Incidents of anti-Chinese and anti-Asian harassment continue to rise across the country, as coronavirus cases and deaths multiply in the United States.
Tragically, scapegoating people of Asian descent as well as other newcomer communities for economic and/or health crises is not new. Throughout the history of U.S., people of color, indigenous people and immigrant laborers have been blamed for a variety of catastrophes, resulting in xenophobic and racist actions by individuals, endorsed wholesale by government policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, anti-miscegenation laws, and the incarceration of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II.
Amid these unprecedented times, I am grateful for the opportunity to tune in to a conversation hosted by Facing History featuring actor and activist George Takei, who spent his childhood with his family wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese American internment camps during World War II.
Takei is known around the world for his role in the acclaimed original TV series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. But Takei's story, which includes an acting career that spans six decades, goes where few have gone before. He is one of the country's leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, and remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.
Here's an excerpt from the talk, where Takei iscusses his family’s wrongful incarceration during WWII, and the anti-Asian racism on the rise today.
The convo is part of Facing Race's special series of engaging and thought-provoking online conversations about what it means to face history now. For the first conversation, actor and activist
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| George Takei |
Amid these unprecedented times, I am grateful for the opportunity to tune in to a conversation hosted by Facing History featuring actor and activist George Takei, who spent his childhood with his family wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese American internment camps during World War II.
Takei is known around the world for his role in the acclaimed original TV series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. But Takei's story, which includes an acting career that spans six decades, goes where few have gone before. He is one of the country's leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, and remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.
Here's an excerpt from the talk, where Takei iscusses his family’s wrongful incarceration during WWII, and the anti-Asian racism on the rise today.