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NHK Japan shows offensive BLM animation
- Thread starter Chairmanchuck (另一个我)
- Start date
except that there's a great deal of criticism of this animation inside japan by japanese people? there are right now BLM protests happening in japan in solidarity? painting the entire country as 'xenophobic' as it has continued to grapple with the issues of race over the decades is extremely denigrating to people of colour and allies in japan doing what they can to push back against this shit and fight for equity and social justice.
it's worth understanding that this was something done by NHK, yes, a mainstream media outlet in japan, but i'm sure you'd feel a little offended if someone in japan watched one shitty thing CNN did and decided that was fully representative of what people actually feel about an issue in america.
japan has a lot of issues with race but we can drop the blanket accusations of 'bubbles' that treat the entire country as a monolith. it is itself an extremely orientalist attitude that treats asian countries as hive minds that allow people in the west to frame asian countries as isolated and regressive.
edit: to reframe this another way, if this article were about an american news network producing an extremely offensive representation of BLM, would your first instinct to be to say to condemn the entire country over it or condemn the news network for propagating it, maybe extend that condemnation to the group of americans for whom that clearly panders to. but that is nuance that we for whatever reason do not afford countries outside our 'bubble' and we should be vigilant about not accusing asian countries of inhabiting 'bubbles' because that itself originates from racist conceptions of the mist shrouded, hermit-esque orient and is generally used to contrast the west as more morally upright.
japan, korea, china, are not in bubbles. a lot of average people in those countries are talking about BLM, considering how that relates to what they see in their daily lives and acting in solidarity. these conversations happen, and they are all on their own paths toward racial justice of their own and we should not erase the efforts of activists and average people in those countries trying to achieve those ends just because you're only privy to the things that you happen to see reported in english.
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Didn't see that but the news I've been watching about the protests has seemed pretty well done before we get into broad condemnations.
Good that it was removed.
Good that it was removed.
This, it's sad how people defend Japan when they are one of the worse examples to follow in regards of this issue.
The institutions in Japan are inherently xenophobic. When hunting for lease of an apartment most estate agents put 'foreigners allowed' next to 'pets allowed' (or not allowed, in many cases). Not to mention the hoops you have to jump through if you're gay and want to live with your same sex partner (also shockingly difficult).
Having said that, the younger generations are breaking apart from the rotten core and are more open minded and do champion minority rights.
Having said that, the younger generations are breaking apart from the rotten core and are more open minded and do champion minority rights.
User Banned (1 week): whataboutism
That's like saying ALL Whites in US are extremely racist and hates black people, and want to kill them in any way possible including calling the cops as hitman to kill blacks. oh wait...that's actually true.
I fully agree, painting a whole country as xenophobic is xenophobia itself. NHK doesn't represent Japan at all.
When a situation is a majority, you are allowed to called the entire society racist. You dont really say, 75% of the people in Japan are racist or support racist ideas de facto, but rather you make the generalization of saying "Japan is racist". Trying to paint that as orientalism, when it is actually a deep analysis of their society without entering into stereotypes just looks like trying to deflect the truth (most of Japan being racist) by attacking those who say it and calling them racist.
In this case, we are talking about NHK, the national and public broadcasting company in Japan. Let's also remind that NHK sometimes acts to "beautify" Japan WW2 actions by avoiding several really important things (such as the rape of Nanking or the "comfort" women).
In this case, we are talking about NHK, the national and public broadcasting company in Japan. Let's also remind that NHK sometimes acts to "beautify" Japan WW2 actions by avoiding several really important things (such as the rape of Nanking or the "comfort" women).
Uh, I've never seen a "foreigners allowed" on a public listing, but....
Searching for a place is real fuckin' fun when you have to watch your agent call the landlord and say "Ah also, he's a foreigner..." and his face crumples up because the guy says no. I'd say 50% of the apartments I wanted to look at straight-up turned me down. It gets a little easier if you're willing to pay more, but not by that much.
In 2019 I remember one landlord saying "well, he can move in, but he has to pass my test for the first 3 months." I asked my agent to tell that guy to fuck himself.
Current apartment is fucking great. It's managed by a big company (DK Housing) so they didn't give a shit where I'm from; I've got a visa and my rent payments always clear, so we good.
BTW, I'm a white dude; my black friends have way gnarlier stories than me when it comes to getting a place.
