Belonging

The firm’s Asian-Pacific American Talent Resource Group, BTAPA, which endeavors to create professional development and networking opportunities for our Asian Pacific American teammates and allies, played a critical role in this year’s National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Central Regional Conference which was held in Indianapolis this past August for the first time. This year, NAPABA honored author, critically acclaimed actor, internet sensation and social activist, George Takei. For BTAPA co-chair, Mark Kittaka, the opportunity to meet Mr. Takei (created by the firm’s sponsorship of the conference), changed his life.

According to Mark, because there were so few representations of Asian Americans in television when he was young, Mr. Takei’s iconic role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the TV series Star Trek, “meant everything” to him growing up. There were “very few Asian role models on television in the ‘70s and ‘80s.” Most movies showed negative stereotypes from World War II or the Vietnam War. “Having a positive Asian role model who was a significant cast member was somewhat of a novelty and was very impactful for a young Asian American growing up in a largely Caucasian neighborhood,” said Mark. But Mark didn’t realize until after meeting Mr. Takei at the conference just how closely they were tied.

You see, Mr. Takei was being honored by NAPABA because of his body of work and efforts to educate others of the plight of over 120,000 Japanese Americans (the vast majority of whom were U.S. citizens) who were imprisoned in American concentration camps during World War II, in particular, through his most recent graphic memoir entitied, “They Call Us Enemy.” This matters because as it turns out, Mr. Takei was in the same concentration camp as Mark’s late father. Mark never knew this. His father never spoke of that time in his life, with the exception that it caused a lifelong aversion to eating lamb as it reminded him of the gamey, tough mutton that was served to him when he was in the camp.

As a result of this chance encounter created by the NAPABA conference, Mark was able to meet one of his childhood idols and learn details about his father’s experience in the internment camp. After Mark mentioned that his father rarely, if ever, spoke about his time in camp, Mr. Takei told him that there were so many painful memories that he could not share. It gave Mark insight into his father’s feelings as reflected by Mr. Takei, who experienced the same hardship.

Moreover, Mr. Takei and his husband, Brad, graciously had dinner the next day with Mark, his wife, and his mother, who was also incarcerated during World War II, but at a different concentration camp (Heart Mountain in Wyoming). Mr. Takei and Mark’s mother shared stories and experiences about their lives since camp which was very timely because earlier in the summer Mark and his family accompanied his mother on a pilgrimage back to Heart Mountain.

“It was beautiful in that three generations of my family stood strong in the very place that once imprisoned her. It was very moving and heartwrenching to see the conditions and hardship that my grandparents, mother and uncles endured during their years at the camp,” said Mark. Japanese Americans were relocated from their home into in these concentration camps across the country simply because they were of Japanese descent, regardless of citizenship, proof of wrongdoing or due process of law.

Mark went on to share, “I am grateful to my parents for teaching me, notwithstanding their beginnings, that my uniqueness as a Japanese American is actually my power – that I belong just as much as everyone else. They did not let their childhood hardships taint their attitude for the rest of their lives. They worked hard and achieved success in their lives. With their guidance, I have lived with intention, modeling and teaching my children the same. I didn’t process it at the time, but George modeled this every week on Star Trek. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet him in person to gain insight on my parents’ childhood experiences in the camps and to heed his warning that we must learn from the past and never repeat such an injustice against any people based on their race or country of origin. People of all races deserve respect, equality and a sense of belonging.”