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Wasp -> (6/30/2002 10:56:57 AM)
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For those of you who have believe that "Jap" is not an offensive term, and believe that Jap is short for Japanese, please read this:
Jap Pronunciation Key (jp)
n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a person of Japanese birth or descent.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
As it shows here and as it would show in any dictionary, Jap is a derogatory term designed to degrade the Japanese. I believe that some of us believe that Jap is acceptable because we have heard people using it. (fathers, grandfathers who fought against the Japanese may have used it, and as a result, we began to think it was acceptable, when in fact it is totally unacceptable.) Although in the first half of the last century people have used Jap for short, I would like to remind you there was a hidden message behind it. It was a message of hate and the degrading of Japanese so that non-Japanese could get a laugh at some one else's expense. Because this problem surfaced, it was decided that an abbreviation JPN, I repeat JPN be used as an abbreviation for Japan/Japanese so that no misunderstandings would cause problems. Which is where we are at now. I understand why Jap has not been thought of as a derogatory term as it should be, because no one has specificially made a stand and said it was degrading and humiliating to those who see such words even if they are not meant to be disparaging. It is just like a white person going down into the hood and calling the African American people N------. I'm sure that you cannot get away by saying that it is short for African American or Negro. That is totally unacceptable. Why do we know this? Because strong minded leaders of the black community made a stand and told everyone that N----- was not acceptable and it was disparaging. They made it clear that racism was unacceptable. Because of the fact that the Japanese have not made a strong and serious attempt to get the message across that the word "Jap" is derogatory and unacceptable, because we have heard Jap being used, and because we are not reminded that it is a derogatory term, most people are misled to believe that there is nothing wrong with the word Jap, when in fact there is definitely something wrong with the term. Sure, we may never be able to completely destroy hatred, but we can do small things that will make a difference, a difference that will allow the futrure generation to live with out the tragedies of hatred. Now, everyone can do something to help, and I ask for all of us who believe that hatred is wrong to do something about it. Do the little things:
1. Don't pass the message of hate to childeren, no matter how much you dislike or hate a particular race of people, because the next generation does not need to endure the sadness, tragedies of hate. We must learn from our history, or history will repeat its self only resulting in pain.
2. Ask yourself if what you are doing is right before doing something. Just because one uses or has messages of hate, does not make it right. YOU have the final decision with what to do with your life: To let history repeat its self or to learn from the mistakes of our past generations and do our very best to make the world a better place. If you are in doubt, if something could be harmful, just ask, there is no harm in asking is something is wrong or not. As humans we can only continue to learn, for those who refuse to be open minded there is only sadness and pain. The IJN/IJA is a good example, they refused to be open minded to new ideas and they were defeated by the Allies who were always open minded and were ready to listen. WE AS A HUMAN RACE, MUST NEVER STOP LISTENING, BECAUSE WHEN YOU REFUSE TO LISTEN, YOU BECOME IGNORANT AND CAN NEVER GET THE FULL VIEW OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
3. Someone pointed it out that you cannot ever erase hatred; although we may not be able to erase hatred from the human race, we can contain hatred. (For those of you who watch basketball, when MJ used to play for chicago, you knew you could not stop MJ, but you knew you could contain him, sure he will get his dose of 30 points, but you could contain him: Damage control.) This is the same thing. Sure, you cannot stop hatred, but you can contain hatred, and stop the destruction of hate. Hate is one weapon that does not cost anything, it is the only weapon that kills and hurts people like no other weapon can. And guess where hate is created? People who are not able to come to an understanding that no one is perfect, and cannot accept the imperfections of his fellow man. Because when you hate, you are only weakening the Human race. You are only making the weapon called hate stronger than ever. So do your part to contain hatred, and even if only one person gets the message, that is an improvement, for that means that we are one person closer to stopping the speread of this virus called hate.
