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ARROGAN
Black America is outraged. Out
1 ] 1 li. 1 1 XI .-11
rageu ana msuiiea Dy ine negative
reference to minorities quoted in major
newspapers around the world and
attributed to Japan's Prime Minister
Yasuhiro Nakasone, stating that the %
presence of Black Americans, Puerto
? r?r "" v Rican Americans and Mexican
Americans makes our country "intellectually"
inferior to Japan, a society
of one race. .' * .
HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE
Other Japanese officials have also
been guilty recently of making equally
self-serving, insensitive, and in this
instance, racist, remarks for which
Mr. Nakasone has been called upon to
apologize.
And apologize he has. But rhetoric
aside, we believe that greater issues
1 1 1 _1 9
riccu 10 De aaaressea.
LEST YOU FORGET
Immediately after World War II, it
was the Black GIs, segregated in the
US Army, stationed in Yokohama,
Kobe, Nara, Gifu, and many, many
. other cities who adopted hospitals,
orphanages, schools, and the homeless.
We fed your people and clothed them,
by whatever means possible. We hired
and trained Japanese civilians so as to
give them some income. Many Japanese
survived?because of us.
THE DEPTHS OF IGNORANCE
Mr. Nakasone's remarks attack the
very fiber that makes America great.
To imply?in any way?that a nation
comprised of one people is somehow
"better" than one comprised of many
smacks of the worst kind of "master
racism."
The world has heard this before.
\17o firlll rtnf ortoin
v*w win uui LuiV/i IL again.
A NATION OF MINORITIES
AND PROUD OF IT
The people of the United States
have just spent a summer celebrating
the restoration of the Statue of Liberty,
the symbol of our uniqueness as a
nation whose citizens, including millions
of Japanese Americans, all
contribute to the cultural, political,
social and economic diversity that
makes us strong.
Mr. and Mrs. E. All Shelby L. Coates M<
Kent B. Amos Misso Services Corporation Ja
The Triad Group Comer J. Cottrell Rc
Anita Arnold Pro-Une Corporation &.
' . .. . . la mac I-I fVwur+i r ' I T?
Artnur Asne
Clarence Avant * ?
Tabu Productions s?nd?u rf Fn?ii?h '
Chris Bennett ctriEMl&F S
National Newspaper Publishers r? *\ . G<
Association Thdma E. Goodrich jc
Benjamin D Brown Gcgdrtch^inson Insurance ^
inr Ear! and Barbara Graves
B&C Associates Inc. Black Enterprise Magazine ?
RMih^n Cannon A Associates Geraldine a Green
Reuben Cannon & Assoc es Trans World Enterprises. Ltd.
Topper and Alyce Carew r
& .
. , ' ' ( ,
Community Responds tc
: Minister Yasuhiro Naks
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WE'RE $200 BILLION STRONG
Black Americans have often been
portrayed negatively in Japan, with
the use of the crudest stereotypes.
And Japan's primary experience with
us has been as consumers. Fbr despite
the tired, poor and homeless among
us. we 27 million Black men, women
and children command a disposable
income of over S200 billion annually.
Looked at in terms of a Gross National ?
Product, that makes us the ninth
largest country in the world. Comparable
to Brazil, larger than Australia,
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, India
and Mexico.
AND SPEAKING OF ECONOMICS
Approximately S7 billion of that
income goes for the purchase of Japanese-made
goods and services, from
leading manufacturers, from cars to
clothes. However, little, if any, of that
patronage has been the result of a
direct invitation from Japanese manufacturers.
Little profit from those sales has
benefitted either Black distributors,
sales representatives, media, educational
institutions, communities, or
businesses.
This must stop. As a result of a new,
. economic reciprocity between the
Black community and Japanese manufacturers.
Or by more selective, discretionary
buying by Black
consumers.
A CHANGE IS IN THE MAKING
Japan and the Japanese people
must reach out for greater understanding
of Black people and institutions
in America. It is commonly
believed that the Japanese intolerance
for differences is rooted in that nation's
isolation from people of different
backgrounds or cultures.
This isolation leads to mispercepHnn
and prrnnpni 10 r>nnr>1iio<r?nc AnH
yes, perhaps America's own historical
view of minorities has added to those
misperceptions. Indeed, during World
War II, our own Japanese Americans
suffered from this kind of thinking.
Changing that thinking and those
attitudes has been crucial to the
growth and development of America.
Black America seeks new opportuni*
3na Head Bertram M. Lee
ick and Jill. Inc. New England Television
;ston Chapter Corporation
lgene and Brenda Jackson Byron Lewis
my Broadcasting Network. Inc. UnlWorld Group Inc.
rv. Jesse Jackson Edward Lewis
itlonal Rainbow Coalition Clarence Smith
wriesand Anne Johnson Essence Communications In<
e. ?_i Dr. and Mrs. William R
wr|jc &. uonnsun rwhtftW#
hnson Products Company Inc. ugnuooie
>hnH.Johnson , ,
x>ny it Jet Magazines - Utttejohn Associates. Inc
ifayette Jones Keith E.. Lockhart
KSreHealthABeautyAld8 KdkhSn&w??
i
I
The Chronicle, Thursday, October 30, 1986-Page A3
>Japanese
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NUANCE?
ties to achieve understanding through
cultural exchanges, educational t>ro
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grams, partnerships between Black
institutions of higher education and ?
Japanese universities.
Economic parity and under.
standing.
We shall not settle for less.
LET'S SPEAK OUT AS ONE *
If you, too, share this same sense of
outrage, send this ad or your own
letter to each of the following:
Ambassador Nobuo Matsunaga
Embassy of Japan, Washington, DC
2420 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Japanese Chamber of Commerce
145 West 57th Street ?
New York, New York 10019
Chairman
Congressional BlaCk Caucus
House Annex, Number 2
Washington, DC 20515
Your Congressperson or Senator
V
Arthur McZier Sydney L. Small
Ruby McZicr NBN Broadcast ing Inc.
National Business Services Percy and Pierre Sutton
Enterprises. Inc. Inner City Broadcasting
FVank L. Mingo Corporation
Caroline R. Jones Arthur E. Teele Jr.
'? Mingo-Jones Advertising Inc. National Business League
Albert and Velma Nellum Dr Gloria E. A Toote
uk.. n-ui_i ? ?
uuiyii nuuituaux i rea Estates Enterprises Inc.
Baldwin Ice Cream Company Inc. Cora T. Walker
Larry Shaw Lawrence R. Bailev Jr.
Shaw Fbod Services Company Donald C. Walker
Barbara Wtlliams-Sklnner Dollars & Sense Magazine
Tom Skinner Blackbook International
Tom Skinner Associates . Reference Guide
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