You say that but NHK has done more than a few documentaries regarding Japanese war crimes to the point you have Chinese neitzens praising NHK and the right wing assholes who drive around blasting shit from vans brigading anything about NHK.
Of course no one really watches them because they're more dry than dirt. NHK blows, only they can make a documentary about Russian ballet into a complete snooze fest.
Regarding NHK's racist cartoon, I'm not surprised. There's a tendency for Japanese media in general to simplify complex issues to the point of infantilism (see: their previous content on Brexit) and for a matter like the hundreds of years of black oppression in the United States, that's completely devaluing and misrepresenting everything they stand for.
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Probabely something along the line of...
Can you speak the local language, and follow his "rule"
Usually the rule are based on stereotype of foreigner from popular media, and that you have to prove you are not like the bad example that popular media like to show.
When you look at the most economically developed countries, Japan is one of the least developed when it comes to race relations.
I wonder how much its geographical isolation from the West has played a part. I suppose the same can be said of why the US lags behind Western Europe in this regard as well.
Could one even argue that Japan's time spent as a US colony (in all but name) affected things as well? How much of the American attitudes were imported? How much of all this is a layover from the Japanese Imperial attitudes?
Would make a great academic paper.
I wonder how much its geographical isolation from the West has played a part. I suppose the same can be said of why the US lags behind Western Europe in this regard as well.
Could one even argue that Japan's time spent as a US colony (in all but name) affected things as well? How much of the American attitudes were imported? How much of all this is a layover from the Japanese Imperial attitudes?
Would make a great academic paper.
This is a great post that I fear most people replying to this will skip over. It articulates a lot of what I want to say much better than I could.
Personally, I've talked to a number of Japanese people about the events currently happening and read some responses on twitter. The people I've talked to about it are all well-educated and more "international-minded," so to speak (and a few are friends who studied at my university and are quite familiar with US political and racial issues), so their reactions are more like what you'd see here than what certain posters in this thread seem to expect. Some are worried about the Coronavirus spreading, of course. A couple of them have told me that in general the reaction in this country is positive towards the BLM movement, but some of the older generation are convinced that anti-black racism doesn't exist in Japan, and many were against the Osaka and Tokyo demonstrations for reasons ranging from "the Japanese don't have this problem, please be respectful to the police" to "please just let japan remain quiet and peaceful," and of course the usual coronavirus worries.
Twitter is varied, but because the site is a shithole regardless of the country I saw a lot of right wing people during my brief search, including Trump supporters and even Japanese Q Anon people (they apparently exist) posting conspiracies about China creating Antifa to start the riots. Some were making posts against Japanese politicians who had posed with people here holding Antifa signs in a recent protest. But those people don't represent the country any more than @PatriotMom1956 with a poorly cropped Trump avatar represents the US.
i don't really know what in my post constitutes an 'attack' unless you're very thin skinned and i am not sure how you decided that a single sentence about japan's 'xenophobic bubble' was actually a 'deep analysis of their society' that doesn't enter stereotypes and not just a really simplistic dismissal of an entire country and people. seems awfully generous to do that while writing off everything i've been trying to talk about as deflection. and saying that the idea of a 'bubble' around east asian countries is something that is absolutely rooted in orientalist rhetoric that has been used to justify and set apart western societies as more advanced than eastern societies and produce this idea of an isolated, alien culture to be analyzed and classified like zoo exhibits.
what i am saying is that we need to be very careful about how we talk about japan, or any east asian countries, because there are a lot of traps and pitfalls people fall into regarding the subject. it's akin to how anti-semitism manifests - it is not something that someone is intentionally reproducing but so built into attitudes and perceptions we should be vigilant about avoiding those pitfalls. we should not be treating people in a shared culture as a monolith and use their mass media as the ultimate arbiter for what everyone in the country more or less agrees on, especially not the most outrageous examples of it. we certainly cut ourselves more credit.
