--- title: George Takei Writes Against Japanese Internment Comment description: George Takei says that a Donald Trump advocate's recent comparison of Trump's Muslim registry to Japanese interment has "reopened... very deep wounds." canonical: https://time.com/4576219/george-takei-japanese-internment-precedent-op-ed/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-18T13:00:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:56.442Z article:section: Politics og:title: George Takei Writes Against Japanese Internment Comment og:description: George Takei says that a Donald Trump advocate's recent comparison of Trump's Muslim registry to Japanese interment has "reopened... very deep wounds." og:url: https://time.com/4576219/george-takei-japanese-internment-precedent-op-ed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30984deb0b767fee/6988af098e0601fa1746850b/gettyimages-586320788.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3543 og:image:height: 1993 og:image:alt: 15th Annual Official Star Trek Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Takei Writes Against Japanese Internment Comment twitter:description: George Takei says that a Donald Trump advocate's recent comparison of Trump's Muslim registry to Japanese interment has "reopened... very deep wounds." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt30984deb0b767fee/6988af098e0601fa1746850b/gettyimages-586320788.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George Takei: We Must Not Let Muslims Be Treated Like Japanese Americans in WWII > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e10235db-28b4-4cae-9c3f-4c2bdbca6f89&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: George Takei: 'Being Optimistic Is Ensuring Your Success' [Watch (HLS stream): George Takei: 'Being Optimistic Is Ensuring Your Success'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uIjZMxRS.m3u8) (3:04)  _Published 2014-08-21. George Takei talks to TIME about enduring the internment camps, being a closeted gay, and his new documentary,_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 18, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  Actor George Takei speaks during the 15th annual official Star Trek convention at the Rio Hotel & Casino on August 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Actor George Takei speaks during the 15th annual official Star Trek convention at the Rio Hotel & Casino on August 5, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gabe Ginsberg—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 18, 2016 1:00 PM UTC [George Takei](http://time.com/4389864/george-takei-blasts-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link4), who lived in an internment camp as a child, says that a Donald Trump advocate’s [recent comparison](http://time.com/4574732/donald-trump-japanese-internment-muslim-registry/?iid=sr-link2) of Trump’s Muslim registry to the interment of Japanese Americans has “reopened very old and very deep wounds.” [Writing in the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/18/george-takei-they-interned-my-family-dont-let-them-do-it-to-muslims/?utm%5Fterm=.a38e3ff006aa), Takei recounts his time living in a horse stable with his parents in a camp and “the injustice that had been visited on so many of us.” He cites Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and spokesman for the pro-Trump Great America PAC, saying Japanese internment provides a “precedent” for a Muslim registry as well as Trump himself [telling TIME](http://time.com/4140050/donald-trump-muslims-japanese-internment/?iid=sr-link1) in December 2015 that he didn’t know whether he would have supported internment. “We cannot permit this invidious thinking, discredited by history at the cost of so much misery and suffering by innocents, to take root once again in America, let alone in the White House,” Takei writes. “The stigmatization, separation and labeling of our fellow humans based on race or religion has never led to a more secure world.” **Read More:** [Why Citing the Japanese Internment as a ‘Precedent’ for a Muslim Registry Is So Alarming](http://time.com/4574680/muslim-registry-japanese-internment/?iid=sr-link2) ## Transcript I lived most of my life closeted. Living a life where it's pretty much facade. And your intention, all the time, you have your guard up. You don't want to be exposed. Because I, I loved my career. I loved it with a passion. And I didn't want to have anyone destroy it. But that meant living a double life, and it's a very uncomfortable life. I've been an advocate and a political activist from the time I was a teenager, but silent on the very. Issue that was closest to me, the fact that I'm gay. And so, when I finally came out in my late 60s, I was determined to fully be out, to be fully liberated. And to be fully honest with myself. And publicly. Jennifer Cruise said she would like to do a documentary on us, my husband and me, so we were first of all flattered. But then we thought about a documentary. So many, actors have documentaries made which are essentially. Vanity projects. And we thought, do we want something like that? But then I thought one of the social issues that we'd been advocating strongly for is equality for the LGBT community. And we thought this would be a wonderful way to do that. [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ] translate to English as to endure with dignity or fortitude. It is that, that made it possible for Japanese Americans. American citizens. Who happened to look like the people who bombed our Pearl Harbor, who were summarily round up with no charges, with no trial, with no due process. It was an egregious violation of the US constitution, except the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed that executive order 90 [ UNKNOWN ] and put approximately 120, 000, American citizens of Japanese ancestry in these barbed wire prison camps. I think being optimistic is assuring. Your success. If you start out saying, you know, I've got this problem or I, I'm angry at that, you will not succeed. My father said be confident of who you are, but also work hard to be the best you can be. We will live long and prosper. 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