“They had the same skin
and the same face as me.
“For the first time, I felt normal.”
Ariana Miyamoto after meeting her black father
and his relatives.
Miss Universe Japan
Black and Proud© 2015
The United States has its flaws, but if you’re African American or have some kind of biracial mix, be it Caucasian or Hispanic, you’re likely to encounter more discrimination in Japan. In Japan, biracial people are referred to as “hafu,” which is their word for half. They also have their own n-word, “kurombo.”
Japan may be a leader in consumer technology and automobiles, but it is light years behind in terms of racial tolerance.
Enter Ariana Miyamoto. She made history when she became the first biracial person to represent Japan in the Miss Universe contest. On the one hand, you can commend Japanese officials for choosing Miyamoto to represent the country. On the other hand, it is small consolation to someone who felt the sting of discrimination In Japan for most of her life.
Miyamoto is part African American and Japanese. Her father is African American and her mother is Japanese. They met while her father was stationed at a U.S. naval base in Japan.
In an interview, Miyamota recounted some of her earlier experiences in school. “In school, I had trash thrown at me and was laughed at, and everyone pretended not to notice. When I was talking to my friends in the classroom, both boys and girls would be told not to talk to me.”
She said that on field trips and in gym class, some students avoided holding hands with her because they feared her skin color would rub off on them.
Miyamota said things changed for her at age 13 when she reached out to her father, who invited her to his home in Jacksonville, Ark. She said she won’t forget when she first saw her father and his relatives. “They had the same skin and the same face as me,” she said. “For the first time, I felt normal.”
Miyamoto spent two years living with her father, but her limited English and communication skills doomed her social life, and she returned to live in Japan.
When she represented Japan in the Miss Universe contest, Miyamoto saw it as the perfect platform to expose Japan’s racial intolerance. “I want to change how people think about racial issues, and I entered the contest prepared to be criticized.”
She said, “Even today, I am usually seen not as Japanese but as a foreigner. At restaurants, people give me an English menu and praise me for being able to eat with chopsticks. I want to challenge the definition of being Japanese.”
Good for her. As Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
and the same face as me.
“For the first time, I felt normal.”
Ariana Miyamoto after meeting her black father
and his relatives.
Miss Universe Japan
Black and Proud© 2015
The United States has its flaws, but if you’re African American or have some kind of biracial mix, be it Caucasian or Hispanic, you’re likely to encounter more discrimination in Japan. In Japan, biracial people are referred to as “hafu,” which is their word for half. They also have their own n-word, “kurombo.”
Japan may be a leader in consumer technology and automobiles, but it is light years behind in terms of racial tolerance.
Enter Ariana Miyamoto. She made history when she became the first biracial person to represent Japan in the Miss Universe contest. On the one hand, you can commend Japanese officials for choosing Miyamoto to represent the country. On the other hand, it is small consolation to someone who felt the sting of discrimination In Japan for most of her life.
Miyamoto is part African American and Japanese. Her father is African American and her mother is Japanese. They met while her father was stationed at a U.S. naval base in Japan.
In an interview, Miyamota recounted some of her earlier experiences in school. “In school, I had trash thrown at me and was laughed at, and everyone pretended not to notice. When I was talking to my friends in the classroom, both boys and girls would be told not to talk to me.”
She said that on field trips and in gym class, some students avoided holding hands with her because they feared her skin color would rub off on them.
Miyamota said things changed for her at age 13 when she reached out to her father, who invited her to his home in Jacksonville, Ark. She said she won’t forget when she first saw her father and his relatives. “They had the same skin and the same face as me,” she said. “For the first time, I felt normal.”
Miyamoto spent two years living with her father, but her limited English and communication skills doomed her social life, and she returned to live in Japan.
When she represented Japan in the Miss Universe contest, Miyamoto saw it as the perfect platform to expose Japan’s racial intolerance. “I want to change how people think about racial issues, and I entered the contest prepared to be criticized.”
She said, “Even today, I am usually seen not as Japanese but as a foreigner. At restaurants, people give me an English menu and praise me for being able to eat with chopsticks. I want to challenge the definition of being Japanese.”
Good for her. As Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”