i am not saying japan does not have racism, it has quite a lot of it. much of it is absolutely institutional. against koreans, the ainu, foreigners and foreign workers, against the black people born and raised in the country, mixed japanese, okinawans, yes, there is a lot. it is even fair to say that much of it is ingrained into the very structures of the state and that much of the racism occurs in japan is not something that the state allowed and perpetuated by accident. it is worth talking about that fact while acknowledging that we are not the only ones talking about it. that there is a sizeable amount of people in japan interested in changing the country and that it's not collectively disinterested in racial equity and justice. and we can talk about the institutional problems and unjust structures that exist in japan without implying every single japanese person is culpable for it and stands by it, the fact that this cartoon got pulled at all seems to be proof that there are many people in japan who do not occupy a 'bubble'. it both flattens and subsumes the causes inside the country fighting for their rights into a mysterious xenophobic whole and it simplifies and misdiagnoses the causes of racism in japan. there is not institutional racism in japan because there is some race force field around the country, a lot of these attitudes have long histories and context that we erase (and thus render those perpetuating it less culpable) by saying japan is racist because it's bubbled in.
also, i'm korean, so i assure you, i am quite sensitive to both the racism that occurs in japan and the violent history of the country. i am not ok with it. regardless i'm not really sure why you think NHK being a national broadcaster is particularly important to know or how that's especially condemning. BBC is another national broadcaster and it's published plenty of inane and offensive shit over the years, i might bring it up to talk about how the mass media in britain has been used as a cudgel by the establishment to downplay or dismiss the left but i'm not gonna cite a single shitty BBC article and say that's what britain's like. just because an organization is publically funded it doesn't mean all of its' programming has the public's stamp of approval. again, the reception to this cartoon seems to validate my point.
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There was a 2,000+ person BLM march in Osaka a few days ago, with the majority of participants being Japanese. There was outrage over this NHK cartoon from Japanese netizens and viewers. 10 years ago nobody would have given a shit, so this is a big step up for Japan. I'm also seeing lots of posts about how Japanese people can be better allies from the celebs here. Japan is not perfect by any means, but your comment was pretty stupid.
Nothing I hate more than racists, especially Japanese ones. They're the worst!
I really hope people can tell I'm joking at sea lion's expense.
It's also worth noting that this cartoon was one segment of a full length news show aimed at kids to help explain what's going on. The other segments did address George Floyd's murder, police brutality, and institutionalized racism in America. It didn't sugarcoat anything. Everything except for this stupid cartoon was actually done really well. I have a couple friends who worked on the new segment portion and they are absolutely livid that the cartoon was included in the broadcast. This news comes from them.
just to share a couple articles that have come up recently
www.japantimes.co.jp
www.japantimes.co.jp
the intention linking this is not to say that these two articles speak for japan, and it is not to say that japan does not have plenty of racism, or that absolutely every person there stands in support of black lives matter or the minorities in japan that continue to struggle there, but that there is a great deal of nuance in the country and it is deeply unfair to the people trying to change japan and the progress that they have already made to do so by making a blanket assertion about how xenophobic the country just is that does nothing except take air from them.
Protesters hit Tokyo and Osaka streets with rallies against racism and police brutality
Protesters said racial discrimination and the treatment of foreigners in Japan are topics often avoided by the media and in public discourse.
www.japantimes.co.jp
Why we're marching for Black lives in Japan
What we are witnessing is a simple matter of human rights, which makes it an issue for everyone.
www.japantimes.co.jp
the intention linking this is not to say that these two articles speak for japan, and it is not to say that japan does not have plenty of racism, or that absolutely every person there stands in support of black lives matter or the minorities in japan that continue to struggle there, but that there is a great deal of nuance in the country and it is deeply unfair to the people trying to change japan and the progress that they have already made to do so by making a blanket assertion about how xenophobic the country just is that does nothing except take air from them.
Basically, NHK still see black people as Mr. T caricatures.
Edit: Of course, the comments of the video are a cesspool.
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OP
OP
I am not quite sure how having a BLM protest abolishes Japans society from being xenophobic, especially with a more right wing/nationalist government, that is still mostly denying war crimes and gets pissed when people talk about "comfort women".
Even in this thread you have people talking about having troubles finding an apt.
Treatment of other East-Asian people.
The "Filipino housekeeper culture".
If you go to a club, why are a considerable size Nigerian Bouncers?
In Variety shows, for comedy purposes you have comedians mocking other countrymens accent.
In media you have racist caricatures
You have black teachers having to change classes, because some parents apparently dont feel comfortable being taught by a black person.
Or remember this thread from GAF?
So people cant say that, if we take another country, America is a racist country, because "not every American is racist"?
Even in this thread you have people talking about having troubles finding an apt.
