Discrimination, Prejudice, and Identity in
Japan
Movie: "The
Ghosts of Auschwitz,'(WMV)
Student
impressions:
There were many different opinions. People were very
honest!
For being open about differences:
" I don't mind it if someone calls me
Japanese, why should someone mind if I call them American if they are
from America? The name of the country is alright, isn't it? Also I
don't think the word 'gaijin' is bad. Sometimes it means something good
like having long legs, or big eyes. Is pointing out differences
discrimination? Next, I want to say is that people who speak
English to foreigners are just trying to be nice. Another fact is that
most people in Japan don't have a lot of experience with seeing people
who look different so asking about the person's country is just
curiosity. Humans are naturally curious. Finally, I think that these
differences should not be hidden but the reverse. We should bring them
into the open so we can understand more and avoid problems. This is the
real way to internationalization"
Against
generalizing about people:
"I lived in a foreign country before, so I
know about this problem. It's terrible. I will never call a person
'black'
or 'gaijin' because I know the pain it can cause. When I lived in a
foreign country people called me 'Japanese' or 'Chinese'. I felt really
bad. Also, my dad is from Britain and I've seen people say 'gaijin' to
him. It's not a nice thing to say. Another thing is that when I was in
Junior high school, there were many people from different countries so
I learned that it is very bad manners to say such words. When you get
to know many different kinds of people, you learn this. Before that, in
elementary school, I had a friend from China who used to say things
about people from Japan. It was shocking. Also in elementary school, people used to call me 'a half' because I have slightly brown
hair. At first I didn't mind but after being called it a million times,
I really got sick of it.
Another thing about me is that
my mother is a 'half' Korean, so I am a 'quarter'. There is no such
thing as 'eighth' so when I have kids the Korean side of my family will
be gone. I feel sorry for my grandfather. His culture will be lost. I
really like the song 'Imagine' by John Lennon and I hope the world will
be as one someday. We need to learn from the history of Auschwitz. I
think Teru Takahashi is very cool and I want to be like him. I am ME!"
