Being Black in Japan (Part 3 – The Dancing Jigger Toy[2])
[This is Part 2. Click here for Part 1.]
Yes, I was uncomfortable beyond words.
I had a slew of different thoughts that kept hitting me at 1,000,000 MPH. The most important thoughts/questions were:
Why did he show ME that toy??
Doesn’t he understand where that toy comes from?
Doesn’t he understand the history behind toys like that?
Does he not know how many Black people have died to fight racist things like that?
More importantly, I wouldn’t even be here in Japan studying Communications and Japanese if it weren’t for my parents and grandparents who fought for their rights and the rights of their children.
But I couldn’t say any of that. Not only did I not know how to say that in Japanese, but I was completely speechless. What do you say to a toy like that in such a friendly environment?
Yes, it was a friendly, loving environment. Please do not read this note and write them all off as ignorant racists. The bar owner was not trying to embarrass me, or make me feel uncomfortable. He was not trying to demean me and make me the laughing stock of the party. He is NOT a racist. Not at all.
When he brought out both toys, he looked at me with the sparkling eyes of a child who was proud to show off his things to his friends. He was happy to show everyone at the party the kinds of toys he had. Still, I often wrestle with the meaning of him owning the toy. Where did he get it? What made him buy it? How does he view Black people?
I didn’t talk about that day until a month after it happened. Mostly because I was trying to gather the meaning behind it before I told my friends and family back at home. I asked a Japanese friend what she thought about it and to generally sum up what she said, “it’s because of the lack of knowledge Japanese people have about African-Americans.”
Yes, they see us on TV.
Yes, they hear us on the radio.
Yes, they see us playing sports.
But when it comes to African-American history–Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBuois, Mary McLeod Bethune, the Civil Rights movement, and so much more–it’s nothing but a disconnected, distant past that has nothing to do with Japan.
Don’t get offended; this is life. How much did you learn about Japan’s history when you were in school? Honestly. I didn’t know anything about Japan’s history until I came to Japan. All I knew was tidbits of WWII from an American perspective, and nothing deeper than that. Think about it; why would Japan know African-American history in deep detail? This is Japan, they have no reason to. Because of this, I know I shouldn’t get mad–and I’m not mad. I am confused, however, and it’s made me further question my identity as an African-American in Japan.
I’m still struggling with how to deal with this situation. Months have passed, but I still think about that day. There’s never a right time to bring it up, especially since I have no idea how to articulate that in Japanese.
But language isn’t the entire issue. I don’t want to bring it up because what is there to say? What am I supposed to do, sit there and lecture him about Black History while we’re drinking Asahi beer? I can tell him how that toy made me feel, but then what? I don’t even care for an apology. I know he didn’t mean for it to hurt me so what’s the apology for?
I just wish I could educate him on the meaning of that toy. It’s not just some dancing, comical Black man. That toy represents such a painful time. Only two generations ago that toy was made for the purpose of humiliating and demeaning African-Americans. It was made to promote hurtful stereotypes that in turn, kept us “shucking and jiving,” much like that dancing Jigger toy, in old American movies.
Please know that I am still very happy here in Japan, and I have yet to experience real forms of racism. So far, Japan has been good to me. But I do question what Japan thinks about African-American people.
Until next time. Hopefully I’ll have some answers 
Another great article from Jas. These are starting to read like “Tales from the Front”. A field reporter reporting back to a disconnected nation interested in knowing about what’s taking place on the cultural front around the globe.
“I just wish I could educate him on the meaning of that toy. It’s not just some dancing, comical Black man. That toy represents such a painful time”
My position is that you should have educated him. If he’s not challenged and checked he will do it again. You can still make your wish come true. Get a translator like Kira to translate.
Sequane