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[xix]

Squaresoft's Tom Sawyer RPG. Perhaps the most racist representation of a black game character in a mainstream game. Most of it has to do with the export racist images to Japan.

To be fair to Japan and Japanese art - they have pretty much accepted hyperbole as an art form. Anime is a great example. It's not like they haven't been doing that since the era of the screen press, either.

[Anthony Flack]

I think it would be a mistake to excuse the racist intent in that game. Racism in Japan is widespread and completely socially acceptable. Since signing up to the UN charter on human rights 10 years ago, Japan has been obliged to pass anti-racial discrimination laws and they are still refusing to do so. Racial discrimination is not illegal in Japan and many businesses will refuse to deal with foreigners; some even openly display "no foreigners" signs on their doors. Again, this is neither illegal nor socially unacceptable in Japan.

[Impossible]

To be fair to Japan and Japanese art - they have pretty much accepted hyperbole as an art form.

True. Although overtime as the portrayal of blacks in the media has changed it's changed in Anime and Japanese games as well. Although its pretty rare to see black characters in Japanese games or Anime, when you do they aren't the black face extreme that Jim is. The style of Jim is clearly not rooted in any traditional anime influences, its directly influenced by blackface\darky iconography. I'm not blaming the Japanese or Squaresoft for a much larger cultural phenomenon.  I'm sure the developers of the game didn't even have a grasp of what it meant.

[xix]

I think it would be a mistake to excuse the racist intent in that game. Racism in Japan is widespread and completely socially acceptable. Since signing up to the UN charter on human rights 10 years ago, Japan has been obliged to pass anti-racial discrimination laws and they are still refusing to do so. Racial discrimination is not illegal in Japan and many businesses will refuse to deal with foreigners; some even openly display "no foreigners" signs on their doors. Again, this is neither illegal nor socially unacceptable in Japan.

Racism in Japan isn't the same as racism in the States. In Japan the majority of people are of Japanese descent. This makes it easy, and passable, to discriminate between Japanese and foreigner. That Japanese people trust Japanese people is natural.

The States is a much different world where everyone is forced to live with everyone else. It's almost impossible to know who's an American and who's not. Some people have learned to hate before fearing because racism has been engendered into us.

[Alex May]

It's almost impossible to know who's an American and who's not.

Heh. I think the Native Americans would have something to say about that. "Well, let me see. OK, us, here - we're Americans. You lot are foreigners "

[xix]

My grandpa came here on a military trip back in the 60s. A Native American said to him, "My good man, to what tribe do you belong." I'm not saying you're wrong, but there's a story for you.

[Anthony Flack]

Racism in Japan isn't the same as racism in the States. In Japan the majority of people are of Japanese descent. This makes it easy, and passable, to discriminate between Japanese and foreigner. That Japanese people trust Japanese people is natural.

The States is a much different world where everyone is forced to live with everyone else. It's almost impossible to know who's an American and who's not. Some people have learned to hate before fearing because racism has been engendered into us.

The difference is not so apparent when you are a foreigner living in Japan.

[sandcrab]

On the subject of non-human characters that are black--well, for starters I don't think you see many of those because the appeal of a non-human or anthromorphic character is that they are not really any particular race, and even in some cases you can throw out gender too.  But anyway, ToeJam and Earl turned out to be black!  I had always thought they were white, maybe that was just me identifying with them as a kid, but when they came out on Xbox they'd turned from colorful non-ethnic aliens to decidedly "colored" aliens.  Also they got a female character named Latisha or something?

There was also a black samurai(!) as one of the main characters in Neo Contra.  Big Landman from Burning Rangers probably doesn't count, but he was black too. 

I realize everyone's experience is different, but I spent a year in Japan (and not just the urban areas where supposedly foreigners are more commonplace and therefore better accepted) and never got any guff from anybody, and for sure no businesses told me to take my gaijin ass elsewhere.  I would still agree that Japan is an incredibly racist nation but individual Japanese don't seem to be.  Of course, if you're trying to find work that isn't teaching English, that is a completely different story.

[xix]

Racism in Japan is *nothing* like hate crimes here in the States.

[Anthony Flack]

I'm sure. But it is socially acceptable among the general population, and I am quite sure that they would have no objection to having a chuckle at a depiction of a black person with big jubby lips.

Although several of my students have recounted tales of being accousted or attacked on the street by people, or being told to get off a bus on account of their race, my experience has not been violent at all, and is mostly restricted to the occasional old person spitting as I walk past, and having the police stop me at random to make sure I'm not riding a stolen bicycle and stuff like that.

Big Landman from Burning Rangers probably doesn't count, but he was black too.

And has the best/worst name for a supporting Bigblackman character ever. Also, best dreadfully bad theme song ever made, at least until the God Hand end credit sequence.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Racism in Japan is *nothing* like hate crimes here in the States.

