Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo
The problem is that probably don't realise that this is taboo in Western societies. For Japanese people racism involves violence or discrimination. Just making fun of other races or express a feeling of superiority is not regaded as racism in Japan.
Recently, a good friend of mine (japanese), who I respect for his open-mindedness, told me that he thought a mutual friend of ours (who happens to be black) seemed a bit sensitive about his colour. I asked him why he thought so and he explained that someone had made a joke about how he (the black friend) would be difficult to see in the dark... Anyway, I thought it seemed like an innocent remark, so I didn't really know what to say. In the end, I ended up saying that if you met a fat person you wouldn't make jokes about being fat - an incredibly unsatisfactory comparison I know, but I was a bit flummoxed.
I think it's exactly as people are saying in this thread, particularly Maciamo's quote above. The use of katakana for foreigners' speech is mildly irritating, but I guess we have to try to be a bit humble about our funny pronunciation. The 'Bob Sapp' phenomenon is more worrying, I think; it would be more palatable if it was balanced by more 'serious' or 'real' black men and women also appearing on TV.