22 April 2008

(Some) Cubs fans are racist. Big effing surprise.

Some racist moron is selling unlicensed shirts that bear the image on the right (photo credit: Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times), with a slant-eyed bear, big Harry Carey/nerdy glasses, and some stereotypical Chinese font with the words "Horry Kow" (that's supposed to be "holy cow" in a horrible Chinese accent). The shirt is meant to celebrate (/sarcasm) the addition of Japanese player, Kosuke Fukodome, to the Chicago Cubs. This article from the Sun-Times is full of hilarious reporting, revealing just how unbelievably ignorant and racist some people are in Chicago. The best is when the vendor points out that he sold the shirt to an Asian woman., to which the Asian woman replies, ''I bought it for my mom, who has a collection of racist images of Asian Americans.''

I thought Fukudome's response was very interesting:
''I knew I was coming to a different country, so I expected something like this,'' he said. ''Maybe not necessarily racial, but that anybody could take any context of my words and degrade me if they wanted to. But if I make a big deal out of it, it's not going to benefit me, so I'm not going to make a big deal of it.''

My friend from Japan remarked that this is a very typical response for Japanese culture. The cultural values prescribe not making a fuss, for that only dignifies the transgression. Unfortunately, I do not have that strength of will. I can't keep it to myself when I'm annoyed.

THAT SHIT IS SO BLATANTLY RACIST, AND IT IS NOT FUNNY.


When I asked a friend if this would happen with the Chicago White Sox, he astutely pointed out, "The Sox already had a few Japanese players, and I don't remember any stupid ass shit like that. Also you don't see that stupid shit with the Red Sox (who have Daisuke Matsuzaka) or the Yankees (who have Hideki Matsui). I.e., Cubs fans are the most racist in the U.S."

WORD.

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