religious symbols of the faith of the people buried there. and there are a number that have muslim symbols. muslims have fought for this country and have died for this country. and it is really reckless for that kind of statement to be made by a candidate for the presidency of the united states. and so to point that out and to have some fun with it, we have reserved a seat for donald trump at the theater. and that reserved seat sign has the number of performances that he's missed from the time that the invitation was extended. [ applause ] he's now missed 44 performances. but he has a lot to learn about

american history. and it's really a worrisome thing that so many americans don't know american history and are swept up by this man's rhetoric. it's a commentary on our education and that's why it's so vitally important that we know our history and particularly the more shameful parts of american history. because we learn more, i think, from those chapters where our democracy faltered than the glorious chapters that we're exposed to all of the time. so people like donald trump need to know our history. the mayor of roanoke has also expressed the same kind of comment and i extended an invitation to him and i talked to him over the telephone as well. >> you did? >> he's a charming southern

gentleman. [ laughter ] and he hasn't responded to invitation yet. but he extended to me, and he has a commission, human rights commission or something like that, that extended an invitation to me to come and speak there. and so i am serving as an exam. for the mayor of roanoke. i have accepted that invitation and we have set a date when i will visit roanoke. and i've said to mayor bowers of roanoke that his time to see "allegiance" is limited. we're closing on the 14th of february. so you better hurry up. because i'm going to roanoke. >> that's wonderful of you. well on that point, one of the astonishing things to me in this latest little cycle of hysteria and xenophobia was that people

were bringing up the detention the japanese americans, not as something we should learn from and not repeat but as an historical precedent for these measures. i thought that was terrible and spoke of a real lack of historical education and awareness. this is something that seems to happen over and over again. americans suffer some sort of attack, we get scared, we overreact, later we say we'll never do it again but we do. so my question for you -- i know this is a big question -- is how do you think we as a people can get better? because i often quote your father actually in my book talks. a nation can be no better than its people. and what can we as americans do do you think to try to minimize the chance that we'll do something like this again? >> our education system has to be more comprehensive. and particularly these important

chapters of american history. and i personally have taken it on as our mission from my 20s on. i've been on speaking tours, to universities, to corporate gatherings, to governmental agencies. we founded a museum in los angeles called the japanese american national museum where we institutionalize the story of the interment of japanese americans. because as the generation that experienced it die off and those that didn't spear it don't share it with their deskcend dents, i will fade away. buy build an institution, we institutionalize the story. and by dramatizing it and telling it from the broadway

stage. we brought that. and we've been working with the board of education with the state of arkansas where the two camps were and we were incarcerated in one of the two. and we've invited teachers, a dozen teacher to come to the japanese american national museum every summer. we fund their -- this program. and get them to incorporate the chapter on the interment to -- i think to the educational curriculum in arkansas, particularly because it's a part of arkansas history. there are two interment camps there. so we need to, as individuals and as organizations, to try to prevent that from happening by ensuring that these stories will be remembered. in the same way that we remember

the great hugh reroes of the ci rights movement and all of the events that happened being made into movies like "selma" last year with an amazing performance by a british activist playing dr. martin luther king. the death camps of europe have been dramatized in movies, novels and television programs. i think by telling this story, using the media and all of the accesses that we have to make this story an organic part of our american experience, then we do our bit to keep it from happening again and making american a better america. donald trump's motto is make america great again. but in fact what he's doing is making america disgraced again.

[ applause ] >> i know i speak for everyone when i say that you're an inspiration in this regard. and it's really been an honor and privilege to share with stage with you. we've now got time for question and answer. there are i think people with wireless mikes on the side. so i will call on people who raise their hands, but please don't ask the question until you get a microphone. starting over here. >> hi, thank you very much for "allegiance" the musical. i thought it was beautiful and very important story to be told. however, it has been met with some criticism that it is not 100% historically accurate and that depicting the jacl and mike, who are actually real entities, a real person and a real entity kind of clouds maybe

the judgment of the people in the audience thinking that everything that is happening in the musical really did happen in the camps. what is your response to the criticism that "allegiance" has received? >> "allegiance" is a work of theater art. we tell the truth by interpreting the truth. for example, most everybody knows mango pin van go's painti. he captures the emotional truth of the landscape that he's looking at. the dappled sunlight and the swaying of the grass in the breeze. everything that we talk about in "allegiance" happened, not in that camp or not in that time, but they happened and that's part of the truth of it.

