George Takei's Facebook Letter to Ahmed Mohamed

[DinahMoeHum]

http://fox2now.com/2015/09/17/george-takeis-breathtaking-facebook-letter-to-ahmed-mohamed/

https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei

TRANSCRIPT:

Dear Ahmed,

I’ve never met you, and it’s quite possible you’ve never heard of me, but my name is George Takei. I am many decades older than you, but your story and your experience—when you were arrested at your school simply because you brought in a clock for your teacher--struck a chord with me. You see, when I was a bit younger than you, I was also viewed by others as “the enemy” and treated as such, simply because I happened to look like the people who had attacked America.

Like you, I was just a kid trying to find his place in the world. I loved my country, and I looked forward to all the opportunities and challenges ahead. But my childhood was interrupted by fear and ignorance. When the authorities came for you because they believed you had built a bomb, I was reminded, in a way, of when the army came for us. They ordered us out of our home believing we were suspicious people because of our names, our faces, our ancestry. I spent my childhood in an internment camp because of that fear and ignorance.

But I want you to know, while America may have done a terrible thing to me and my family, and to 120,000 other Japanese Americans, I have great hope for this country, and I believe we do learn. There was a Japanese word we often said in the camps: Gaman. It means to keep on keeping on, with dignity and fortitude. I think you understand this word already. While certain school officials and police officers may have shown you the worst side of our nation, I understand many others have since shown you the best side. I was touched to hear you say that we all have to be true to ourselves.

Ahmed, you are now part of the story of America, and many will learn from your fine example. I see great things ahead for you.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[daleanime]

1. You have to love....

George.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Full speed ahead, Mr. Sulu. nt

[longship]

3. Ahead, warp factor 6, Mr. Sulu. R&K nt

[Glassunion]

23. DUDE!!!! ONLY IN EMERGENCIES!!!

Keep it to WF 5 or lower.

The Federation Council makes rules for a reason.

[longship]

24. Scotty said, "the engines canna handle it much longer!" nt

[Glassunion]

25. It aint that...

The engines are fine, it's the damage to space time...

If your recall, scientist Serova opened a subspace rift by overloading her ships engines to a warp core breach in the Hekaran sector. This demonstrated that conventional warp engines did in fact cause severe damage to the fabric of spacetime. So, to slow the rate of damage, the Federation Council shared the findings with all known warp capable species and imposed a speed restriction of warp factor 5 on all Federation vessels in all but extreme emergencies.

[longship]

27. Oh! You are a geek lord, my friend.

I bow to your geekyness.

[Glassunion]

33. Would you believe that another DRer and I were having the exact same

conversation a few days ago?

[longship]

34. Not surprised. ;-) nt

[Capt.Rocky300]

42. I think you're getting ahead of yourself........

Serova didn't sacrifice herself to prove the damage caused by warp engines until many Stardates later. There were many Generations between. Capt. Sulu was probably dead of old age by then.

[Glassunion]

43. Doesn't negate the fact that warp engines damage space time.

Won't anybody think of the children!!??!?!

[nightscanner59]

44. OMG.... maybe that's what they thought Ahmed's clock would do!!!

Oh wait a minute. The ilk wouldn't even Spock-grok the concept.

[LiberalElite]

45. Gee. I didn't think

of any of this at all. I just watched.

[csziggy]

46. Wait - once there is a rip in space-time, neither space nor time hold true

So damages caused far in Sulu's future could have ripples back to his time.

Just think of how far and wide through the Tardis universe the tear in space time in Amy Pond's house affected things! http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Time_field

[spiderpig]

4. Mr. Takei consistently has the most insightful postings on Facebook

I read everything he says - some for laughs, some for tears.

[Octafish]

5. Gaman!

Thank you, GT!

Thank you, DinahMoeHum!

[yuiyoshida]

29. I always love learning new Japanese

words, and now I have another to cherish, coming from Takei-sama. Arigatou!! Gaman! I am going to keep that posted near me at all times!

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

6. George Takei... A truly special person...eom

[ZM90]

7. George Takei is correct.

There are some bad people in America but we have really good people too .

[underpants]

8. Sulu always went in the right direction

[mountain grammy]

9. Unfortunately, too many Americans can relate

To being profiled and detained, or even worse, by government officials.

