George Takei Speaks From Experience … We Should Listen

Posted on by under education, History, Law and justice, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Most probably remember George Takei from his role as Sulu in the Star Trek series, but Mr. Takei is also a published author and an activist.  Today I came across his latest post on SubStack and I think what he has to say is so important that I want to share it with you.  I do hope you’ll take a minute to read and ponder, for he has ‘been there, done that’ as they say.

The Ugly Danger of Scapegoating

By George Takei

15 August 2023

When I was 5 years old, I didn’t understand what a scapegoat was. All I understood was that, because of Japan’s aggression that pulled the United States into the war, my family and I had to leave our Los Angeles home at gunpoint, taking with us only what we could carry.

My mother, tears in her eyes, managed to stash an entire new portable sewing machine in her bag. She knew that where we were going, we might need to make our own clothes. She was right.

We were put on buses and sent to a racetrack in Santa Anita, California, where I lived with my parents and two siblings in a single-horse stable for months. Then, it was a thousand-mile journey by train eastward, the blinds pulled down, supposedly for our own safety. No telling what locals might do if they knew a train full of “Japs” was passing through.

Our new home was an incarceration camp in the swamplands of Rohwer, Arkansas. We were sent there because America needed someone to blame. And President Franklin Delano Roosevelt needed to prove he was tough on the “Japanese,” even though our community, comprising mostly American citizens, had absolutely nothing to do with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

That scapegoating went unchallenged by most Americans, was signed off on by our Supreme Court, and left a devastating toll in its wake. A total of 125,000 of us lost our homes, our jobs, our businesses. We were rendered destitute, then held without charge or trial behind barbed wire, all for the “crime” of looking like the people who’d bombed Pearl Harbor.

When I was older, I came to understand what being scapegoated meant: a convenient target for politicians, a way to whip up hate and bigotry to win elections, a place to lay blame where none should lay. It meant hate, vilification, injustice—and even the very power of the state turned upon us.

I have worked my whole life to help ensure that scapegoating on such a massive scale doesn’t happen again in America. But my heart is heavy, some 80 years after our internment. Because once again, my own community is being scapegoated.

This time it is a community I chose to join openly: the wonderful, joyous, yet so often misunderstood and reviled LGBTQ+ community, letters that represent a veritable rainbow of sexual and gender identities. We are a people who have literally had to fight for the right to live, the right to love, and still today, the right to simply be who we are.

Just a few years ago, things were looking promising. Marriage equality was finally the law of the land, after decades of struggle for acceptance and recognition under the law.

I was able to legally marry my longtime partner Brad in California—and, on September 14 of this year, we will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary as husband and husband, though we have been together as a committed couple for 37 years.

Attitudes of Americans had shifted strongly in favor of gay rights, with strong majorities now in favor of non-discrimination laws. And efforts to turn back the clock had failed, at least until recently.

Enter the scapegoating. Armed with dangerous tropes from over 50 years ago, where gay and trans people are labeled as “groomers” who are a danger to children, wily politicians such as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida began a campaign to drive us out, to erase our families and identities in education, in library books, and in our own communities. They even targeted retail stores that supported us during our month of Pride.

More ominously, and in the name of “protecting” trans kids and in defiance of all expert opinion, politicians at the state level have banned critically necessary trans medical care, leaving desperate parents and families without alternatives. It was not only ignorant, but it was also deliberately cruel. And it is leading to untold suffering for young people already burdened with the weight of successfully transitioning. They are a group that currently suffers the highest rates of suicide among teens.

I have seen where scapegoating, if left unchallenged, leads. And it is a very dark place, indeed. And I am alarmed that the fearmongering and hate, particularly against the trans community, are just the beginning. I know this because it was how it started with us, 80 years ago. First, the editorials. Then the brutal, restrictive rules. Followed by the ire of our larger communities, which ultimately turned upon us.

America is not somehow immune from these dark forces, the kind that led to the horrors of the Holocaust in Europe. Indeed, we have a long and terrible history of bringing the full power of the state behind the very laws that separate, discriminate, and punish based on differences in race or sexuality.

