NHK removes video on U.S. protests after online outrage about depiction of African Americans

"We apologise to those who were made to feel uncomfortable,"

The usual response; instead of apologizing for being outright bigots, it's "We're sorry you saw it that way and don't understand the culture (but we of course understand yours, hence the awesome depictions we okayed)".

Yet another reason never to pay for NHK.

Well not surprised at all. With all the demonstration in the U.S and other major cities around the world and how it is reported here by the mainstream media leaves the average japanese with the feeling that Japan is blessed to be a homogeneous society and devoid of discrimination.

Apparently they have no African Americans among their staff which they could run it by before posting. I guess NHK stands for Not Having Knowledge.

Clueless, utterly clueless. They shouldn’t have deleted it, it would have been a perfect interpretation of Japan’s view of the rest of the world. Out of date, shamelessly offensive, And with no understanding Of the reasons why.

Well, at this rate we're never gonna get rid of racism if we keep using politically incorrect terms like "African-American"...

Just watched it, what a stupid, ignorant video!!!

I remember when the animation for noodles was canned because Naomi looked too white.

Now, the problem is that the characters are too black.

Maybe every should be depicted as grey.

George would roll over at that.

Gary

How can you talk about what’s going on with the protests in the US without mentioning George Floyd and police brutality?

They could've at least hired an educated or at least a non-senile person to direct this video. This is just embarrassing for a national tv channel

Japanese ignorant racism and elitist exceptionalism strikes again. The producers all need to fired and this "show" or whatever it is, needs to be taken off the air.

The whole program was awful and completely biased.

https://twitter.com/tkatsumi06j/status/1269954899409686528?fbclid=IwAR19YFzTq7BWHIKQ1ZLTyato_4FlaSZ3O6P1fzo8ufWDJGUEPALStL68WRQ

If you're black and born in US, unless your parents are from Nigeria, Egypt or some other African country, then you're not African American. You're simply, American.

If only such broad animated satire could be directed at the targets NHK doesn't want to touch like LDP corruption. Technically it could be put to better use.

In this case, it studiously avoids the main point of egregious police brutality against all of the demonstrators protesting against police brutality.

Par for the course and J-gov tax dollars at work while they can't seem to produce coronavirus economic relief after all this time.

https://youtu.be/WqmII4DuJO0

i get the feeling that people haven’t seen the video and are Just falling into old/reflexive camps in these comments.

I get there are people who don’t like my particular shade of human and that’s just what it is... best of luck.

for the rest of you, I invite you click the link watch this abomination for yourselves and then comment. Truly unbelievable.

Japan is a lonely planet spinning among an inscrutable galaxy of alien cultures light-years away. And as far as the nabobs of NHK are concerned, carefully curating their Wa and Wabi Sabi, "never the twain shall meet".

The video was moronic. There is no way out of it. And then the insincere apology: ""We apologize to those who were made to feel uncomfortable,"

" Uncomfortable" is NOT the right word.

Just imagine if ABC, CBS or NBC had made an animated film like NHK's about the North Korea abduction of Japanese citizens? I am sure it would create more than mere discomfort.

Well, at this rate we're never gonna get rid of racism if we keep using politically incorrect terms like "African-American"...

Is the term "African-American" controversial in America?

@noriahojanen - I've always found that insulting and condescending too. Japanese translators love to insert uncouth Kanto dialect words (nee for nai among others) into the mouths of Black characters. There are other stereotypes, such as the one where older men speak like they're from Hiroshima or Yamaguchi, but the one for Black people feels really disrespectful.

Tone deaf, factually inaccurate, insultingly peurile.... yup, it's NHK.

if we keep using politically incorrect terms like "African-American"...

African-American is actually the more politically correct term as opposed the "blacks". Black is a color (or the absence of color or light) and not a race.

This is what Japanese people think of blacks. This is the brainwashing they get.

I can't beleive this is coming from NHK!

Since NHK is a national broadcaster operated by tax payers and citizens viewing fee collections, it has depicted exactly what the Japanese have in mind in regard to African-Americans or Africans.

This is not insensitivity or ignorance but racial!

Hysterical

@Mirai Hayashi

African-American is actually the more politically correct term as opposed the "blacks". Black is a color (or the absence of color or light) and not a race.

Actually, it depends upon the country and etymology related to that country, or geographical region:

~

"African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans) are an ethnic groupof Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa. The phrase generally refers to descendants of enslaved black people who are from the United States...

