Posted on 07/11/2005 6:11:57 AM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.
Doudou Diene, a UN special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia, was speaking at the end of a nine-day tour of the country.
He said Japan should introduce new legislation to combat discrimination.
Mr Diene travelled to several Japanese cities during his visit, meeting minority groups and touring slums.
He said that although the government helped to organise his visit, he felt many officials failed to recognise the seriousness of the racism and discrimination minorities suffered.
He was also concerned that politicians used racist or nationalist themes, as he put it, to whip up popular emotions. He singled out the treatment of ethnic Koreans and Chinese and indigenous tribes.
Mr Diene says he plans to recommend that Japan enact a law against discrimination, which he said should be drawn up in consultation with minority groups.
He said he would now wait for the Japanese government to respond to his comments before submitting a report to the United Nations.
They are even deeply rascist against themselves. They go to great extremes to look different. Don't get me wrong I have a daughter who lives there and have been there several times and they are wonderful people. I think we should be more protective of our lifestyle.
If they were anti-semitic, would it be worth pointing that out? Is it worth pointing out to the Saudis that they are anti-women in terms of human rights or that their practice of not permitting religious freedom is discriminatory? Should we have kept quiet about apartheid? What's your point?
Does that courtesy extend to the Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, or American prisoners of war? I do recall the expression of some hostility in the 1930s and 1940s.
LOL! Good one!
Japan is a prosperous, capitalist, society that is very homogeneous. That was bound to ignite the fury of the UN types sooner or later. If Japan is smart, they won't open the immigration floodgates. There's nothing wrong with a race of people maintaining their own turf for themselves. That's true of all races. The idea that every corner of the earth has to be racially, religiously, and culturally integrated is absurd.
I agree with you that as a foreigner living in a different culture, you learn to adapt. You are not going to change the culture. Those who learn that lesson enjoy life more than those who struggle to get the culture to adapt to them. If it becomes so oppressive, you should leave.
I lived in Saudi Arabia for five years. My wife couldn't drive and had to wear conservative dress or an abaya. We had to eat in segregated restaurants and wait outside closed stores during prayer call. Still, we enjoyed our stay and the experience. Those who were upset with these conditions hated their time in the Kingdom. That said, adapting doesn't mean that you cannot criticize such practices or find them abhorrent.
Much of this is a matter of one's own mind. Maybe it makes Americans and others feel better to tag some other people as racist; and maybe 'they' are or are not. If it makes one feel good to do this, maybe that's fine, too. But the feelings of triumphalism and superiority may not last for long.
It has nothing to do with making one feel good with "feelings of triumphalism and superiority." Rather, it has to do with absolute moral values versus moral or ethical relativism. Racism is wrong in Japan and much as it is in the US. It doesn't matter if the racism is enshrined in 2000 years of culture or not. The Japanese should not be immune from criticism anymore than we are. Denial just ain't a river in Egypt.
I have heard that here is a group of people in Japan who are basically treated like the untouchables of India. They are called the Burakumin. These people have ancestors who worked in various trades regarded as "unclean".
I really don't know what any of you handwringers expect to accomplish by worrying about racism from people who don't live near you. The Japanese are not infringing on your quality of life.
The most preposterous aspect of this story, surely, is that the UN is any kind of trustworthy arbiter on the subject of racism.
You got me on that one. They were particularly brutal to the POW's.
Fine. Change it then. Good luck.
You are mixing apples and oranges. We can condemn discriminatory practices in Japan (which we do annually in the State Department's annual Human Rights Report) and be against terrorists. Do you want the US to remain silent about human rights and stop publishing human rights reports? What we hope to gain is a more peaceful and prosperous world where democracies flouish and human rights are respected.
Apartheid? You mean the evilness of having the minority population run things? Maybe we should end apartheid in America. South Africa is in much better shape now, aren't they?
The aparthied system was not about having a minority run things. It was about a formalized, institutional system of classifying people by race, which affected every aspect of the society. There are plenty of places in the world where minorities run a country. They are called dictatorships.
There is no system of aparthied in Ameica. Get real. Would you rather see South Africa remain under white minority rule and a system of apartheid? I don't think most South Africans would vote for a return to the past. They have the right of self-determination now.
I really don't know what any of you handwringers expect to accomplish by worrying about racism from people who don't live near you. The Japanese are not infringing on your quality of life.
I am not a handwringer. I believe in human rights and the extension of freedom and democracy to every person on this globe. As GWB says, these inalienable rights come from God, not Man. Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Stalin, et. al. weren't infringing on my quality of life either nor were they living next to me.
As John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be dashed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Or JFK "The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."
"We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
I won't change it. The Japanese people will.
Japanese are race elitists to an astounding magnitude. The difference is that race hatred doesn't really factor into it.
Why do they have those race/ethnicity checkoff boxes on every application you fill out for loans, school, etc.? Why is it a hate crime when a black or gay person is hurt but it's not when the victims are white? Why can't I tell my colleagues at work Merry Christmas? Why is a menorah allowed on government property but not a manger scene? Why are smart whites sometimes shut out of the college of their choice, while less-qualified minorities (excluding asians) are given preferences for being minorities? "Women and minorities, encouraged to apply." I believe that America has been taken over by minorities and it's affecting nearly every aspect of our society. Yes, South Africa is choosing annihilation and I am happy for them.
I think we should continue to pressure these other countries through the human rights reports and go to war, when necessary, but a society that is fully functioning and is otherwise making positive contributions to the world should not have their customs and traditions denigrated just because someone couldn't get into the "hot" bar of the evening or they couldn't get a business deal done. Cutting to the chase, only God can change people's hearts and pointing out other's racism will not shame them into changing their behavior. That's really my point. I do appreciate your views on all of this, though.
Part and parcel of the human condition . . . no doubt . . . and not limited to old fogies of any age. :-)
For seven wonderful years my address was in Ishikawa, Okinawa. But, that was long before reversion. Sometimes I think about going back for a visit, but probably won't. I prefer the memory unspoiled by the reality of sprawling prosperity!
That raw milk thread is throwing me off. Did you mean "hegemony"?
Japan is a racist society, although I think the younger folks tend to veer away from that mentality.
You said it. I hope the Japanese tell the socialist pecksniffs & internationalist busybodies where to stick it.
Does a bear @#$% in the woods??
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