I see those levers of power being pulled again, and I recoil, as we all should. There are few things more terrifying than demagogic populism, sharpened dangerously into authoritarian rule, with minorities left at the mercy of those now in charge of writing and enforcing the laws. Yet that is precisely what is happening across much of Red State America today. Most of the candidates running to be the Republican pick for president have been freely expressing their anti-LGBTQ, anti-trans bigotry in a bid for votes, no matter the harm they are doing.

We are more than 80 years out from the Japanese American internment, but we have yet to learn its true lessons. Today, we must do more than call the scapegoating out. We must provide safe harbor for communities affected, and we must demand coordinated, federal-level responses that deter and prevent such abuses in the first place.

All of us have a role to play to ensure what happened before in America does not ever happen again. In 2024 we, and our allies, must vote as if our lives depended on it—because they do.

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39 thoughts on “George Takei Speaks From Experience … We Should Listen”

  1. Such a poignant post Jill. I could never understand why America did that to the Japanese because of WWII. That’s like blaming every German for Hitler’s crimes. 😦 😦

    Liked by 3 people

    • Thanks, Debby. Can you imagine how terrifying it must have been for him, at age 5, to go through that? I shudder just thinking about it. It was done, I think, out of fear … the same reason Jim Crow existed … fear of “other” and in particular at that point of any who were of Japanese ancestry. Yes, it is exactly like blaming every German for Hitler’s crimes, and for many years after the end of WWII, many did just that. People … they aren’t always rational. Sigh. ❤

      Liked by 4 people

  2. Thank you for this post Jill. As an openly gay man in a same sex marriage living in Florida, DeathSantis crusade against any non-white cis heterosexual is taking on a frightening aspect. His violent followers have threatened any establishment that caters to or advertises any LGBTQIA friendly events. He has made Florida a maga paradise that the worst of them are flocking to as their holy land. The problem is DeathSantis is not just pandering for votes among the knuckle draggers, he is a true believer in the cause of returning society to the standards and stereotypical gender roles of the 1950s. White Christian men automaticity assumed to be in charge, Christian churches were automaticity assumed to be moral centers of goodness being the only real religion visible in the community, women were subservient to men keeping the home / raising the kids for their husbands and needing his permission for most things, black people knew their place and stayed there while the LGBTQIA were not seen or heard of and were terrified of being outed losing jobs, homes, financial security, and safety. That is the world DeathSantis dreams of and is trying to recreate. He really does think that way, his family is ordered that way. He wants it because that is the only way he can feel superior to all the others, because he has not earned that feeling on his own merit. But what makes him so dangerous is he really desires that and believes he is on a mission from god to return the country to that time. Hugs

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you, Scottie! Yes, I worry about you and Ron, as well as several other LGBTQ friends I have who live in Florida. And I was appalled and heartbroken over the woman in California who was killed for flying a Pride flag last week! Where are people’s brains? DeSantis would take us back to the dark ages, as you say, with only straight white males having societal value. Sadly, he isn’t alone … I think Greg Abbott would like to do the same in Texas, and Sarah Sanders in Arkansas, and … the list goes on. It’s discouraging and depressing to see so much intolerance, so much hatred and bigotry in this country today … I thought we were moving past all that until about a decade ago. Hugs

      Liked by 2 people

      • Yes Jill, like you I thought we had moved past such actions and hates. But the past and bigotry doesn’t die easily. It desperately holds on until a breath of acceptance like trump gave it brings it out from under the rocks and makes it a full-blown firestorm moving across the country. Sadly the fight against all forms of bigotry seems to be never ending. I guess hate is more enticing to some than loving acceptance. But like you as long as I can, I will fight for equality and equal rights. We do make a difference, because if our voices were not out here then only the haters voices would be. Hugs

        Liked by 2 people

        • Just like civil rights for people of colour … we thought we had made progress from the 60s through the 90s, but now??? Hah! This nation is just as racist today as it was in 1950. Like you, I will fight for equality, for rights for everyone, regardless of their skin colour, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, or the length of their fingernails! Sigh. Hugs, my dear friend.