...The term African American carries important political overtones. Earlier terms used to describe Americans of African ancestry referred more to skin color than to ancestry, and were conferred upon the group by colonists and Americans of European ancestry; people with dark skins were considered inferior in fact and in law. Other terms (such as colored, person of color, or negro) were included in the wording of various laws and legal decisions which some thought were being used as tools of white supremacy and oppression..."

(Source: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans )

~

"...in certain countries, often in socially based systems of racial classification in the Western World, the term "black" is used to describe persons who are perceived as dark-skinned compared to other populations. It is mostly used for people of Sub-Saharan Africandescent and indigenous peoples of Oceania, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Generally speaking, indigenous African societies do not use the term black as a racial identity outside of influences brought by Western culture or colonization...

...Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified "black", and these social constructshave changed over time. In a number of countries, societal variables affect classification as much as skin color, and the social criteria for "blackness" vary. In the United Kingdom, "black" was historically equivalent with "person of color", a general term for non-European peoples. In other regions such as Australasia, settlers applied the term "black" or it was used by local populations with different histories and ancestral backgrounds. For many other individuals, communities and countries, "black" is perceived as a derogatory, outdated, reductive or otherwise unrepresentative label, and as a result is neither used nor defined, especially in African cultures with little to no colonial history. Some have pointed out that labeling people groups "black" is erroneous as the people described as "black" generally have a brown skin color..."

(Source: - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people )  

I believe, in South Africa, "coloured" is preferable to "black", whereas the opposite is true in the UK/USA.

Anyway, as for the video, is obviously in poor taste. Such a shame that, with the death of 4Chan, more and more horrid little trolls are infesting this site by the day...

I have seen the video, but do not see anything racist. More like a South Park spoof, but is there something wrong with it?

Again so many down votes for comments that condemn this animation, the program and NHK, yet almost no comments to support the down votes i.e. no comments to shed a light on why the down voters then probably think the animation was for some reason OK, that the program was OK, or that what NHK did was OK.

Another reason why NHK doesn't get my money.

Is the term "African-American" controversial in America?

Not with African-Americans. However, a lot of white people who claim not to be racist and/or "don't see color" seem to have an issue with it.

WTF would NHK know about anything dealing with this topic? It amazes me that they would even try to do something as sensitive and controversial. Stick to Japan. I would say 'Nice try' but utter failures need more of a 'Don't try try again.'

I have seen the video, but do not see anything racist. More like a South Park spoof, but is there something wrong with it?

Yes, which is why so many complained about it, and NHK had to remove it.

Seems like a vast majority of the comments are disgusted at how inappropriate the video is and yet most comments have a negative rating. Have the Japanese nationalists crawled out of the woodwork to defend the startling ignorance of their dear NHK?

Why are they so dumb?

WTF!! Was this designed for Japanese viewers to have something to laugh at? How utterly disgusting. They didn't even mention police brutality.

African-American is actually the more politically correct term  

Politically correct it may be, but it’s always struck me as kinda sad that people would choose to identify with a land far, far away (both geographically and culturally) with which they have no connection bar an ancestor or two generations ago. People would ( rightly) scoff at Trumpy if he styled himself German-American or Scots-American, when he obviously has no connection at all with the cultures of those countries.

What’s wrong with just being American?

人間皆兄弟

Part of the problem is the fact that Japanese media cannot explain things to the public without the need to use cartoons and cute characters. Hence, images and behaviour get exaggerated to the point it can be damn offensive. It also makes the Japanese look very immature, as if they are unable to comprehend the world around them without seeing them in manga format first.

To get the message across, why not show REAL video used in the news? I know it's asking too much.

The video was hilarious!!

It’s like a terrible attempt at parody, but the funny part is that it isn’t parody. They’re trying to be serious! LOL

It’s sending a bad message, but it’s hilarious that they made and posted this.

"We apologise to those who were made to feel uncomfortable,"

Tone deaf non apology apology. This means they were not uncomfortable at all thus this will just happen again

NHK needs black commentators. Needs to start sharing in someone's journey in Japan as a black person, end the assumptions and innuendos. Only think of people as a group and you make grand statements like above. Know someone by a name and it shatters generalizations and racism

Watched it live on Sunday and immediately said to my wife - Like wtf!!!

And she immediately agreed.

This is supposed to be top news company in the country. A company that should excel at gathering information. How could they make a video so far from the point and instead ridiculing black Americans? Why is every black person so ripped?

who expects a 98% homogeneous country to be culturally sensitive to race issues?

People would ( rightly) scoff at Trumpy if he styled himself German-American or Scots-American, when he obviously has no connection at all with the cultures of those countries.

What’s wrong with just being American?