Even though I used a real estate agency close to Waseda, which was used to foreign clients, many of the available buildings clearly said in their pamphlets that they didn't accept foreigners. In fact, what shocked me the most was that this information was normally written together with things such as "we don't accept pets". It really felt like we were being held to the same standards as a dog or cat, less than a normal human being. I was also directly denied one of the apartments I had shown a little interest in, as the real estate agent called the landlord in front of me and received a negative answer. Also, even if foreigners were accepted, the caution money asked was doubled, and the conditions for finding a guarantor were also way stricter than towards a Japanese person.
The (not so) hidden face of racism in Japan – ICC Blog
blog.waseda-icc.jp
Treatment of other East-Asian people.
The "Filipino housekeeper culture".
If you go to a club, why are a considerable size Nigerian Bouncers?
In Variety shows, for comedy purposes you have comedians mocking other countrymens accent.
In media you have racist caricatures
You have black teachers having to change classes, because some parents apparently dont feel comfortable being taught by a black person.
Or remember this thread from GAF?
So people cant say that, if we take another country, America is a racist country, because "not every American is racist"?
It was originally on Twitter but they took it down and uploaded an apology. Well, it is the "We are sorry that people were made uncomfortable" kind soooo people are still calling them out of course.
I am not harmed by the attack, but counteracting "Japan is racist" arguments with "if you think so you are suffering from orientalism" its an ad hominem fallacy, trying to attack the person without considering the opposing argument.
In general, we can treat people in a country as a monolith (and we fucking do everywhere) when talking about things that have permeatted into the general conciousness.
Let me go to an extreme example:
There are many feminists in Saudi Arabia, but we still say Saudi Arabia is a misogynist place.
I can go to less extremes examples, such as being able to say ACAB even if a sizeable amount (lets say 10-20%) are good people. Or that white people are trash, even if 40% of them aren't.
Once something has permeated into most of the population in the way for micro-racism conduct (aka, without conciousness being racist) are common, you should be able to call the society out for being racist as we do with many countrie aroudn the world. Yes, there are people trying to make changes of it BUT THAT IS THE CASE IN ALL PLACES IN THE WORLD.
Trying to save Japan from critic because of how linked someone is to their culture is orientalism as they believe Japan is a unique case in the world (when it isnt) that needs special treatment. I enjoy Japan culture but I am also able to understand its flaws (the same with my home country btw).
There is institutional racism in Japan , you can easily find it if you see the how the Ainu are treated, or how the Philipinno people are treated in there. About it requiring special context, well, it can be done everywhere. Institutional racism in Israel needs context to understand the issue between arabs and jews. Institutional racism in South Africa during the Apartheit needs context to understand the issue between the white and black population and how it ended up being tehre. Institutional racism in the USA has a long history and context, and you see a ton of people saying that USA is racist.
I would also say in general that Japan has been moving mostly in the "wrong" direction with xenophobia and nationalism for the last few decades, hardening their stand and institutionalizing some racism (against South East Asian mainly) more.
Regarding the importance of NHK being a national public provider, a national public provider is supposed to give a more fair and neutral view. That NHK routinely falls into racist stereotypes just helps portray that in general, the average Japanese is OK with those stereotypes (which is also further supported by many studies over the decade) as it has permeated the general conciousness.
The BBC turn to the right wing (and previously general bad treatment of foreign minorities) is also a problem that can also be linked to the pretty right wing turn of british society and the increase of xenophobic attacks inside the country, so yes, point out BBC problems and I think most left wing brits will agree with you on those issues.
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This is not true.
However it is more often than not the case that you will be auto-rejected the moment your would-be landlord discovers you're not a purebred Japanese. Usually the agency will say this up-front on the phone to the landlord to avoid wasting everybody's time, further adding to the cycle.
How is this any different than if you replaced "Japan" and "Japanese" with "America" and "American"?
America is racist. But look at all the people protesting for equality and justice in that country! Which is true.
You know what is also true? America is racist.
Throw a dart at the damn map for these. Just cause we attempted and are still trying to adopt a "woke" culture in the west does not mean these are not daily across our media. The fact that we keep getting examples to point out to be outraged by is enough evidence at it. Japan isn't some magical different dimension, its a place on Earth just like the rest of our countries.