I know there is probably more, but I will stop it at this. Hopefully everyone now understands the full significance of one little word like "Jap"
Now, someone asked weather a Japanese person finds "Jap" offensive. Well, I must say that the Japanese people are not really informed about history like we are, so most young Japanese do not understand what "Jap" is. However, for Japanese and people who have Japanese ancestors and truly understand what it means, it is highly offensive. Some of you may ask why is the common Japanese not informed? Well, the Japanese try to hide the Pacific war from its own citizens by not teaching children about the war: by doing this they hope that time will erase all the tears of war and hate. Which is the same reason the Japanese government has problems with it's Asian neighbors over the Pacific war. Has anyone heard about the Japanese textbooks for school children in Japan? In the textbook, it tells children that in the Pacific war, Japan did no harm. Of course, along with this, people are not informed what "Jap" is. I could almost guarantee that you could ask a common Japanese person, who does not have strong knowledge of the American culture, language, customs, etc, and they will not be able to tell you what "Jap" means. Some older people who lived through the American occupation will know, because they have heard it. And to add insult to injury, the government of Japan has made all attempts to hide everything, so that the people do not know anything. This is quite sad. Which is probably why the Japanese people may not be offended. Bottom line.... They are not offended because they do not know the meaning of the word because they never knew, because the government has hidden everything. How can you ask some one if they are offended at something when they do not even know what it is? That is the big issue in Japan right now. The majority of Japanese people has lost their identity (of course with an exception of a few who actually understand history: just like there is always an exception to everything. But to those who understand, it is very offensive, and I would like to make that very clear. We must get the message out to people that "Jap" is not just another word, but it is an highly derogatory term that destroys relations between the Japanese people and the rest of the world. We must do this to make this world a better place to live, for the more knowledge a person gains, the wise he becomes, and I sincerely hope that everyone reading this has learned something: That the little words such as "Jap" fuel the fire of hatred......
"One small step for man - one giant leap for mankind"--Neil Armstrong
Well, now we are taking a small step, however we are also taking one giant leap for mankind. We have the power to let everyone know what this is all about. Although this is a small step for containing hatred, this is one giant leap forward to containing hatred.
P.S. I am sure you are wondering how I know all this stuff about Japanese, culture, history, and the governemnt's attempt to hide information from it's own people? Well, I am Japanese my self. I have seen the bad side and the good side of both countries and there is a ton I can say about both countries, however, I don't think I will fully list each and everything wrong with each country, because I will never get done. I leaned and studied both American and Japanese culture in person not from a book or TV, although my study of people and history is still continuing and will probably never end, I know enough to tell you this. As an well informed Japanese who have lived both in the states and in Japan, I would like to say that "Jap" is highly offensive--equally as offensive as the word "gook", or for chinese-C----, or for african Americans, N-----. We must never call people by derogatory terms, because it is hurtful to others, so why should "Jap" be any different? From my personal experience, I have had a white person who called me a Chink. I was astounded by this person's foolishness. Not only did he assume I was a chinese just because of my Asian features, but he hurt me deeply inside. To see how people can hurt a fellow man is totally sad. It is something you must experience to understand. So take the first step, never hurt your fellow man, it will only cause pain and suffering. Some of you may ask, why I did not tell you I was Japanese? Well, I feared that people will not understand what I had to say, so I just played it by ear wondering if you guys were sophisticated enough to understand that hate takes you nowhere but into the abyss of pain, hurt, guilt, and everything that goes along with it. I am pleased to say that many of you understand it is wrong and I am very very pleased to say that people are willing to listen and understand, but most important of all people of all ages and races are willing to stop this nonsense called discrimination and hatred. The Nazis are a prime example of what hate does to a generation, a country, a race, the people, and religion. Hopefully, by me pointing this out, I can help the world be a better place for all others who may come after us.
I leave you with this final note.
Don't let history's mishaps destroy our future, let us learn from our mishaps so that we will never make the mistakes our previous generations have made.....
Thank you all who have read my very long post. I sincerely thank you for being so open minded to understand what is wrong is wrong and what is right is right. Good day to you all, and may god (or buddah, Jesus, Allah, or anything else you may happen to believe in.) bless you all.
Thank you
Wasp
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