Nothing is wrong with that but I also hear plenty of people referring to their ethnicity or ancestry in the U.S.: I'm Irish/I'm half Scottish, half Polish/ I'm Serbian. Most black Americans don't know their true ethnicity so I guess African-American is enough for them.

Japanese media does a lot of disservice to Japanese nationals.

Instead of doing enough homework and teaching Japanese nationals the truth about rest of the world,they cherry pick some scenes in different countries,edit the scenes and show twisted and biased information to their own nationals.

This sets a very bad precedent since in the world we live in now information spreads like bushfire.

This clip has already made rounds around the world as I write this.When Japanese innocent nationals go abroad,what do you think will happen to them?Chances of them being victimised are very high.

I am talking from experience.I've been in a very awkward situation with my Japanese colleagues when we were traveling abroad and met a foreigner who used to live here and understood Japanese language.He was with his buddies when he heard us speaking Japanese,they were seated close to us and in fluent Japanese he spoke to us about how racist Japanese are and how their media is biased and then went on to translate to his friends while showing them clips on his cell phone.

Everyone around was keenly listening.I tried in vain to defend Japan saying that's not how it is while trying to console my already agitated Japanese friends but he kept on showing different clips and I knew I was fighting a loosing battle.

Know that,whatever wrongs or bias you do,will one day come back to haunt you or someone else.

The only criticism one can have about this video, other than the fact that Japan uses animations way too much to explain serious problems, is that it leaves out the context of the current protests, rioting and unrest in America. A black man was killed by a white cop and the history of policing. There was a time in certain areas of America where the police, public officials, and one of the two major political parties, worked hand-in-hand with slave traders, and the Klan. Otherwise the animation clearly captures that white people are bad (see the cowering weak looking white man and the damning stats) and black people are angry and not going to take it anymore. The way that black people are portrayed in the animation is how, sadly, they portray themselves in popular culture - particularly music, sports, and fashion - as tough, raw, and assertive. The young in Japan imitate black American culture just as the young or all races in America do because it is considered cool. The stereotyping in the video is based on what the Japanese see of both the black and white people. I blame American culture, not the Japanese, for the one-dimensional image they have of Americans. It is the way America shows it self to the rest of the world.

I’m not willing to pay even yen to NHK.

Admitedly in poor taste but

America is in chaos, Europeans are doing their upmost to copy the rioting side and here people go crazy over a cartoon.

Wouldnt want to live anywhere else.

Japanese ignorant racism and elitist exceptionalism strikes again.

NHK made an ignorant and stupid video but let's call out an entire 126 million people. Your wife, kids, girlfriend(s), co-workers, boss are all Japanese too. Did you ever think about that?

I'm stunned. Ugly stereotypes aside, this video does the Japanese public a terrible disservice by not stating the real reason for the protests, which is police brutality. Maybe NHK doesn't want its viewers thinking too much about how their own justice system works?

Politically correct it may be, but it’s always struck me as kinda sad that people would choose to identify with a land far, far away (both geographically and culturally) with which they have no connection bar an ancestor or two generations ago. People would ( rightly) scoff at Trumpy if he styled himself German-American or Scots-American, when he obviously has no connection at all with the cultures of those countries.

What’s wrong with just being American?

It was a term coined by Jesse Jackson, I think, back in the 80s or 90s. Its a kind of American solution, to an American problem, with little to no application, anywhere else.

Im not disqualifying the term, and I think there should be more effort by the US gov and black leaders for blacks in the US to help reconnect with their heritage taken away from them. I understand its meaning; it was a way to give or discover an identity of a people, whos identity was lost during the trans atlantic slave trade. Now that the world is more global, I think as you posted, its becoming more acceptable to just call yourself an American, now that many black Americans are experiencing travel and a re connection to Africa and places outside the US and people outside USA, dont connect with that term.

A more recent term, "people of color" I guess is the same thing, a US solution, to a US problem, but I doubt its used where the majority of people are not Caucasian.

Many of us can claim Scots Irish heritage, but to call ourselves Scotish American....it has no meaning as we are so far removed from that culture, the connection is far removed, but most if not all Scots Irish did not arrive in chains as property either.

It is a cartoon. All cartoon characters are stereotypes.

These shosw n.h.k is behind times !!!!!.

Politically correct it may be, but it’s always struck me as kinda sad that people would choose to identify with a land far, far away (both geographically and culturally) with which they have no connection bar an ancestor or two generations ago. People would ( rightly) scoff at Trumpy if he styled himself German-American or Scots-American, when he obviously has no connection at all with the cultures of those countries.

What’s wrong with just being American?

