Can you feel at home, with the conditions you face, and the setting you’re in? That question unveils a lot of the privilege that some people don’t realize they have. Throughout history and to this day, people are affected by the racist legislation of our past government in a conflict with “Alien enemies”. Once the conflict settles, and legislation is repealed, who is left to deal with the ways that racism has become embedded in our culture? Who is left to teach the children how we learn from our mistakes, or to give new generations methods of fixing them?

Many marginalized groups today feel that they have the responsibility to put up with everything that’s put against them, in order to reap the benefits of American prosperity. Meanwhile, Immigrant parents form close bonds with their families in order to uphold the cultural roots that are not complementary to the lifestyle formed around the institutions of this country. Once children are old enough to be sent to school, and adapt to the customs that separate them from their parents, they are put with the burden of making friends, succeeding, and for some cases, casual racism. It hasn’t always been the duty of a teacher to prevent bigotry among classmates, and avoiding its effect on the learning process for specific students. 

Portrayed by George Takei, in They Called Us Enemy, Asian American children, specifically after WWII, had a great deal of social stigma from the other, unlearned children. On top of that, textbooks did not include the history of tragedy that they faced, and teachers were not prepared to act as a front against social racism. 

From all of this, George Takei became disillusioned from the American Ideals that he had researched. A facade of liberty and justice for all, making the credibility of the white man even more questionable. One of the bigger struggles for him was the struggle with his father, wondering why he didn’t do more to fight against this racism. I see it as a dynamic that can be identified in most Asian American groups, and some households that have new generations of people who are willing to stand against discrimination. Our Immigrant parents, who came to this country with the idea of leaving their old political situation behind, or to build themselves up in a new style of economy. This world was new to them, seeing it as a gift, but there is still so much more we have to fix. 

Although this country has opportunities, and political ideals that many look towards, there is no moral way to cover up our history. It should be discussed with progressive mindsets so that the people who are in charge of making change will do so as effectively as possible.