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> In every ad, Miyamoto included the logo of his store: a racist caricature of a smiling Japanese man clad in a kimono, known as Musa-Shiya the shirtmaker. Is

by OJFord 3y ago

> In every ad, Miyamoto included the logo of his store: a racist caricature of a smiling Japanese man clad in a kimono, known as Musa-Shiya the shirtmaker. Is it really fair or right to call it 'racist' if it's someone's of that ethnicity? I suppose the obvious other example is black people calling each other something that would certainly be racist if I did it. I know that's controversial, but even that I don't think people would call racist? Or gay people 'reclaiming' slurs - it's not homophobic.

Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
I think the problem is the buyers are not necesirely included right? Like a black person making a song with the n-word and singing it offends no one, a black person in the audience singing it offends no one. But when other people sing it at the top of their lungs then a discussion happens (some people are ok with it others arent). Similarly, an asian man drawing himself in an exagerated way and wearing it himself might not be a huge issue but if other people wear it then it can get muddy. I think in this case, being the label on the neck tag, and being a kind of drawing is prob not a thing that affects almost anyone, but the drawing is slightly eye brow raising nowadays https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53ea82c5e4b0fce80ad38093/1414705946901-KAM373LNWF63E95NY88F/image-asset.png?format=1500w https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53ea82c5e4b0fc...
helen___keller 3y ago
I think this can be a complicated and nuanced discussion that unfortunately can be difficult to have on the internet (even HN!) without devolving into flame war My answer is that it largely depends on the context and power dynamics, so it’s hard to say whether a caricature of a Japanese man is racist when made by a Japanese-American business owner In 1930s America I would lean towards racist, i.e. denigrating towards Japanese ethnicity for the sake of appealing to / surviving in an oppressive culture. That’s not a statement of indictment on the business owner but the environment that the business exists in. That said, Hawai’i is quite different culturally and demographically from the rest of America, so I genuinely don’t know in this case. If this were New York or San Francisco, especially if outside a “Japan town”, i would absolutely say it’s racist.

by OJFord 3y ago

Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago

I think the problem is the buyers are not necesirely included right? Like a black person making a song with the n-word and singing it offends no one, a black person in the audience singing it offends no one. But when other people sing it at the top of their lungs then a discussion happens (some people are ok with it others arent). Similarly, an asian man drawing himself in an exagerated way and wearing it himself might not be a huge issue but if other people wear it then it can get muddy. I think in this case, being the label on the neck tag, and being a kind of drawing is prob not a thing that affects almost anyone, but the drawing is slightly eye brow raising nowadays https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53ea82c5e4b0fce80ad38093/1414705946901-KAM373LNWF63E95NY88F/image-asset.png?format=1500w https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53ea82c5e4b0fc...

helen___keller 3y ago

I think this can be a complicated and nuanced discussion that unfortunately can be difficult to have on the internet (even HN!) without devolving into flame war My answer is that it largely depends on the context and power dynamics, so it’s hard to say whether a caricature of a Japanese man is racist when made by a Japanese-American business owner In 1930s America I would lean towards racist, i.e. denigrating towards Japanese ethnicity for the sake of appealing to / surviving in an oppressive culture. That’s not a statement of indictment on the business owner but the environment that the business exists in. That said, Hawai’i is quite different culturally and demographically from the rest of America, so I genuinely don’t know in this case. If this were New York or San Francisco, especially if outside a “Japan town”, i would absolutely say it’s racist.