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Mindo (民度) and the Matter of Black Lives in Japan

thomas

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14 Mar 2002
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Here's an interesting insight into mindo (民度) and the BLM movement in Japan.

Abstract: Representations of blacks in Japan continue to be problematic even when the media itself, a prime purveyor of racial misrepresentations, attempts to address the issue. This has become evident in its coverage of global Black Lives Matter protests for racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police in the United States. While protests have occurred in a number of Japanese cities, mainstream coverage has ignored them and remained focused on those demonstrations that have taken place abroad. While these demonstrations have prompted a reexamination of anti-black racism in the United States and Europe, the Japanese media has largely avoided introspective discussion of its domestic manifestations, despite its prevalence on the internet, social media, and television, including corporate mainstream news broadcasts that have feebly attempted to examine the issue.

Author:
John G. Russell is Professor of Cultural Anthropology in the Faculty of Regional Studies at Gifu University. His research focuses on representations of race and gender in Japanese and American popular culture. He is the author of Nihonjin no kokujin-kan [Japanese Perceptions of Blacks] and Henken to sabetsu ga dono yō ni tsukurareru ka [How are Prejudice and Discrimination Produced?].


I am surprised that several Japanese media outlets and TV stations, including NHK, regularly resort to a white supremacist to explain racial issues in the United States.
 
Funny, I think the vocabulary in Japanese is quite limited to denounce racism.

For example in English, you could call someone a racist/bigot/xenophobe/intolerant, ... the options are almost endless !

In Japanese, apart for maybe 「差別だよ!」 , apart from that I don't see.

Saying 「あなたは人種差別主義者だ!」is not easy ! :D:D:D:D
 
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