How do you respond when someone asserts "黒人が危ないんだね" (Black people are dangerous)? Should foreigners speak up or bite their tongues? Here's my hot take!
It all really depends on how naturally (which includes instantaneously) a reply comes up. For example, ‘I want to join the SDF so I can kill Chinese.’ I responded with, ‘What about the Chinese people in the SDF?’ And I eloborated with an example of a Zainichi Chinese friend who had served. But, to ‘What did the Jews do to annoy Hitler so much?’ my brain froze so there was just silence while I looked at them in disbelief. On the other hand, mixed race students, eg a half Nigerian half Japanese boy I taught one to one for two years, said that he’d never experienced any racism in his life in Japan and had discussed it with his siblings, who agreed. In my experience, racism, misogyny, homophobia are blatant. Perhaps more obvious with older people, as they seem less restrained in expressing opinions, but common. With those close to me, I can be more direct. So, when my Zainichi Korean husband said that Obama wasn’t an American name, so how could he be president? I responded with is your mother a Japanese citizen?
Wow thank you for the comment. I agree, Sone ignorances can be so astounding as to numb your brain. “In my experience, racism, misogyny, homophobia are blatant.” Well you’re not going to get much blatant anything here (unless you’re Asian especially Chinese or Korean) but the micro-nonsense does take a toll. I bet your students don’t count those as racism but as everyday syouganai-isms as unavoidable as bowing. One thing i learned here is you have to redraw your lines, your boundaries, your demarcations of offense, or you Will constantly feel under siege. And clearly if this is your place of birth you never had to redraw them because you grew up knowing blatant otherization is the norm. To qualify as racism, as they’ve acquired the definition from the west (it not being part of the Japanese lexicon) they would need to be lynched, spay on, or assaulted regularly to feel it applies to them. And since they likely aren’t experiencing such extreme behaviors, and neither have I, and the less extreme behaviors are normalized, I get that they feel that way. People throw that R word around too much anyway. It gets all the press. Bias, prejudice, chauvinism, bigotry, alienation, ostracism, marginalization,all leave their marks as well. And all are very prevalent here and everywhere.
It all really depends on how naturally (which includes instantaneously) a reply comes up. For example, ‘I want to join the SDF so I can kill Chinese.’ I responded with, ‘What about the Chinese people in the SDF?’ And I eloborated with an example of a Zainichi Chinese friend who had served. But, to ‘What did the Jews do to annoy Hitler so much?’ my brain froze so there was just silence while I looked at them in disbelief. On the other hand, mixed race students, eg a half Nigerian half Japanese boy I taught one to one for two years, said that he’d never experienced any racism in his life in Japan and had discussed it with his siblings, who agreed. In my experience, racism, misogyny, homophobia are blatant. Perhaps more obvious with older people, as they seem less restrained in expressing opinions, but common. With those close to me, I can be more direct. So, when my Zainichi Korean husband said that Obama wasn’t an American name, so how could he be president? I responded with is your mother a Japanese citizen?
Wow thank you for the comment. I agree, Sone ignorances can be so astounding as to numb your brain. “In my experience, racism, misogyny, homophobia are blatant.” Well you’re not going to get much blatant anything here (unless you’re Asian especially Chinese or Korean) but the micro-nonsense does take a toll. I bet your students don’t count those as racism but as everyday syouganai-isms as unavoidable as bowing. One thing i learned here is you have to redraw your lines, your boundaries, your demarcations of offense, or you Will constantly feel under siege. And clearly if this is your place of birth you never had to redraw them because you grew up knowing blatant otherization is the norm. To qualify as racism, as they’ve acquired the definition from the west (it not being part of the Japanese lexicon) they would need to be lynched, spay on, or assaulted regularly to feel it applies to them. And since they likely aren’t experiencing such extreme behaviors, and neither have I, and the less extreme behaviors are normalized, I get that they feel that way. People throw that R word around too much anyway. It gets all the press. Bias, prejudice, chauvinism, bigotry, alienation, ostracism, marginalization,all leave their marks as well. And all are very prevalent here and everywhere.