Anyway, I'm in full agreement with Nocturne Conflating the entire country as a racist hole with absolutely no other opinion than the "x example" does a massive disservice to the people who really do want a positive and lasting change, be they speaking out for decades or just joining us. Shit takes time, and different countries move at different paces thanks to any number of factors. I know its hard to realize but x country isn't the same as your country. That's not a defense of Japan, thats a defense for any country that is moving slower or faster than another in any number of issues, and something ERA consistently forgets. Even if it is at a less than glacial pace sadly.
I saw this on NHK news today. They reported in the news that NHK had aired a racist depiction that was drawing criticism. Was awkward as fuck.
First off, it's supposed to be an informative piece meant for children that explains what is going on.
Except it doesn't mention George Floyd.
And the artwork is shit, demeaning and doesn't cover the fact that the protests are multi-cultural.
It's a swing and a huge fucking miss.
If you don't mind, I am very curious to hear about those stories :)
Basically trying to show a simplified version of the disparity of economic wealth between ethnic minorities and white folks.
Making a blanket statement that "Japan is racist" is "actually a deep analysis of their society"? What? Japan, like just about every country in the world, has serious systemic issues with racism. It may even be fair to call Japan a racist country, though their racism has a very different history than and is institutionalized in a very different way than the U.S. What I disagree with is your method, which comes off as simplistic and childish. From your follow-up:
Treating people as a monolith - even if we "fucking do [it] everywhere" - is empty and deadens any serious argument. It confuses me that you can then talk about how specific context and a more complicated discussion is required here...
...but then also proudly talk about how speaking in cosmically broad terms is good because everybody does it.
If Japanese culture is racist - and yes, perhaps it is, in many ways, having been there several times, though I also very much appreciate the country for other reasons - we need a more sophisticated conversation about it, just like the U.S. needs a more sophisticated conversation that goes beyond "white people are trash". Yes, stuff like that is fun to say and we can broadly understand what's meant, but let's not pretend you're doing the work of engaging some higher dialectical-cultural-historical epistemology by flatly saying "Japan is racist". It's an intellectual dead-end, not a "deep analysis" or "argument" like you claim.
JESUS christ.
It's just so ignorant I have to laugh. Would love to see Double Toasted tear this thing apart lmao.
i'm getting quoted quite a lot and i've been trying to type something up so i can finally go to sleep so i'm really sorry that i'm not directly addressing many of the points made to mine or that it doesn't seem i'm making sense. if it seems that way i probably am not. i'm just gonna try and condense this down into a couple points that hopefully help elaborate on some things i've been saying.
firstly i hope i've been clear that i don't believe BLM and anti-police brutality protests erase or forgive the institutional racism in japan, because of course the existence of racism is not a single number value you add or subtract from. these things all happen in parallel to each other.
the reason i am uncomfortable about the flat statements about what japan 'is' compared to what america 'is' is pretty simple - we are mired in american culture and history in a way that we only get snippets of when we talk about these issues in japan or korea or china. when we say that america is racist, we can immediately diagnose the roots of it and how those roots grew into the superstructures that hold together america today. even when making a very absolute statement about america, we can draw a very complete picture of what that means because we are immersed in it. when we talk about racism in japan or korea, we see the consequences, but we can only work backwards from there. i don't believe that process leads to good or well-informed outcomes. this is not to say that you need to take a course in japanese or korean in order to have opinions on what happens in japan or korea, just that you can resist a knee-jerk condemnation of them without taking some time to get a better grasp on the reality of the situation in them and how much the meanings and manifestations of racism has changed over time in those countries and who has been driving those changes (primarily the people who live inside that reality daily).
i really want to make it clear that i absolutely agree that racism is a deep, deep problem in japan (and east asia over). my disagreement is not about denying that fact, but just being careful about how we talk about it. because as most of us on this site are primarily english speakers in an anglo-centric world, we can succumb to a certain anglo-centric viewpoint to the world. this isn't about japan specifically, as a person of east asian descent, i can't help but try and push back on this idea that there isn't a great deal of individual thought that happens among us, that no one inside the country has noticed the rot and want to do something about it, who aren't doing something about it right now. it's why i've been very insistent about avoiding orientalist rhetoric because when we criticize east asian countries we can fall into rhetorical traps and lines of thought that white supremacy itself cultivated to distant itself from the far east. to put another way, we can talk about the anti-blackness (among many other minorities relevant to each nation) in east asian countries without borrowing anti-asian language and ways of thinking to do so.