you don't -- and so it's essentially a fictional story. the family is a fictional family. however, we do use actual facts, organizations and an individual because mike mosako played a critical part. he was a very active actor in the interment story, as was the organization, japanese american citizens league of which he was a general secretary. and you can't tell the story of the civil war without having an actual president of the united states. abraham lincoln. you can have a fictional story. but abraham lincoln really made things happen. and so he is included in a fictional story. mr. roosevelt here has written a

fictional story but he uses actual people that existed. justice frankfurter, justice douglas, attorney general biddle. these are actual real people. but he's telling a fictional story. and we are telling a fictional story using actual people and actual institution and actual facts. and you know, we're not a dock men tarn. i know that that criticism was made by a dock men tearian. and his job is to tell the photographic truth. we are van goghs of the theater. we capture the emotion and the essential truth of that experience. [ applause ] >> in the middle here, can we pass the microphone to the man

in the blue shirt there? >> i want to just thank you also. i belong to a japanese american buddhist temple and one of the offerings in our library is a book called "rice country." and in that book in the early chapters they talk about the jacl. but in doing so they portray it as the japanese american collusion league more than anything else. and i want to thank you for actually setting that straight. and in my mind, allowing me to understand the mitigation that the jacl played in trying to protect the japanese american population in the interment

camps. my question is, i see a lot of the results of japanese americans trying to stay under the radar post war. the mission in the united states is the buddhist churches of america. its service form patterns a methodist kind of form. and i guess my question is, is there any way around that? i just don't even know. >> what is that? around what? >> well, around -- i see people who actually are around your age who are -- who grew up in camps

and you're right, they won't talk about it. from my own experience in high school, my high school social studies teacher, two sentences, yeah, it happened. so what. and -- yeah. i don't even -- >> well there are people that do talk about it. my father certainly talked to me about it after dinner. there were those that even challenged. professor roosevelt can tell you about cases where they stood up and challenged the interment, all the way up to the supreme court. and failed in 1944. ultimately korematsu prevailed,

finding fault in the original ruling. so there were those that stood up. and the resisters did stand up. and that's why we -- i focus on the resisters in "allegiance." they stood up and said this is wrong, and i'm going to stand for my rights as an american. and they paid a high price for it. so, you know, people did take a stand. they did speak out. and i want to mention one extraordinary elected official of the time. the governor of colorado, governor ralph carr, the only elected official at that time to take a principled stand and speak out against the interment. and for that his political career was demolished. he ran for reelection and was slaughtered by it. so there are people.

i mean, there's this myth that japanese-americans didn't take a stand. they sheepishly went into the camps. not true. people did take a stand. others resisted. others challenged it all the way to the supreme court. >> on the right there. yes. >> just a quick question. >> where are you? >> did earl warren ever apologize? >> where are you. there you are. >> the gorgeous lady over here. by the way, you guys were both impressive but i love me some george. >> what was your question? >> did earl warren ever apologize or admit that that was constitutionally incorrect? >> he never apologized during his living years, but he left a memoir and in that he said the greatest regret in my life was

the role he played in the interment of japanese americans. so he owned up to it in his memoirs, which were published after his passing. >> in the front. >> can you -- >> wait for the microphone. >> she needs to get a mic. >> i was wondering what kind of building you people, your descendants would put into it and there are -- you get enough food, clothes or whatever they needed. and how many people in one camp and how many buildings were in camp? and what kind of building? wooden building or what? so many family must be there.

there were each of them. living in one place. each families are living in one place or not. >> there were ten camps all together. they were built in military fashion. black tar paper barracks all arranged in a row. and they were divided into little units with a paper-thin partitions. black tar paper, actually. no privacy. we all ate in a mess hall, a massive dining area. we all showered in a mass shower. the latrines were just toilet pots in a row. no partitions. and particularly for women, it was extremely mortifying to use those partitionless toilets. and bathing facilities.

