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Racism: Sinking The Supership

Article By Writer Michael Kraft Author: Michael Kraft
Published: April 15, 2007
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Yamato And Racism So I was watching NOVA today on PBS for they were showing a documentary about the largest and greatest battleship of the Japanese fleet. The documentary covered the secrecy and national importance of the Yamato which was the largest and unsinkable battleship of the second World War. They described the ship as more important as a national symbol of pride, and not so much as a used weapon of choice. You can see more about this episode and study on the NOVA website here. The research was conducted by a team effort of Western Producers and skilled Japanese historians to provide a prodiction sensitive to this touchy subject of Japanese pride and history.

This story ends up connecting in my mind to the recent apology from the lawmakers to the Ancestors of the Black Americans in North Carolina.

NOVA WEBSITE EXCERPT FROM THE DOCUMENTARY:

“When I probed for details, TV Asahi told me that, together with the French Aquaplus underwater expedition team, they had launched a $2 million expedition to “find” the actual Yamato. It had never occurred to them, however, to share this project with an overseas broadcaster. Their thinking was, “The Yamato is a difficult, sensitive part of Japanese history. Even we must be careful with how to portray the Yamato on air.” Thus began my three-year attempt to fund and produce what would be the first program ever on Western television to fully tell the story of the Yamato and to show the watery grave of what had been one of the greatest battleships in history.”

What set with me about this production was the images of Japanese and Americans at the same tables and computer screens both working to accomplish a production of acclaim, pride, accuracy and the highest quality on a subject dear and sensitive to Japanese and Japanese Americans.

These images showed the highest level of understanding and progress betwen two nations and cultures of the highest respect and cooperation in the modern world.

The attrocities of the war betwen our two great nations, including the Yamato and peaking at the dropping of two atomic bombs that killed perhaps close to 1 million people when all was done many years later. These facts seemed to be accepted as the past and both of our countries seemed to agree that the future and modern times are a different matter and a better world due to our great friendship. The important poiont here is that no effort is required, this sort of “living together as people in the now” seems common sense to these scientists.

This has me reflecting on the comedy of legislation that occurs today in the US and in North Carolina particularily. Our congress is still trying to fabricate ways, and juvinille apologies to force feed us an understanding of cooperation. The fact is, just common sense and letting go of a time long gone is all that needs to be done to move into the kind of brotherhood and mutual benefit that we and Japan enjoy together today.

Does this grandstanding really move any of us forward? Really? (no is the answer).

The difference that allows this constant anger and constant loss of common sense is the people who benefit from persisting in causing angst for their own gain.

Ask yourself this, who stands to lose the most if tomorrow “racism was just gone forever”?

The answer is simple, the same people posing as activists for your benefit would be “out of work”, out of money for their mercedes cars and no longer living in mansions or traveling the world on the dollar od “non-profit organizations”.

If tomorrow morning all people black and white sang together in peaceful bliss. there would be no gain for executives, no benefit for big oil or the government, only Jesse’s and Al’s would be out of work and making fries at the local Wendy’s.

Whenever you look at an effect, you really must better analyze the cause, then lastly look at the motivation of this cause.

So in this scenerio, we show there is clearly some parties that gain great lifestyles from persisting in enflaming racial tensions. So what if it was just gone tomorrow? What reaction would you expect people making a wealthy living off of racism to do?

I expect they would spend every hour of every day trying to convince you that it still does. I imagine people facing the end of their paycheck bonanza would look everywhere they could to get on TV and claim it still exists and is a major problem in all your lives.

Is it really that far fetched to believe this is already the case?

If you believe that racism is something that will always be around and something we must always be vigilant to deal with, perhaps think where you got that idea.

I have heard things like that said before, and so we repeat them, so who is it that starts that line of thinking? Who is really cashing checks from all this?

I hope our black readers can at least see the logic of this line of thought, and you are an audience perceptive enough to see leeches like Al and Jesse for what they really are. I believe there are large number of people of all colors that just don’t put one and one together and see the Mercedes car they arrived in.

In 1999, Jesse’s non-profit organization reported to have taken n 12 million dollars for education spending, but reports spending 47,000 on education that same year. IN a non profit situation guess who gets to keep the surplus on operating revenue?

They also reported 1.3 million dollars in “Consulting fees”. So when they tell you, its “you” against “them”, you should know that hes eating dinner with “them” as $500 a plate.

See more about Jesse Jackson’s income tax returns here.

So back to what I was seeing on NOVA. I see countless historical examples of two once enemies just moving on without needing to concrentrate an effort to do so. Simple common sense teaches groups to deal in “what is reality today” and to see that progress starts with looking ahead only.

The saddest part is that shouldn’t need to be an effort that requires preparation or concentration, it really needs to start with just common sense.

I think people who spend their lives looking for something will find it, no matter what it is, if not from good research then from hallucinations.

I am German-American, and I lived 4 years during college with a Jewish roommate, then later 2 years with an Isreali roommate. Not one time in that 6 year span did the discussion of race, history or anger ever come into conversation. I consider these to be two of the great friends of my lifetime, and while their culture makes them unique in some ways, it is not connected to who they are personally.

This is what happens when people dont dedicate their lives to trying to create angry mobs.

I grew up with an American Indian in Western New York, where they are common and plentiful. Never in the many years of our friendship was a thought ever given to the horrors fo the past between our two cultures.

Both of these examples and culture clashes are far greater in scope than the slavery of the 1800’s in America. Both the Jewish / German history and the American Indian history equated to million of deaths, but again the groups involved don’t bat an eye any longer, the past is accepted as being of a different context and a different time that has its own sins to atone for. People don’t ned to forget, but to associate history with the people currently in your life is like blaming the Milk-Man for a plumbing leak.

So what really is the problem? I see it as the “hyphens”, the dividers and the people who want to turn a situation into conflict to gain personal power.

This same strategy is what is being used currently by the dictator in Venezuela, trying to turn dark skinned Venezuelans against the rich while he as president accumulates hundreds of millions of dollars of his own. In his last campaign he claimed his opponant was racist against black, even though the man is born and raised of the indigenous dark skinned people of South American. Even when it is completely rediculous this same practice is used the world over to make you angry to their own benefit.

Don’t let yourself be manipulated, the real way to end racism is to not care what the leeches profess and move on.

You have more important things to tackle in your life, things that we all have. You can work hard, get educated, get a better job, get more for your family, get more time, get more kids, make more friends, visit more places and do your own personal part to be an american. No Hyphens, just an American, something that no special interest leeches will profit from.

Remember it is people looking to divide you while driving in Mercedes cars and living well above your means that benefit from making you hate. For this reason, be an america not an African America, Not a German America, not a latino-america, not a Mexican American, not any form of hyphenated american. Just be an American, and we will all finally be equal and all benefit from it.

Are you really mad? or looking back did domeone just tell you so.

yamato sinking on NOVA leads to realizations about racism in America