Race in Japan Part 2

And my story on race in Japan continues....

You and Your Asian Hottie

The number 1 problem I had with all this race madness had nothing to do with me being black in another country. There's this phrase "Yellow Fever." Oh please Jasmine, you're overreacting. No, no, no and NO! I'm standing up and putting my foot down. Ever notice when someone goes for a particular racial minority it is associated with a sickness, a disease. You've been infected by this bug blurring your vision for something "exotic." That phrase along with "Jungle Fever" bothers me and it hurt me to hear some of my guy friends use it to describe their attraction for Japanese women. It hurt me even more when they tried to justify their use of the phrase. And some of that was directed at my Japanese girlfriends. Uh huh! I'm not letting you disprect my Japanese sister like that, man.

Sometimes....

YOU NEED TO THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!!!

What can I Learn from this White person?!

Flashback to London....

This is a big shout out to my good friend Greta. I didn't think it was possible to learn about racial issues from a white person, but while in London I found this to be totally untrue. Not only issues revolving race, but so many others. I swear getting to know Greta was like the opening of the world! Every time I talk with her I feel that the goal of the Civil Rights era has been met. I really admired that she sought to take classes on race and ethnicity to learn about something she wasn't confronted with in her hometown. I also want to thank her for the introduction and love to hip hop. Yes, you can learn from a white person.

To be a black and a traveler...

If anything, being black and travelling to these countries I have seen how far we have come as people, how much has changed (for the better) and how much MORE we still have to go. I never a had an issue with specific people about race showing me that people are less crazy than their grandparents in the 1950's. Yet, I gotta give a big ouch to those who keep greeting me by throwing a gang sign and saying "wat up." Hey man, I grew up in the rural burbs of California

Crash those stereotypes!

What I love about this whole experience was exchanging stories about being a racial minority.

"So how is America?"

"United States are awesome, but..."

Of course what came after that was my explanation of the racial climate of U.S.A.

One day during lunch I tried in Nihonglish to discuss "Black Hair." You can't discuss Black Hair without explaining race. As I tried to explain, I could see my Japanese friends faces twist into a sad contemplative state as they tried to comprehend why on Earth it would be so hard for a person to live in a country due to their skin color. Like come on! It's skin color! I could use foreigners as an example and that works, but it's the fact that many who experience this intolerance are American themselves and America is supposed to be this place of racial harmony. No place is what seems.

My friend Teka and I had the honor of talking to a class about race in America. The class did research on American Black History. Each group had a specific topic, researched and then presented. They found out things I didn't even know about. After their presentations Teka and I talked with them, more like talked to them about being Black in America. I was honest and that whole idealistic notion they had of the States crashed with every experience I told them. However, I tried to leave them with a sense of hope that conditions are getting better.

Whatever views or preconceived ideas about Black people my Japanese friends had before, I hope I changed them. No one was outwardly racist, but we must remember that even though the meaning of race changes from country to another, race has globalized.

Black woman in Japan. How was it? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Shout out to Gretaaaaaaaaaaaa