mysterial:

+1 for the article, +10 for the trollish comments.

My mom always love to cite my having gone to an elite secondary school as the reason for me having it easier than my sister (who went to a neighbourhood one) growing up. (And btw, I worked hard to get the grades to get into that fucking school, so it’s not like it was handed to me on a silver platter.) “Kids at your school are more open-minded, more understanding, blah blah…” Right. Because you know, rich privileged jugdmental kids are so much more understanding. Because you know, they’ll never bully or verbally abuse some kid who happens to be different. They’d never ostracize someone for not being normal like them.

Right.

I wish she understood how it was hard to bridge the unbridgeable gap when you’re the beggar among the kings, the small fry in the ocean of sharks; how isolation and retaliation were the only ammunition left available.

Microagressions, particularly those of a racialized nature, are, according to Dr. Derald Wing Sue in Psychology Today (Oct. 5, 2010), “the brief and everyday slights, insults, indignities, and denigrating messages sent to (visible minorities) by well-intentioned (members of an ethnic majority in a society) who are unaware of the hidden messages being communicated.”

They include, in Japan’s case, verbal cues (such as “You speak such good Japanese!” — after saying only a sentence or two — or “How long will you be in Japan?” regardless of whether a non-Japanese (NJ) might have lived the preponderance of their life here), nonverbal cues (people espying NJ and clutching their purse more tightly, or leaving the only empty train seat next to them), or environmental cues (media caricatures of NJ with exaggerated noses or excessive skin coloration, McDonald’s “Mr. James” mascot (JBC, Sept. 1, 2009)).

…

Now let’s consider microaggression’s effects. Dr. Sue’s research suggests that subtle “microinsults and microinvalidations are potentially more harmful (than overt, conscious acts of racism) because of their invisibility, which puts (visible minorities) in a psychological bind.”

For example, indicate that you dislike being treated this way and the aggressor will be confused; after all, the latter meant no harm, so therefore the NJ must just be overly “sensitive” — and therefore also “troublesome” to deal with. Resistance is not futile; it is in fact counterproductive.

I seriously think it’s less to do with which country is in question, but more of a monocultural thing. I suppose it’s more obvious in a relatively homogeneous society. 

So in come the coping strategies. Some long-termers cultivate a circle of close friends (hopefully Japanese, but rarely so: JBC, Aug. 2, 2011), others just become hermits and keep to themselves. But those are temporary solutions. 

Article, Y U DESCRIBING MY LIFE???

NIPPON CONNECTION DAY#2: autumnsoliloquy reviews OUR HOMELAND / KAZOKU NO KUNI (2012) dir. Yang Yonghi

Not mine, but it’d be nice for fellow TCKs to contribute to more research on this topic close to our hearts.