There was a case early in the 20th century where one Japanese axed another Japanese to death in broad daylight. Why? Because he was speaking English.

Racism in Japan is pretty significant:

[Anthony Flack]

Well, I doubt there is any issue with chopping up Japanese people who are learning English these days. Everyone is doing it.

But never mind what happened in the early 20th century - heck, the United States was racially segregated half a century ago, which is really quite a freakishly short time back, let's not forget. But I'm more interested in what is happening right now, and in Japan it seems that racial discrimination is still considered quite normal and natural, and not at all embarassing or shameful. Which I find quite sad.

Whether or not that is better than having deep resentment simmering away under a veneer of political correctness I don't know. But I have to give credit to the people in the US - as bad as things might still be, the progress made in the last few decades is pretty amazing. I mean, the starting point was pretty damn low.

And I guess you could say that attitudes were pretty horrific in Japan not so long ago, as well. But the thing is that those ultra-right wing racists (basically the equivalent of neo-nazis) are still quite visible and tolerated in Japan.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Agreed about the timespan thing, but hate crimes in the US are still pretty rare too.  We still have a rare lynching case every decade or so though.

[xix]

In Japan people don't like foreigners because it's bad business. In America people don't like minorities because they don't like minorities. It's a vastly different account of racism. Talking about Japanese rightwings like they're Neo-Nazis is insane.

[FARTRON]

Yes in Japan racism is acceptable, everywhere else it is just irrational hatred without historic social-economic justification.  :D

[xix]

Raise your hand if you've experienced different kinds of racism in your life.

When your 1st grade teacher in the cushy world of the suburbs or middle to upperclass America tells you that "racism is bad", it's like her telling you to stay away from dragons. She just doesn't know. She's never been a victim of racism, and if she has you are too young for her to bother explaining the real deal.

Racism comes in many different forms. Some people are racist because they are scared. They react to other races because they don't want something bad to happen to themselves. Other people are racist because they think they are better than the victim. They act on other races because they want to show their superiority. Lumping it all together is fine until you start talking about how these two kinds of racism are the same thing.

For example: know for a fact that I won't go down to typically black neighborhoods at 1am looking for a place to drink. I guess you can call me racist. If you want to be an asshole.

[FARTRON]

What's "typically black" about this hypothetical neighborhood is that it is poor.  You probably wouldn't go into the "typically latino" neighborhood either, and with similar reasoning.  It's the racism that makes it seem normal for everyone involved that the "typically black" neighborhoods are poor and crime-ridden.  Racism comes in one form, and that is ignorant tribalism.

[xix]

Stop pretending like race is a non-issue.

I am Filipino, but to all those rednecks in rural Wisconsin I look like "one of them darn sandnaggers". If there has been a terrorist attack in the news in the past week, there is no way I am going to go driving backroads in the country at night.

Some people are racist. Pretending like they aren't is dumb as shit. A typically black neighborhood identifies with black people. A typically Mexican, white, etc. neighborhood identifies with typically Mexican, white, whatever people. To use your langauge it's "ignorant tribalism" at work. It's unfortunate, but you can't ignore it because it's real.

Edit:
And to bring it full circle, black people are poor. A lot of minorities are poor. Poverty causes crime. If all I know about a neighborhood is that it is full of minorities I know that it has a higher likelihood of being poor. And since poverty causes crime, well I know that I am more likely to be a victim in a minority neighborhood.

Btw, are you white? Or mid to upperclass?

[moi]

When your 1st grade teacher in the cushy world of the suburbs or middle to upperclass America tells you that "racism is bad", it's like her telling you to stay away from dragons. She just doesn't know.

But you should really stay awy from dragons. Even if I've never seen one I can tell you that...
The same for earthquakes, fires, fascist politicians, alligators and racism.

[Anthony Flack]

In Japan people don't like foreigners because it's bad business. In America people don't like minorities because they don't like minorities. It's a vastly different account of racism. Talking about Japanese rightwings like they're Neo-Nazis is insane.

Uh, no, in Japan people don't like foreigners because they don't like foreigners - the media and politicians commonly reports that we are responsible for most of the crime in Japan (statistically, a foreigner is about half as likely to be involved in criminal activity than a Japanese person, and yet the "foreign crime wave" is constantly in the news). The banks put up signs around the ATMs telling you to beware if you see any suspicious-looking foreigners around and the posters all depict foreigners robbing Japanese people. We are always depicted as lazy, disrespectful troublemakers, and there is a quite definite opinion that black people at least are racially inferior as well.

And it's true, I really do not like the right-wingers, driving around in their big black buses, broadcasting their scary propaganda at deafening levels, with their Yakuza drivers, going around intimidating everyone all day long. They are equivalent to Neo-Nazis in the sense that they wish for Japan to return to its Imperial past, roughly equivalent to a German person calling for Germany to return to its Nazi past.