the internees themselves built those partitions. and some in camps had ofuros, japanese-like deep water, hot water baths. and so they made tubs out of the lumber that they were able to secure. but it was very raw. it was very primitive. >> all right. we have time for one more question, i think. but there will be a reception afterwards during which you should be able to ask more questions. in the second row here in the purple? >> mr. takei, i'm just wondering how you feel about the fact that allegiance is closing earlier than expected, and do you have plans to bring it back at some point? >> well, we were expecting a much longer run, of course.

but we accomplished so much with this production. this is the first time in american theater history that the story of the internment of japanese americans is being told on the broadway stage. it's a landmark event. and this is the first time in american theater history that so many gifted performing arts, asian american performing artists are on that stage, using their own experiential background in the work that they are doing, playing full rounded characters. the kind of characters that the audience identifies with to the point where they are literally sobbing with us in the tragedy. and certainly we hear the laughter. and during the curtain calls, it's not just applause and it's

not spontaneous standing up, it's outright cheering that we hear. the record of average record of asians in the audience in the broadway theater is about 7%. that's always been something that i've been concerned about, because when i go see david henry wong play and i look around, i see only a light sprinkling of asian faces. asians are not theater goers. we don't support our artists. when you go see an august play, an african american playwright who talks about the african american experience in pittsburgh, and i look around, i see a dominant african american presence. but with "allegiance," that 7% has been magnified, multipled. we have an average of 37% asian

americans or asians in our theater. so we've accomplished a great deal in the time that -- in the five months that we've been playing on broadway. we're very proud of what we've accomplished. broadway is the epitome of american theater. but it's essentially new york theater. and we played in san diego before prior to coming to broadway. at the distinguished, very respected regional theater the old globe theater. and there we broke their 77-year record for both box office and attendance. so we have a fantastic record to be very proud of. and we want to continue that record. and we are exploring a lot of future options for "allegiance." and those who haven't come, i urge you strongly do come because you won't be able to see

"allegiance" on broadway after the 14th of february. so y'all come. [ applause ] thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> it was a great conversation. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. and as i said, i'm halfway through kermit roosevelt's book with the same title as our musical, "allegiance." it is a rip snorting good murder thriller. and i still don't know who the murderer is. and i told him when i met him, don't be a spoiler for me. i want to get to the last

chapter without that knowledge. bye "allegiance," his book. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. >> good luck with your book. >> thank you. yes. as i said, there is now a reception. you could buy my book. you could buy george's cd. you can ask more questions. i hope you'll join us. ♪ >> the c-span bus stopped in philadelphia, pennsylvania to ask people about this week's democratic convention and the issues most important to them in the 2016 presidential campaign. >> the most important issue to me that's facing our country today is gun control, because too many people that shouldn't have access to guns have access to guns, and that makes me and many other people feel very unsafe. >> i'm dalen leech. i'm a state senator in pennsylvania. i'm at my eighth convention

because i'm a huge history buff, and i love to come and be part of history and witness what goes on. i'm here representing my district for hillary clinton, who i think is awesome and inspiring, and knowing the stakes and the selection, i think it's very important to participate at every stage of the game. so looking forward to a great week. we'll see you all there. >> hey, my name is john easterling. i'm a 19-year-old college student, and i'm an at large elected delegate for hillary clinton here in the city of brotherly love, philadelphia. i'm so happy to be here to be a delegate because in 2008 i sat on the sidelines as a young sixth grader. but this year i get to see history take place as a delegate to the democratic national convention, ready to elect a true leader, and that is hillary clinton. >> hi, my name is kim weaver, and i am the congressional candidate from iowa's fourth congressional district. some of you may have heard of my opponent, steve king. and he is actually one of the reasons why i'm here today. and part of that is because i

want to show the rest of the world that iowans are actually more concerned about finding solutions than they are about creating divisions. we want to look for solutions for student debt reform, medicaid for seniors, as well as security for all families. thank you. >> i'm bob, a delegate representing west valley city, utah. i ran to be a delegate. i believe the government should work for the poor, for the common people. and i decided to become a delegate this year because i want us to fight for those, for the little people. and i wanted to make sure that utah had a voice on the democratic process. >> voices from the road on c-span. the democratic national convention is live from philadelphia this week. watch every minute on c-span and listen live on the free c-span

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