“Multi-racial”

I know this term has come to be a “hot button” topic and a word that triggers a lot of people for some reason quite a bit these days. This is unquestionably a debate that could go on and on and on but I just wanted to point out one thing that I have noticed watching the various seasons of “Terrace House” – that although all of the people that I have seen so far SPEAK Japanese, they are not all Japanese and they are not all even half-Japanese (“ハーフ” as they are called in Japan). It’s interesting because we are “taught” so frequently that Japan is a very “closed-minded society” when it comes to racial heritage, but at least as far as THIS television show goes, it seems much more liberal than we are. I have yet to see a single American show that so seamlessly integrates people of all backgrounds who are SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS where it is stated what their “racial background is” (for example, there is a season of “Terrace House” in which the manga author / illustrator is Italian. Not at all Japanese. But he speaks fluent Japaneses). Furthermore, I am kind of offended by the way “race” is treated in regards to fools like the “KKKKKlan” (if you didn’t know yet, you know now, I am NOT a fan); the older “siblings aside,” Kris and her younger youngins make themselves out to seem that they are somehow Middle Eastern or some other more “exotic” mix, but they are about as racially diverse as my left butt cheek (if this tells you how I feel about the aforementioned group of people … because it should). I think it’s offensive to anyone of basically any ethnic background (various “white” backgrounds included there because they are trying SO BLOODY HARD NOT TO BE WHEN THAT’S JUST WHAT THEY ARE!) and I think their utilization of relationships with other races is nothing but simple objectification.

At any rate, those are my opinions, and as you can tell, I could go off on a long tangent with that one. What I just wanted to point out was that we are told that we are so open about race and that when we are watching TV and we see a handful of black actors and maybe an Asian or Hispanic that we are seeing a “racially diverse” and “representative” group of people. WE ARE NOT. If you look at Japan and how much of their population is ethnically Japanese and compare that with the diversity of what is shown on these kinds of shows, it is kind of staggering, honestly. It is proof YET AGAIN that we, in the “West,” are truly BEHIND those in the “East” in so many ways. And I hope more and more people start to realize that.

At any rate, i am waiting for my AM meds to kick in, God help me! I hope you are all having a wonderfully happy and healthy day and I will try to be back today at some point to put in that “Fried Rice” Post I talked about – I had some last night and it was, once again, super A++++++ dEEEEElicious!


❤ Always, Beth