George. Takei.
Oh my.
The simple fact that he was here at Bucknell has my Trekkie mind exploding. I already feel as if my tuition has been mostly justified. Now all we need is an elevator in Smith.
Jokes aside, Takei’s talk was a heartfelt one about the struggles of his family during World War II and the Japanese-American internment camps that they were put into.
A brief historical recap: during the Second World War, following the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan and went on to assume that every single person in America of Japanese descent was not above suspicion of being an agent of the Japanese government. As such, many Japanese-Americans’ assets were frozen, and those present on the West Coast were rounded up by the military to be put into camps.
Takei shared the story of how his family was personally affected, and I would say that his words truly speak to not only the struggle of his own family, but the struggle against this country’s historical pursuit of the American ideal. The Bucknell forum’s theme is “World in Transition,” and the transition of the civil rights era and movement were the bulk of Takei’s life. The story of America is indeed its tale of striving to become a more perfect union, to be a place where any and all can come and work to make a life for themselves.
Takei even mentioned this himself, how his father enshrined the American dream in his own heart, how he still held love for the country that stripped his family of their home and everything they had and marked them as disloyal traitors to the only country that they had ever inhabited.
His father never lived to see the reparations given by President Reagan in the late 1980s. It’s almost humorous how under 40 years ago this country still had not apologized for an atrocity committed while presenting itself as the hero against the German state of the 1930s-1940s. While the Germany of that era was indeed an awful villain on the world stage, people in this age often forget that the allied powers were not so saintly as many history books would have you believe. The tales of atrocities committed are far and wide, and it took 20 years after the war had ended for the country to officially take action against the systemic racism that has plagued it since its inception.
Takei spoke of his struggle with his personal identity. Tab Hunter was a hero of his from a young age, but as Takei strived with his dreams of becoming an actor, seeing Hunter’s destroyed by the “outing” of his love for the same sex ensured that Takei would remain in the closet for much of his life.
It is truly a tragedy that we have not learned from our history of misplaced fear and irrational hate.