New York, November 17, 2016 – In reaction to remarks on national television by Trump-campaign surrogate Carl Higbie citing the Japanese-American internment as a precedent for the Trump Administration’s proposed registry of Muslims in America, actor and activist George Takei is responding by denouncing the comments as dangerous and by inviting elected officials across America to attend a film screening of Allegiance, the Broadway musical inspired by Takei’s true life experience. Allegiance exposes the harrowing and oft-overlooked chapter of American history concerning the unjust incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, mostly US citizens, who were placed in internment camps by the United States government in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Filmed during its celebrated Broadway run Allegiance, will be distributed by Fathom Events for a one-night special event in over 600 cinemas around the country on Tuesday, December 13 at 7.30pm local time. In the next few days, Takei and the producers of Allegiance will formally invite all mayors, state legislators, governors, and US Representatives and Senators in each of the currently programmed locations to attend a screening of Allegiance in their community, on December 13th.
“The Japanese-American internment was an egregious violation of our national values and principles, a terrible event for which Congress apologized in 1988,” a visibly angered Takei declared. “To invoke that dark chapter as a precedent for any action against any minorities today is a morally bankrupt and dangerous step, completely out-of-bounds with contemporary notions of civil and human rights.”
Shocked to hear Higbie’s comments, Takei said “it is more important than ever that the story of the internment be told and heard. We must remain vigilant and mindful of our past mistakes, so that history does not repeat itself. Trump’s rhetoric and plans to profile Muslims indicate that he has not learned the folly of the internment, nor the forces of fear and prejudice that propelled it.”
Tickets for George Takei’s Allegiance: The Broadway Musical On The Big Screen can be purchased online from www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices (theaters and participants are subject to change).
