George Takei: Of Course Trump Is Wrong — Problem Is, He's Dangerous | Big Think

Of Course Trump Is Wrong — Problem Is, He's Dangerous

Watch the newest video from Big Think

Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Prior to the Second World War, the Asians were depicted as inscrutable, vicious, cunning, and every minority group has been characterized by stereotypes and that's been perpetuated by the media, whether it be television, movies, radio, comic books, all these various forms have strengthened those stereotypes."

George Takei knows what it's like to see his demographic dragged through the mud by the media. He sees the same sort of thing playing out today when loudmouths like Donald Trump characterize undocumented Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. That Trump's message has been gaining traction says a lot about the power of stereotypes to keep minority groups down.

Of course, this isn't the first time Mr. Trump relied too heavily on stereotypes and misinformation to keep people of color down... and it's not likely to be the last.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GEORGE TAKEI:

George Takei is best known for his portrayal of Mr. Sulu in the acclaimed television and film series Star Trek. He’s an actor, social justice activist, social media mega-power, star of the upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance, and subject of To Be Takei, a documentary on his life and career. Takei’s acting career has spanned five decades, with more than 40 feature films and hundreds of television guest-starring roles to his credit. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Actors’ Equity Association, and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

With the outbreak of World War II, Los Angeles, California-born Takei and his family were placed behind the barbed-wire enclosures of United States internment camps along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans. He spent most of his childhood at Camp Rohwer in the swamps of Arkansas and at wind-swept Camp Tule Lake in northern California. At the end of the war, Takei’s family returned to their native Los Angeles. Inspired by this difficult chapter of American history, Takei developed the Broadway-bound musical Allegiance, an epic story of love, family and heroism in which he stars alongside Tony Award winner Lea Salonga.

He is also a member of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender political organization. Takei is Chairman Emeritus of the Japanese American National Museum’s Board of Trustees; a member of the US-Japan Bridging Foundation Board of Directors; and served on the Board of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission under President Bill Clinton. In recognition of his contribution to the Japan-United States relationship, in 2004, Takei was conferred with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan.

With Takei’s expansion into social media, interest in his personal life expanded. In January 2014, To Be Takei, a Jennifer M. Kroot documentary on the life and career of Takei, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January, and was later released in select theaters across North America. Among his many accomplishments are a Grammy nomination Takei shared with Leonard Nimoy, in 1987, in the Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording category. He has received a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame in 1986. And in 1991, Takei left his signature and hand print, in cement, in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.............

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT:

George Takei: Donald Trump, 14th candidate for the Republican nomination for president, made the statement that we have a porous border and that rapists and criminals are coming right through the border and that's why we've got to build a fence paid for by Mexico. And he's what, number one in the polls now? Isn't that interesting? That extreme position, at least with the Republicans, is getting all that support that puts him in the number one position. The fact is the legal emigration rate has gone down by practically a half since 2009. Illegal immigrants are going back to Mexico. We hear the term "Ferguson," which represents what's been happening all over the United States and various different cities, Baltimore, Wisconsin, Staten Island where young, male African-Americans unarmed are shot down and killed by law enforcement officers. So there's another example. The racial profiling of Arab-Americans in this country because they look like terrorists. That's precisely what happened to Japanese-Americans during the Second World War. ......

To read the transcript, please go to.