Following the recent disaster in Japan, I first worried about my friend Kazuya who lives in Tokyo and then following the potential nuclear disaster unfolding over there, I've been dismayed at one of the usual byproducts of the modern news cycle.
There always seems to be a side story that sneaks in with little to no relevance to the actual story but that gains traction and grows into a story in its own right.
This time it goes something like this: during the course of the tragedy in Japan there has been a notable lack of rioting, looting, civil unrest, etc.
The subtext of the story, as was also the subtext when the same story line came about following flooding in Nashville last year, is that American Black people suck and they will loot your stuff from you in a heartbeat because they are basically little more than animals.
I'm pretty sure the racial angle got traction in both instances from FOX News and specifically from Glenn Beck's show but I'm not going to bother looking that up. That's where I heard it first in both instances and then the broader news media picked up on it without looking into the validity of the statement too much.
I'm not like that. I like to actually understand a story rather than take it on face value. I know that there are cultural differences with the Japanese. I'm Buddhist after all. I've done quite a bit of study on Japanese and Zen culture. Ascribing the orderliness of the Japanese to religion doesn't explain anything. Reverence for parents? Manners? I've even seen one source say that the lack of looting might have something to do with how awesome the Yakuza is. Seriously.
So, here's what I actually think it is and why I think the racial subtext making it's way around America in typical fashion is such BS.
Japan is a monolithic culture for starters. Japan is Japanese. Outsiders are welcome to visit but it's really hard, and I mean REALLY hard, for outsiders to get residency there. Yeah, they love Western culture, but, if you're not Japanese you're going to be on the outside looking in. Not that I have a problem with that. But, aside from a massive, shared cultural identity, there is also a massive social welfare system in Japan, governmental and private, pensions, health care for everybody, etc.
All of this fosters an intense sense of national pride and neighborliness. The people in Japan know that they will be taken care of. There's very little poverty or crime as a result. This is the sort of system I want in America and why I'm a socialist. Funny to me that Glenn Beck skips over this aspect of Japanese culture.
Now, in America, you have a system where we are a nation of immigrants, melting pot, all that. For those of you who have forgotten, almost all of the Black people in our country are the descendants of people who were brought here as slaves to do forced labor. Many of the Hispanics in this country are here because they've been brought in by American business interests to work for sub-standard wages.
Unfortunately, in America, the best bet for a young Black man to make good money since he's not eligible for the good old boys' network, is to sell drugs. I don't think non-Blacks can ever truly appreciate what it must be like to be Black in America. I think many of them, even those who like to think of themselves as "enlightened" think all of the ills in the Black community in America are just the result of laziness. Not that they would say this out loud or even admit to it; they just do things like point out how awesome the Japanese are.
These people were FORCED to come into this country and, then, following the U.S. Civil War, were just cut loose to fend for themselves. They didn't come from the old country with any belongings, savings, inherited jewelry, or knowledge of a trade, or family, or friends.
I'd venture to say that most people who are critical of what happened in the aftermath of Katrina have either little or no knowledge of what life is like for the average Black person in New Orleans. Many live in abject poverty because their living in poverty keeps the wheels of commerce moving in New Orleans. It keeps the tourist industry well-staffed and keeps goods flowing in and out of the port. Your coffee, your bananas, your jeans, etc. remain cheap because of the cheap labor that brings them to you.
The social safety net that was once part of American life has been eroded to the point where it's no longer even part of the story.
Blacks in New Orleans, and indeed in many U.S. cities, are marginalized and kept on the sidelines when there are economic good times. People still want their cheap goods and services.
Additionally, millions of Latinos have been brought in by American businesses to directly compete with the American Blacks for these low-paying jobs.
I don't know how many of you have visited Nashville but I lived there. It's the whitest city I've ever lived in. I'm not even sure where the Black people in Nashville live but I know there are a few there because I saw it on COPS.
The parts of Nashville hit by the flooding last year were in some pretty well-to-do parts of town. I'm not sure that I've ever seen wealthy White people doing any looting. Well, except for when they gouge prices and make laws that help them rip off everybody else. And yet the sub-story unfolded last year. Hey, look, flooding in Nashville, just like in New Orleans, but look at how nice and orderly the White people are. Not like those bad Black people.
So, the bottom line is that, if you know you'll be taken care of, you're less likely to be a looter. The situation in New Orleans following Katrina was certainly nothing like that. Nashville is a city that sits atop what is known as the Cumberland Plateau, high ground. I'm not even sure how it flooded in the first place but the water drained off very quickly. Not so in New Orleans that lies below sea level. And, once again for those of you who don't understand how ports work, it has to be where it is so you can get your coffee, sugar, bananas and jeans. The high ground in New Orleans is occupied by wealthy White people and has been since the early 1700s.
Anyway, while all the veiled attacks are levied against American Blacks under the guise of praising the Japanese, I'd really hope that there would be some Americans out there who might be interested in doing some thinking about what the Black American experience is, how they got here, how they're treated, what it's like to grow up Black and poor, etc.
Let me just say that I'm something of a racist. I freely admit it. But I'm also capable of thinking for myself and I actually go out of my way to be empathetic. I don't want to criticize anybody without first trying to understand where they're coming from.
I guess America would be a better place, if you think the Japanese are so admirable, if our country was nothing but White people with a great healthcare system available to everybody and government funded pension plans which were consistently honored and maintained. Where retirees were treated with respect and taken care of. That's not what we've got. We've got a melting pot of different races and cultures and huge economic disparity.
You get what you pay for.
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