• Photo of shakuhachi

  Letter critical of Debito

  http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=955
  124 days ago in Occidentalism · Authority: 60

  Here is a letter to the Japan Times about Debito’s theory about the word gaijin, via JAPUNDIT. Regarding the Sept. 2 article “The ‘gaijin’ debate: Arudou responds”: Debito Arudou’s claim that the word “gaijin” is racist not only borders on whining but also smacks of something that could only be brought up by a white person. I’m part Japanese and part black, and I’ll tell you right now that I would rather be called a “gaijin” over “nigger” any day. Arudou sounds like someone whose whiteness got him special treatment in the United States. He sounds as if he must have been shocked when he went to another country and realized that being white there wasn’t the same as it was in the U.S. All of a sudden, he was in the marginalized category normally reserved for nonwhite minorities. I have news: “Citizenship” does NOT make one part of the Japanese race, no matter how much one wishes it. In the eyes of the Japanese, Arudou is a gaijin. Japan is not where he is from. Arudou appears to be going through a major identity crisis. To think that one can walk into another country, change citizenship and then expect the whole country to accept one not as a foreigner but as a fellow Japanese is something ripped out of the pages of Western colonialism. What I cannot understand is that Debito expects people to know that he is Japanese just by looking at him. It might inconvenience him from time to time to be thought to be a foreigner by Japanese people, but he can hardly say that he did not expect that when he became a Japanese citizen.

  • Photo of jetiranger

    Is Being Called A “Gaijin” or “Weiguk” Racist?

    http://rokdrop.com/2008/09/04/is-being-called-a-gaijin-or-we...
    125 days ago in ROK Drop · Authority: 88

    Over at Japundit he has a letter to the editor that many of you in Korea may find interesting: Regarding the Sept. 2 article “The ‘gaijin’ debate: Arudou responds”: Debito Arudou’s claim that the word “gaijin” is racist not only borders on whining but also smacks of something that could only be brought up by a white person. I’m part Japanese and part black, and I’ll tell you right now that I would rather be called a “gaijin” over “nigger” any day. Arudou sounds like someone whose whiteness got him special treatment in the United States. He sounds as if he must have been shocked when he went to another country and realized that being white there wasn’t the same as it was in the U.S. All of a sudden, he was in the marginalized category normally reserved for nonwhite minorities. I have news: “Citizenship” does NOT make one part of the Japanese race, no matter how much one wishes it. In the eyes of the Japanese, Arudou is a gaijin. Japan is not where he is from. Arudou appears to be going through a major identity crisis. To think that one can walk into another country, change citizenship and then expect the whole country to accept one not as a foreigner but as a fellow Japanese is something ripped out of the pages of Western colonialism. I have to agree with the letter writer that being called a “gaijin” is not racist just like being called a “weiguk” in Korea is not racist as well.

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