Flashback XII
2005.03.14 18:56

#Barbery Pirates

He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean. -Excerpt from his biography.

Comparing the Barbary Pirates to modern days terrorists smacks of grasping at straws in an attempt to justify an ill-planned war.

Actually I don't think so. Learning from the past event and try to shed light on the current matter is a very good thing. - I think these two events have similarity in that both took place far from America with a view to keeping America's interest overseas. -In this case, oil maybe...

#Still?

Still racism in America? I thought it was already disappeared. How deep it affects your society?In the newly built country like America, racism must be a social problem. Because here in Japan main immigration took place 2000 years ago and since then no new people arriving in a large scale, we have already forgotten we hail from different peoples from four corners of the world. But actually we consist of many different peoples.

However there in America, 200 years are short enough compared to 2000 not to intermingle together yet, things might be different. I hope no people can be hurt by racial remarks relentlessly made by other 'people'... It's an illusion though.

Any country has to overcome race problems. American can do.

Important thing is discrimination based on race is somewhere sometime made by men in history in order to achieve for particular purposes. In case of Japan it was made deliberately in early 1600s to devide and rule people in a society to watch themselves out of each other. I think in the case of America, it was purposefully made around 1800. Those days America was an immigrant's country mainly from Europe. People those days America were very afraid of bringing historical conflicts nurtured in the Old Continent into the New Continent. So they made dichotomy-whether you are white Caucasian or non-white other than Caucasian- very visible apparent difference. Then they succeeded in evading racial conflict between European origins. That's my understanding on how race distinction in America was nurtured.Through largely by administrative effort, race problems are annihilated. -True.

#History of Racism

After a long war and conflict between various powers within Japan's society-actually it lasted 100 years, it was around 1600-unified Japan had emerged. The ruler at that time, in order to control people well, hit upon an idea. That we call 4 class caste. Here is the list.

Warrior 1st

Farmer 2nd

Engineer 3rd

Merchant 4th

But that was not all. There were Royal Family above Warrior class and the Outcaste people, in other words, the Untoutchable, hamlet people, Burakumin.

After restoration of power by the Royal Family in 1867, all 4 class people were 'liberated' and came to be equal. Only Royal Family and Outcaste people were thought to be different from liberated 4 class. That thought to be higher and this thought to be lower.

Actually discrimination against the Outcast people had been kept till some 10 years ago. But mainly administrative body's great effort to enlighten ordinary people, and partly from the Outcaste people's great work to the society, administration, now this discrimination has completely disappeared. Like an annihilation of smallpox. Since race discrimination is nothing but a malady of society.

There were other form of racism-discrimination against Chinese and Korean. This case too by and large disappeared. Mainly this discrimination were based on negative heritage of after the 2nd World War. We invaded China(1931-1945) and annexed Korea(1905-1945). Since the end of war 59 years have passed. The days are gone forever.

We used to have a native inhabitant called Ainu. The origin of Ainu people is unclear. They have curry hair and pale skin colour. They had been persecuted and oppressed totally and almost all Ainu people were disappeared in early 1900s.

There are some racially based discrimination against those who arrived from many parts of the world now.

Nevertheless, current Japan has, when it comes to race problem, practically no or very very scarce discrimination.

#Canal Water?

For the first time I heard American's using the term Eta, which is Japanese word for the Untouchables. Yeah, you 're right. We all hold seeds of racial preference in our minds. We ought to be careful not to water it lest it should turn to a bud.

Till it turns to a fossil.

#Idola

Thanks for the information. Always our dabates are not based on what it is, but what it is believed to be at the time of debating. So it doesn't matter. When people believed the earth is flat, still they could find countless scientific facts even if they were doing based on its false belief. We are inevitably always suffered from somehow wrong idea, or idola what Francis Bacon insightfully described it. Thank you for the comment.