What did that have to do with anything I said?
1 Like
That social constructs, such as race, have very real effects on people.
7 Likes
Right? Social constructs are REAL things… I wish people would understand that. Yes, it’s social rather than biological fact, but it’s still a fact… social things are real things… They just happen to be things we can change!
13 Likes
And how does that contradict anything I’ve said? Does no one here bother to check the context of statements made?
1 Like
Whatever. What say we get back to Japan?
3 Likes
I won’t pretend I watched the whole video, because it seemed so familiar from the first few seconds. It’s the same thing as Karen condescendingly explaining that she’s not A Racist because she doesn’t even own a Klan robe. Folx often misunderstand racism as something you learn to do, rather than something you have to learn not to do. Even those who have experienced discrimination themselves can be surprisingly blind to bigotry that doesn’t wear the specific costume they’re used to.
Another reason this video feels familiar is that there’s a whole genre of Japanese videos explaining Japan to foreigners, and those can be unintentionally revealing (“you won’t believe this, but in Japan we actually don’t defecate in the street like pigs!”)
2 Likes
This video (and subsequent BB thread) has all the ingredients for a good holiday dinner:
- Racism as a topic-- everyone is convinced they have the better understanding and insight than other responders
- Japan as a setting-- everyone is convinced they have the better understanding of this enigmatic (and morally superior) culture and country than other responders
- Asynchronous communications-- everyone tries to be brief, so we leave out extensive explanations, use shorthand, and then someone else doesn’t see the exact sequence of words they expected in a response, so they get their hackles up
Good times. Good times.
4 Likes
Yeah, this guy definitely should have been counseled by his lawyers not to take the stand. Did a lot more to damage his case than help it.
1 Like
I have never
4 Likes
- Japan as a setting-- everyone is convinced they have the better understanding of this enigmatic (and morally superior) culture and country than other responders
5 Likes
It’s not any more “enigmatic” than literally any other country on earth… Other cultures can be understood with enough time and patience, not a mention a bit a humility. I’m not an expert by any means, but let’s not pull out all the orientalist tropes about the “mysterious east” maybe…
6 Likes
I’ve told this story before in BBS, but it’s worth repeating. When I was living in rural Japan as an English teacher in the late 90s, I made friends with someone who was considered “Korean” in my town. Her mother was born in Korea, but was kidnapped (stolen?) because the grandmother was taken to Japan as a young woman during the war (I don’t know for certain if she was a sex slave, but that was my suspicion).
At the time, my friend did not have Japanese citizenship even though she was born there, spent most of her life there (except for a couple of years studying abroad), and her father is Japanese. Whenever she wanted to leave the country, she had to get a special stamp on her permanent residency card so that she would be allowed back in to Japan on return.
Once a year, the town held a festival where everyone opened their doors to friends, neighbours, and relatives. I learned later that my friend’s family was not invited to the festival. Her family owned a small restaurant and coffee shop. That one day of the year, the restaurant was shut down and the family disappeared from town.
There was also a part of my town that was known to be Burakumin. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, I made friends with quite a few of the people who lived there (I spent a lot of time in fishermen’s bars).
I only learned about most of this after I left, and only in hushed whispers from others townsfolk who had a dislike for rural Japanese life. Racism runs deep in Japan. Not everyone is a racist, but the country is founded on fundamentally racist ideas. Hmmmm…not too different from North America.
14 Likes
Sorry for my poor writing skills. I had hoped to convey the sense of irony in such assumptions, but my grammar was insufficient.
1 Like
The sarcasm tag is your friend.
2 Likes
Also, the argument of Japanese/Not Japanese/we don’t care what you are because we think that all other races are less than Japanese is pretty fucking racist.
(I say this as a 1/2 Japanese/1/2 caucasian who looks very Asian, but is definitely looked down upon when in Japan visiting relatives…)
10 Likes
So which side does the chimpanzee come from? 
1 Like
This. There have been some signs of positive changes in terms of the treatment of non-Japanese in recent years, which makes me hopeful, but the pace of change is glacial, and (just like the US) the urban-rural divide is really quite pronounced in this area. The whole idea of “we are Japanese and everyone else is…not” runs very deep and leads to many awkward assumptions and downright stereotypes, but there are also a lot of people who are genuinely interested in foreign cultures and appreciate the contributions that foreigners make to Japan.
As a newly minted Japanese citizen, I hope to be able to challenge people’s assumptions in my interactions with people. I know that some people will never accept me as a Japanese, but I also am sure that some people will.
2 Likes
This entire thread makes me cringe and wince. i am JA, born / still living in Southern California, and from the time i could notice (around age 5-6) my parents were both the most racist people i knew. i can’t explain it, and i was never able to discuss it with them (language barrier + now both deceased). i like to say i’m not racist, but i hope it’s the one thing i didn’t inherit from them.
12 Likes
Though there is a long way to go, younger generations of Japanese are doing better about these things than their parents’ generations, and I am sure that you are no exception.
2 Likes
