U.S. Blasts Japan’s NHK for ‘Offensive’ Black Lives Matter Video
U.S. Blasts Japan’s NHK for ‘Offensive’ Black Lives Matter Video
(Bloomberg) -- The acting U.S. ambassador to Japan denounced an animated video from public broadcaster NHK aimed at explaining the Black Lives Matter protests, adding to widespread criticism that it perpetuated racist stereotypes.
“The caricatures used are offensive and insensitive,” Joe Young, the Charge d’Affaires ad interim, said on Twitter Tuesday of the animation. It didn’t mention the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a white police officer in Minneasota knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
The video was broadcast on NHK’s show for young viewers called “Kore de Wakatta! Sekai no Ima” (Now I Understand! The World Now) on June 7, and then used on the program’s Twitter account. It showed a caricature of a muscle-bound black man in a tank top shouting about the economic disadvantages faced by people of color in the U.S. It also showed what appeared to be scenes of looting, without touching on the topic of police brutality that has been a focal point of the U.S. protests.
In a rare public rebuke from a U.S. envoy to the long-standing ally, Young added that it was “unfortunate that more thought and care didn’t go into this video.” Other caricatured figures in the video, which was widely shared on social media, were shown playing the guitar and stamping their feet in the background.
NHK issued a statement saying it had received many complaints about the video for not explaining the situation accurately. The broadcaster said the 80-second video had been used as part of a longer segment to explain data on income disparities in a way that was easy to understand.
The statement included an apology to people who had been “made to feel uncomfortable” and the animation was deleted from the show’s Twitter account.
Japanese officials have made little comment on the demonstrations in the U.S. other than to say that racism should not be allowed anywhere. Meanwhile hundreds turned out in Black Lives Matter rallies in Tokyo and Osaka over racial injustice in the U.S., and what protesters said have been brutal tactics used against racial minorities in Japan.
The incident is not the first high-profile case of racial insensitivity in Japan. Last year, household product company Kao Corp. pulled an advertisement that used the slogan #BeWhite, after realizing that it could be taken as discriminatory. The term “white” is often used in Japan to describe companies that treat employees well, while “black” employers are those that exploit staff.
Baye McNeil, an African-American writer living in Japan, called the video “offensive racist commentary on black issues.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.