Cleo, every year on March 17th, millions of Americans proudly, through a lot of celebration, colored beer, and general carousing, declare their Irish heritage. There are parades, t-shirts, and more. There are even whole bands, from the Dropkick Murphys to Macklemore, who have made careers and millions of dollars off their Irish heritage.

The same can be true for many cultural heritages. Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Scandinavian and more all have their adherents who proudly proclaim their cultural heritage. Whether it's through celebrations like Oktoberfest, declarations of being 'Viking,' or the more direct mentioning of their national cultural heritage, it is obvious. Never mind the neighborhoods such as 'Little Italy,' 'Little Tokyo,' 'Koreatown,' etc, all enclaves started due to racial animosities but maintained through pride in a cultural heritage.

Millions upon millions of American families can trace their heritage back to another country. I personally can trace my lineage back to England, Scotland, and Germany. I can even tell you which Scottish clan I can claim heritage from.

And if you don't know, and are curious? Well, you can pay about $100 to a lot of websites and they'll trace it back for you through public records. Births, deaths, immigration records and more can trace most European Americans back to a 'home country.'

African Americans don't have that. They don't know which nation, previous nation, tribe, or even part of Africa their ancestors came from. For hundreds of years their heritage was ripped from them, kept from them, and denied them.

So yes, the term "African American" might not be as narrowly defined as say, perhaps, Scottish-American. But it is an attempt to have the same cultural heritage and pride in ancestry that millions of other Americans can claim easily.

You ask, what's wrong with being 'just American'?

I ask you, what can be more American than being able to take pride in not just a country, but a cultural heritage that extends beyond the borders of America and shows how the nation was populated by peoples from all over the world?

The Youtube comments are hellish.

Being a person of color who is from the US let me tell you all how it is!

As a boy they called me a Nig¥@¥ or Negro(Neither consider polite). Then in around HS, they said Afro-American is politically correct.

Then it changed to African American.

However we usually use “Black” as they is the way people see us as. Now is it right, no I don’t think so. However, you need to understand is we were taken,sold,and traded from Africa some 400 years ago no knowing where are true homeland is. Yes we were Slaves with no rights and help to build the “Land of the Free” which was stolen from the Native American Tribes.

Now it is 2020 and yes there have been many improvements but the nation has never really accepted “ Ex-Slaves” into being truly equal. This is the point you have to understand. Before the Term “Diversity”, “Equal Rights” was the key phrase all companies and media was using. This was mainly for helping the “minorities” to get a fare shake at jobs, loans, education,etc. However, the Elite needed a new term as they don’t really want to help or share so to put everyone in one basket “ Diversity” was born and now this is the term they can use for all women, disabled, LGBT, and minorities. No more quotas are needed and this makes it easier for the “Man” to keep ruling the world.

In Japan, there is basically one race of people. Therefore it is hard for the people to understand why things are so different in America which is a melting pot of all races under the sun.

I don’t blame the Japanese people for not knowing any better but times are changing quickly. Generation Z is coming and they know technology. The population is sinking and in 30 years the foreign population be tripled ! In the US, Caucasian population has dwindled down under 50% so the minority will become the majority. Therefore they are afraid of change from the norm. The key is how to keep the power and the political institution is so important. They want the people to be angry and feel helpless so not to vote in the elections.

So as you can see with all of the Protest worldwide, no government wants to get the people really angry because the secret will get out! If we rise up, no one can control us. We the people rule this world. You must all realize we the many are ruled by the few. They use propaganda and fear to control us because they really cannot otherwise.

We shall overcome!

Love and Peace To you all.

TheLongTermer:

A more recent term, "people of color" I guess is the same thing

It's actually an old term inverted that you see in acronyms like NAACP. For some reason saying "coloured person" is terrible, but "person of colour" is acceptable. Its the same thing, but with inverse possessive ("of" as opposed to "'s" or nothing). Why the organization hasn't updated to reflect the inverse (NAAPC) strikes me. Americans are confusing.

DavidVarnes:

Wouldn't european-american be more analogous to african-american as both are continental? German-american or korean-american would be analogous to somali-american or sudanese-american (country-based).

garymalmgrenJune 9 04:44 pm JST:

I remember when the animation for noodles was canned because Naomi looked too white.

Now, the problem is that the characters are too black.

Maybe every should be depicted as grey.

George would roll over at that

Originally, the Lego founder made all Lego people yellow so to make all people equal (he was danish so not sure if he knew the colour was a bit offensive for some, but white, red, yellow, brown, and black were already rejected...)

Edit: Yellow Not rejected

juminRheeToday  02:47 am JST

DavidVarnes:

Wouldn't european-american be more analogous to african-american as both are continental? German-american or korean-american would be analogous to somali-american or sudanese-american (country-based).