          Liked by 2 people

          • Hello Jill. I am going to reblog this if you don’t mind. I’m currently trying to promote the rights of the LGBTQIA on my blog against a really virulent anti-trans bigot and sadly some people in our community support that anti-trans hatred / bigotry. I hope your post will help show how wrong such bigotry is. Best wishes and lots of love. Hugs

            Liked by 2 people

            • I would be honoured for you to reblog this, Scottie! Please feel free to reblog any of my work at any time! You know how I feel … there is NO REASON for the hatred of the LGBTQ community. If a person is straight, then fine … nobody is forcing anybody to be anything they aren’t, for Pete’s sake! But EVERYBODY should be free to be themselves, to be who they are, to love whomever they love, and not to be judged on the basis of those things. Live and let live, for Pete’s sake! Sigh. When will we ever learn? Love ‘n hugs, dear Scottie!

              Liked by 2 people

  3. Pingback: George Takei on scapegoating | Meeka's Mind

  7. This is a very powerful post, Jill Thank you so much, snd thank you for letting us know about the Substack blog. I met George virtually many many years ago throgh a mutual virtual friend on Askme.com (I think). We didn’t converse directly but his comments werecslways timely snd direct. The lawyer’s name wss Catherine Tabor. We emailed each other for a fewvyears but then lost touch. If any of your readers happen to know Catherine I would greatly appreciate it if they would forward her email, or give her mine. gewcolo@gmail.com. just tell her rawgod is reaching out to her. Thanks.
    Back to Mr. Takei, he certainly is someone I would like to know better. I will have to search him out on substack. I should have known he would be a blogger!

    Liked by 4 people

  8. Pingback: Read What “Sulu” writes: – The Bag Lady

  9. Off topic again, Jill. I just reported your issue via WP live chat, and the only reply I got was a standard “We do not have an answer to this particular problem”. Then they closed the live chat before I could add more. They are just useless, in my opinion, and I pay £100 a year for a Premium Service and domain name combined.
    ANNOYING!
    So it looks like you will only see me around when I am ‘allowed’ to view your posts.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 4 people

    • You probably already do this, Pete, but I go daily to jilldennison.com just to check to see if I missed anything. It seems crossing borders (Canada here) can csuse problems. I get 80% of Jill’s posts, some of which appear in my Reader 6 hours late for some reason, but too often I find a new post that didn’t show up at all. It’s an inconvenient pain, but one I have found necessary.

      Liked by 3 people

    • I’m sorry, Pete … I was hoping you might get a suggestion from them, but I should have known better. I’m not getting any useful responses from them either. Thanks for trying, Pete … and thanks for sticking with me.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Hello All. If you have a WordPress blog, you can go to the bell notification symbol in the upper right-hand corner of your computer display screen. I am often two or three days late at responding too or seeing other posters post. What I do is in my Chrome browser I click on the bell and open to a new tab all the posts and comments I have missed for the last three days. Sadly, it doesn’t go back any farther than a little over more than three days. But then when I open the notifications in a tab, if I don’t get to them as long as I don’t wipe out the history or cookies even if I close the browser the history shows those tabs. Sometimes I have three or four windows of 30 to 70 open tabs of sites /comments I did not yet get to. With my schedule, my health, and my interests, I simply depend on that to get to everything. Right now I have three open windows of at least 70 open tabs each. They are from last Sunday. I hope to get to them before the weekend. Hugs

        Liked by 2 people

        • Sadly, Scottie, the dashboard notifications, which is what you get when you click on the bell, only holds a certain amount. You say it holds about 3 days for you, but for me it is less than about a 1/2 day. It all depends on how many comments you get in a day. Otherwise, you can select ‘comments’ fromo the menu on the far left side of your screen and find them all there … it goes back to, I think, the beginning of your blog! Only thing is that there you won’t see responses to comments you left on someone else’s blog. Take care, dear friend. Hugs

          Liked by 2 people

  10. Jill, this was a dark time in America. So, German-Americans and Italian-Americans were left alone, but Japanese-Americans were incarcerated during WWII. Keith

    Liked by 5 people

  12. It is sad that he has to go through this more than once. I am not saying twice, because one never knows what’s next.
    This is what happened in then Czechoslovakia after World War II with German citizens, who had lived there for generations: https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/massacre-in-czechoslovakia-newly-discovered-film-shows-post-war-executions-a-698060.html
    Nobody ever talked about this. I only knew about it because I read novels where it was mentioned.

    Liked by 5 people

  13. Pingback: George Takei Speaks From Experience … We Should Listen | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

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