Happy 75th Birthday to George Takei! The Japanese American National Museum congratulates George and thanks him for all he does for our institution, our community, and our country. Not every celebrity is as civic minded as George, but he has always made himself available when possible to support good causes and to speak out against prejudice and discrimination.
A lot of people know George was on Celebrity Apprentice this year and then got “fired” by Donald Trump. What people probably haven’t heard is that viewers of the program responded to the classy and respectful way George conducted himself on that program and his refusal to blame anyone else. He took responsibility and then with great dignity left the program.
Since George had designated the JANM as his charity, viewers made donations in George’s honor to the Museum right after he was let go.
Today, George is working very hard at creating a musical telling the story of what happened to George, his family, and thousands of innocent Japanese Americans during WWII. The government forced our families to leave their homes and over 120,000 were imprisoned. George knows that it is important that story is shared by all Americans, so he is trying to get “Allegiance” to Broadway.
Happy Birthday, George. You are a great American!