Quote Originally Posted by starlitdreams2 View Post
racism should be challenged, not tolerated. Why would it bother you who are afraid to speak up, he who does not fight evil helps evil.
racism should be actively challenged in all nations.
racism unchallenged leads to genocide.
We are talking about ignorant/silly things Japanese natives say to foreigners (or people who look "foreign"). In the real world that most of us live in, making a big fuss everytime a Japanese person asks you "Can you use chopsticks?/ Can you eat natto?" would only hurt your relationships with your neighbors and co-workers, especially when it is done with the kind of "all-or-nothing/black-and-white" attitude.

I think I have written about this before but when my college friend came to stay with us years ago, my mother went out and bought McDonald's burgers "just in case he wouldn't like the Japanese meals". Was it the evil racism that if unchecked, would lead to genocide that made her assume he would much prefer burgers just because he was an American? I think not. Did my friend get offended? No. He asked me to tell her that he really appreciated her being so considerate but he loved Japanese food and she would not have to prepare special meals for him.

While I think it WOULD have gotten pretty annoying to my friend if he had gotten the same kind of treatment over and over and over from everyone, still I highly doubt that he, or anyone whom I consider to be a reasonable, well-ballanced adult would have dealt with the offender/s in a confrontational manner.

I admit that there used to be a time when stuff like that bothered me to no end and I let everyone around me know about it. Now that I am older, I would like to think now I am able to deal with such situations with grace like my friend did then.