and i am just very frustrated because there is a very popular idea that japan is some sort of paradise of anti-progressivism by a certain category of person, that the japanese just don't care to do anything about it. there are absolutely people doing that work and where japan is now (certainly, still not anywhere close to the best of places) is because there has been a concerted force by those discriminated minorities in japan and those allied with them who have normalized and continued to normalize the fight for social justice there.
when we say that japan is just in a 'xenophobic bubble' it justifies the rhetoric of culture warriors who believes that bubble to exist, and japanese nationalists who would seek to create one.
ultimately i think everyone would prefer japan be as safe and welcoming to minorities as it is to ethnic japanese, and i just don't think we should embrace absolutionist statements about japan don't really do anything except take away from those in japan who are trying to make that so.
firstly i hope i've been clear that i don't believe BLM and anti-police brutality protests erase or forgive the institutional racism in japan, because of course the existence of racism is not a single number value you add or subtract from. these things all happen in parallel to each other.
the reason i am uncomfortable about the flat statements about what japan 'is' compared to what america 'is' is pretty simple - we are mired in american culture and history in a way that we only get snippets of when we talk about these issues in japan or korea or china. when we say that america is racist, we can immediately diagnose the roots of it and how those roots grew into the superstructures that hold together america today. even when making a very absolute statement about america, we can draw a very complete picture of what that means because we are immersed in it. when we talk about racism in japan or korea, we see the consequences, but we can only work backwards from there. i don't believe that process leads to good or well-informed outcomes. this is not to say that you need to take a course in japanese or korean in order to have opinions on what happens in japan or korea, just that you can resist a knee-jerk condemnation of them without taking some time to get a better grasp on the reality of the situation in them and how much the meanings and manifestations of racism has changed over time in those countries and who has been driving those changes (primarily the people who live inside that reality daily).
i really want to make it clear that i absolutely agree that racism is a deep, deep problem in japan (and east asia over). my disagreement is not about denying that fact, but just being careful about how we talk about it. because as most of us on this site are primarily english speakers in an anglo-centric world, we can succumb to a certain anglo-centric viewpoint to the world. this isn't about japan specifically, as a person of east asian descent, i can't help but try and push back on this idea that there isn't a great deal of individual thought that happens among us, that no one inside the country has noticed the rot and want to do something about it, who aren't doing something about it right now. it's why i've been very insistent about avoiding orientalist rhetoric because when we criticize east asian countries we can fall into rhetorical traps and lines of thought that white supremacy itself cultivated to distant itself from the far east. to put another way, we can talk about the anti-blackness (among many other minorities relevant to each nation) in east asian countries without borrowing anti-asian language and ways of thinking to do so.
and i am just very frustrated because there is a very popular idea that japan is some sort of paradise of anti-progressivism by a certain category of person, that the japanese just don't care to do anything about it. there are absolutely people doing that work and where japan is now (certainly, still not anywhere close to the best of places) is because there has been a concerted force by those discriminated minorities in japan and those allied with them who have normalized and continued to normalize the fight for social justice there.
when we say that japan is just in a 'xenophobic bubble' it justifies the rhetoric of culture warriors who believes that bubble to exist, and japanese nationalists who would seek to create one.
ultimately i think everyone would prefer japan be as safe and welcoming to minorities as it is to ethnic japanese, and i just don't think we should embrace absolutionist statements about japan don't really do anything except take away from those in japan who are trying to make that so.
My case is that everyone in society uses generalizations when the problem has permeated into society. Trying to give outs to specific countries (in this case Japan, but can also be seen in China or Israel or even EU with its ingrained hate of certain minorities) just because of a connection someone has with a culture is problematic and it just tries to underplay the issues of the country. Trying to say "not all Japanese people are racist" underplays the current institutionalized and permeated into general society racism. I put some very clear examples of it but you seem to have glosseed over it where there are good agents that are sadly not representative of the country as a whole.
Trying to excuse the problem of racism by saying "there is something more deep ingrained into the society that needs to be understood" is just a way to try to give some reason behind xenophobia and racism which in the end is just a way to give it a reason to exist. Yes, there are things behind it but continuously trying to find a reason instead of actually addressing the racism just helps racists and xenophobes say there is a "legit" reason to be it. That can be seen in the US where a ton of racist find some of the manufactured reasons (obtained from those "reasons behind institutionalized xenophobia"), or a ton of anti-semitic speech.