[sarge43]

10. Captain Sulu would sponsor Ahmed's admission to Star Fleet Academy

Ex astra, scientia

Rock on, Mr Takei and oh yeah, LLAP.

[Gothmog]

11. This is a great letter by Mr. Sulu

[ReactFlux]

12. Awesome!

Thank you, George

[LostOne4Ever]

13. George Takai prove once again how awesome he is! (nt)

[lunatica]

14. kick'd and rec'd

[Jack Rabbit]

15. K/R

Good morning, DU

[tabasco]

16. What a wonderful person is George.

A voice of reason and compassion that is so important to us.

[JackInGreen]

17. Kirk can eat a bucket of busted assholes

I'll serve on Captain Sulus boat.

[flamin lib]

18. Ahmed does indeed have a bright future ahead of him.

He'll have his pick of universities to attend and the city of Irving and MacArthur High School will pay his tuition.

Blatant discrimination, holding a minor without parents being notified and interrogating said minor without parents of legal guardian present is serious stuff. Irving PD and IISD hasn't heard the last of Ahmed.

[MurrayDelph]

19. I am so glad I didn't run him over

several decades ago. (He was jogging in LA, and started to cross the street without looking just as I was driving by).

[deutsey]

20. That is warp factor awesome, Mr. Sulu

[SoapBox]

21. Thank you George!

[jwirr]

22. This is a wonderful statement of support.

[smirkymonkey]

26. Bravo George!

Well done!

[dembotoz]

28. nasa shirt....yah i bet he knows mr sulu or soon will

[The2ndWheel]

30. Great sentiment and all

when you were arrested at your school simply because you brought in a clock for your teacher

but that's not why it became an issue. The overreaction from the police and school are now the story, and rightfully so, because it's all ridiculous, but the initial part of it isn't simply because he brought in a clock for his teacher. Or that he made the clock at home. Or that he's smart. I'm sure being a Muslim played a part in things eventually happening the way they did, but he brought something to school unannounced, for no official reason, and it started making a noise, when it was concealed in some fashion.

It was all an honest mistake on Mohamed's part, or not even a mistake at all, but to say that it's simply because it's a clock, or he's smart, or whatever, is glossing over a fairly decent size of the story.

It's obviously a clock, now. Anyone looking at it clearly knows that, now. Show that same picture of the clock a week ago, with no context to shape your perception, and my guess is that not everyone is going to be as smart as they are right now.

[beac]

31. Another insightful piece from Takei.

I highly recommend "To Be Takei" to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

[staggerleem]

32. Back when I was in tech school ...

... our first semester lab project was to build an AM radio. We pasted a schematic to a wooden board, placed each component over its schematic symbol, and soldered the parts together as indicated. This was in the late 1970s, and I took NYC trains to school. Also I'm blond-haired and blue-eyed, so I pass for white, even though I'm Jewish. (The REAL haters will always find SOMETHING to hate, don't'cha know?)

Even so, I do not think I could carry that project back and forth to school on ANY city's subway system today. Even back then, if I gave someone the fish-eye, and fiddled a knob while carrying that item, they'd usually change cars, even if that meant surrendering their seat to me. Never got arrested for it, though - never even had a transit cop talk to me about it.

[kimbutgar]

35. George Rocks

His words brought tears to my eyes.

I have met and read about many people who were imprisoned in these camps. It was a smear in our history.

I fear though sometimes that today's current xenophobic Republican Party would carry out this type of atrocity if they gained control of the three branches and it wouldn't be just Muslims but anybody speaking out against them. That said, we all must ensure that we vote and make sure they are never get the chance and they are marginalized like Barry Goldwater was in 1964.

Ironic Barry looks like a moderate now.

[merrily]

36. I hope he gets invited to the White House with Ahmed. This man is class incarnate.

[whopis01]

37. George Takei is all sorts of wonderful. n/t

[klook]

38. Like Mr. Takei,

young Ahmed Mohamed has a resilience that will carry him far.

Score a big one for the geeks.

[hifiguy]

39. George Takei is one of

the ten coolest people on the planet. Maybe even 20% cooler.

[Dont call me Shirley]

40. True dignity, Mr Takei is.

[niyad]

41. love george more every day.

[davidpdx]

47. I'd bet dollars to donuts Ahmed knows who Takei is

I can imagine someone who is fascinated by science having never watched Star Trek.