The Star Trek icon contrasted the Broadway season with the recent Oscar nominations, which saw not one person of color nominated in any of the acting categories.
Takei's posting, according to Deadline.com, follows:
I am writing to give thanks to the Broadway community — for not being Hollywood. In a year when the movie industry celebrated only white actors for awards, then used gross stereotypes of Asians during the broadcast to gain cheap laughs, Broadway celebrated its most diverse year ever.
We told important, often untold stories from a myriad new storytellers. I am grateful that shows like Hamilton, On Your Feet!, The Color Purple, Shuffle Alongand Allegiance brought not only underrepresented voices to the stage, but critical employment opportunities for minority actors as well as many new communities and audiences to New York theaters.
On a personal note, I am especially thankful I have had the opportunity, at the age of 78, to fulfill a lifelong dream to tell the story of the Japanese American internment. Our Broadway production was able to reach 120,000 audience members, the same number as those who were unjustly imprisoned out of base fear and prejudice. Each of those audience members are now part of our story. They will help ensure that we never forget the difficult lessons of the past. Indeed, our show could not have had more contemporary resonance, as certain politicians once again stoke public fears, and call for profiling and surveillance of whole groups of innocent people.
Because of the incredible support of the Broadway community, Allegiance and its important story were able to delight, entertain and inform thousands. We now look forward to bringing it to more audiences across the country and around the world. It is our hope that this story and its message will not be forgotten and that, thanks to Broadway, Allegiance indeed will live long, and prosper.
From the depth of my heart to all of the incredible Broadway community, thank you.
George Takei
Allegiance, which chronicled one family's experience in the Japanese internment camps during World War II, was loosely based on Takei's childhood. It ran November 2015 to February 2016.
