Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta (book)

Short biography of American politician Norman Mineta by Andrea Warren, published in 2019. The book, which is written for young adult readers, focuses on Mineta's childhood, with an emphasis on the years he and his family were incarcerated at Heart Mountain . The book includes historical War Relocation Authority photographs and a few personal photos from the Mineta family collection.

Enemy Child begins when Mineta is nine years old and living with his family in San Jose, California. On December 7, 1941, the Minetas witness community friends being picked up by the FBI; luckily, their father is spared arrest. The bulk of the remaining chapters follow the family's journey into the temporary confinement site at Santa Anita , then several months later, to the concentration camp at Heart Mountain in Wyoming, where life for the young Mineta in camp is harsh but not without its pleasures. Baseball and Boy Scouts were highlights of his experiences in Heart Mountain. Postwar, Mineta is elected student body president and finishes high school in San Jose, graduates from the University of California, Berkeley, and joins the army. He serves overseas in the Military Intelligence Service , stationed in Japan and then as an intelligence officer in South Korea, finishing his service in 1956.

The final chapter of the book highlights Mineta's rise in politics. Upon his return to the U.S., Mineta begins his political career by invitation to join the San Jose Human Relations Commission, which leads to appointment on the Housing Authority board and election onto the San Jose City Council. In 1971, Mineta became the mayor of San Jose, the first Asian American to be elected mayor of a major American city. In 1974, he successfully ran for California congressman, serving ten terms in the House of Representatives, a role that helped him leverage the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into Congress. In 2000, Mineta was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and in 2001, he was appointed U.S. Secretary of Transportation by President George W. Bush. Following the attacks on the World Trade Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, Mineta oversaw the creation of the Transportation Security Administration's airport security procedures. In retirement, Mineta has also brought support to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and the annual pilgrimage to the former World War II concentration camp.