to adhere to Islam tenets or face punishment (including death). nnIf Muslims that come to the US agree that Sharia Law is not a part of American society and culture and they are willing to keep their religion to themselves and not force it upon the rest of us, then I have zero problem with them coming over. nnWhat I think a lot of liberals don’t realize is that Islam, in general, is 10X more conservative than anything we currently have in America. Christian conservatives don’t tend to try and force their ways upon you under threat of death while Muslims can sometimes do that. Sure, Christian conservatives push hard to make laws to adhere to conservative principles but they aren’t out in the streets cutting heads up of non-believers either.
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What was the Iraq war for?nOh year so Dick Cheney’s company could make billions of dollars.nISIS isn’t religious either, they are using religion to separate the USA from our values, which you ‘people’ are clearly proving right now.
And how stupid is that?
I love the “illegal” war angle. Funny, I thought congress voted for it. And if you want to find a reason for this particular fiasco, you need look no further than barack hussain obama
Apples and oranges in this case
So if there are only say, 2% of muslims that are violent (and it’s a slightly bigger percentage than that) and there are 1.3 billion muslims in the world, that means there are a little over 20 million muslims that will cut your head off just for not believing in islam. That said, where are the other 1.2 billion “moderate” muslims to keep them in check?
Yes, where are they in the effort to police their own? Silence is all I hear
That’s because the majority of people here are white, so it stands to reason