Saying "Japan is racist" is not an intellectual dead-end, it is pointing out a general problem of the society that needs to be addressed. Trying to say "actually there are good people there that arent so you are wrong!" is the dead end as it tries to excuse the current problem and clean your conciousness instead of actually realizing the level racism and xenophobia has permeatted into a culture. Saying "Japan is racist" is a starting point to actually start addressing the real problem in the society as there is no excuse against something so heinous.
It was hard for me to accept later on in my life how deeply rooted some of my childhood was into micro-racism towards Roma and Muslim people in Spain, and it wasnt really until Spain (left-wing) started to understand that they were actually RACIST and XENOPHOBE towards them in a subconscious level that the situation started to slowly improve (mainly with the Roma population). Even then, it isnt fully improved because a ton of people dont want to accept that yes, they are racist towards X or try to find some excuse (such as how "racism was solved with Obama becoming president")
When people affected by racism, xenophobia, and mysoginist (and other stupid hate speec) say X (country / group of people) is racist, the correct answer is not trying to defend by saying "WELL THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN THERE" but trying to understand why they say that and join the group of people inside that X that fights to make it better. The people affected dont mean that everyone consciously are being racist or xenophobe but rather that it has fully permeated into society and big changes need to be made.
I have given plenty of points showing the problem is not only in Japan but all around the world (for instance in Europe or USA). Trying to give an out to Japan or other countries is part of the problem.
You completely misunderstood my post. I didn't give a "not all Japanese people are racist" line or "WELL THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN THERE" response. I said it's complicated, just like all racism is complicated and contextual. You claimed that saying "Japan is racist" captures that complexity. It doesn't.
You also didn't say anything about good agents, which implies trying to actively change things - that's what "agent" means - so there was nothing to gloss over. You just gave a couple of vague "some percentage of people must be good" numbers: "I can go to less extremes examples, such as being able to say ACAB even if a sizeable amount (lets say 10-20%) are good people. Or that white people are trash, even if 40% of them aren't." Where did you get these percentages? If you can admit that these percentages are arbitrary and imaginary for the sake of argument, that suggests that your entire critical foundation is rocky and poorly thought-out.
These were your two basic claims in response to Nocturne 's post:
First, you said that painting people as a monolith is a good thing. That's a philosophical red flag by any measure. It's not a defensible intellectual position.
Second, you said that this was okay, because everybody does it. That's a philosophical red flag by any measure. It's not a defensible intellectual position.
I don't have a problem with saying "America is racist" or "cops are bad" and so on. There are many reasons why it's fine to say things like that. What I disagree with, and what I clearly stated in my response to you, is your method and your reasoning. I'm not here to say that "hey hey, Japan isn't racist!"
I'm saying that you're arguing the position poorly and doing a disservice to the conversation.
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Lets start with the two points as it seems you have completely misunderstood what I meant for them:
My first point was that painting people as a monolith once something permeates into the general consciouness of the population is a thing, because well, it is a thing that affects the entirety of the society whether or not someone realizes it. Once something permeates into the common consciousness of society, everyone that is part of the society has been affected by it even if subconsciously, as I gave examples with micro-agressions. You dont need to be fully racist to do racist actions if you have grown in a society that is racist.
My second point is that acting defensively only when it affects something you are connected to, but not to other cases is the problem, as it tries to give specific outs to a culture for being "unique" when in reality, that is not the case, and a ton of those outs could be given to other cultures.
Regarding the numbers, they are a through experiment based on reality, for instance, we can easily see the number of white people that might be affected by microagressions or being positive to racism with how they think of Trump (or the alt-right in general), which yes, its a fuck ton of white people in America. Yes, in all societies there are agents of change, but in most societies they are a minority that (sadly) has no power to lead to those changes. Trying to defend a society not being racist by protecting yourself behind people that fully understand the problems of the society and try to change it is also a bad thing as those same people are attacking that society to change it for the better.
Saying "well, racism is complicated because racism is complicated and contextual" is again, trying to find an excuse for the reasons behind racism and playing into the hands of racists as I explained before:
外国人可・相談 (Foreigner's allowed / can be discussed) is a search condition checkbox on housecom.jp and I've seen it on lots of other listings.