That could be analogous, and preferable... if it were possible. The fact is, most African-Americans cannot trace themselves back that far. The slave trade ripped people from their homes, mixed them up, and sent them overseas where they were one thing... and I won't say that word. There were no records kept, no immigration reports, nothing. Just ships of slaves. What country they were from, what region even? The slaveholders didn't know, didn't care.

Yeah, it'd be preferable. If it were possible. The closest that could possibly be done would be 'West African-Amrican," but 'African-American' is certainly acceptable in this situation.

Unless a person has just come to America, there is no more reason to put the word African in front of American than any other prior nationality. Putting a word before American, does not make you an American.

WilliaminTK:

In Japan, there is basically one race of people.

Japan is actually a homogeneous country made up of Ainus, Rikkyus, Bonins, and Yamatos all with their own distinct genetic traits and migration origins.

NHK are idiots, spent most like 100,000 yen on a flash animation and got all the facts wrong

Mirai HayashiToday  06:18 am JST

WilliaminTK:

In Japan, there is basically one race of people.

Japan is actually a homogeneous country made up of Ainus, Rikkyus, Bonins, and Yamatos all with their own distinct genetic traits and migration origins.

Yes Mirai-san, that is why I said basically. Let’s not get into the discrimination of those people and the taking of lands.

As for the rest of the non Afro-Americans committing on this, it doesn’t matter what they call us, the point is that things need to change sooner than later. I think we all can agree with that.

@drlucifer

"A homogeneous society with no discrimination."

Can you run that by me again?

I lived in the country for 18 years and would have to disagree.

Although Japanese may not be discrimative of their own people, they are on the other hand highly xenophobic and racist in many ways when it comes to their treatment of outsiders.

I can't understand a word that was said but it portrayed a scary hateful image of Black Americans, and that 'bluesman' kind of cheapened it all.

Pretty much this looks like a TV PSA ad with a bunch of caricatures made by a someone who seen too many old cheap cartoons. Total ignorance.

NHK posted the 85-second promotional video, or teaser, for its weekly children’s program “This Makes Me Understand! The World Now” on Sunday via Twitter.

"weekly children's program" LOL

https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/top-us-diplomat-in-japan-criticizes-offensive-nhk-depiction-of-black-protesters-1.632969

NHK....you are so full of yourself!

Talking with most Japanese, they don’t even know about it, let alone have an opinion of it!

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Shamelessly stupid NHK. How can you set off to explain what's happening now without even mentioning George Floyd and police brutality in America. NHK is dumb and must be closed down or the whole staff needs education. Useless piece of phony national broadcaster wasting tax payers money. They must apologize for their racism and insensitivity towards all blacks. SHAME !!! And heads must roll !!!

A perfect reason now to REALLY slam the door in their faces when they come to my home!

Apparently this person was involved in the making of the program: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Taylor

*"Samuel Jared Taylor is an American white supremacist and editor of American Renaissance, an online magazine espousing such opinions, which was founded by Taylor in 1990.*

He is also the president of American Renaissance's parent organization, New Century Foundation, through which many of his books have been published. He is a former member of the advisory board of The Occidental Quarterly and a former director of the National Policy Institute, a Virginia-based white nationalist think tank. He is also a board member and spokesperson of the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Taylor and many of his affiliated organizations are accused of promoting racist ideologies by civil rights groups, news media, and academics studying racism in the United States"

Wow, no white looters in that video, huh?

This was targeted at a younger audience. I'm a black woman, and one of the most heartbreaking moments in my life in Japan was when a child looked at me and said 黒人怖い！I don't think any child would look at me with fear in their hearts in the US. Thank you NHK for promoting the "angry black" stereotype. __ The majority of these protests happening are peaceful protests, but they don't show those. Why couldn't the animation be of a black man speaking at a podium at a protest telling kids about these statistics? Or a black teacher? Or a black kid their age? Oh, that's right. The subtle brainwashing of NHK is trying to persuade Japanese kids that protests = bad and scary.

NHK = a bunch of uneducated idiots.

The world has gotten so quick to throw around labels amid this cancel culture we’ve adopted. I don’t imagine Japan has really any idea about black culture so they’re just putting their perspective and how they see things through their lens. Are they wrong? I don’t think so. When you have an angry mob looting and burning the streets and playing the blame game you perpetrate those stereotypes for the world to see, so how else would they characterize this so called movement? BLM doesn’t represent African Americans. It’s a far left, militant, LGBTQ, Marxist agenda disguised as a civil rights movement.