Racism

Racism comes in a million forms.
Recently I had each of my students make a book about themselves, in the books they had one page that said "I like..." and a separate page that said "I don't like..." students were to draw pictures of things they liked. Unfortunately many of the students started drawing flags, and it taught me who Japanese are racist to.

The majority of children who drew flags, drew an American flag and a Japanese flag on the "I like..." page, and drew a Korean flag and a Chinese flag on the "I don't like..." page.

I know that many of the east Asian countries have strenuous relationships with each other. Much of this comes a history of brutal wars, occupations, and even exterminations. Neighboring countries who are struggling for power often become enemies.

I don't think my students have studied enough history to make their own judgements on the morality of the actions between countries. Their racism is being passed down from their parents. The racists in and around town that dislike Koreans and Chinese people tend to pat themselves on the back for not disliking all foreigners, and thus don't consder themselves racist.

Now sometimes racism can escalate, China and Japan have been pushing each others buttons over a set of uninhabited islands located between Okinawa and Taiwan. Both claim the islands belong to them. It seems to me that the two countries did not, and do not plan to negotiate an arrangement of who the islands belong to, instead both countries have been sending ships and airplanes over disputed/sovereign waters. The number of petty actions that have been taken on both sides are absurd, I'm not sure if other disputes seemed as petty and pointless as they bubbled into war, everything seems so to have been blown completely out of proportion.

One matter that I am very confused on, (I would greatly appreciate some comments below to guide me) is the matter of how Japan could go to war. Japan does not have it's own military, as an agreement from WWII, it has a self defense force, and the American military to protect itself. If it goes to war, will that mean that American military men will be fighting Chinese forces? If so, it would that mean that America was at war with China?

I haven't lost hope that this is all political theater, and will never grace the pages of history text books.



I have a vested interest in this matter. My opinion here is not unbiased, and I am not the most qualified person speak on this matter. If you would like to catch up on this topic, I would recomend reading the following articles.
Could Asia really go to war over these? (September 2012)
Japan Warns It May Fire On Chinese Aircraft Over Disputed Islands; China Retorts: "There Will Be No Second Shot"
5 New Reasons China and Japan May go to War Over Disputed Islands
China Blasts Clinton’s Comments Regarding Japan Island Dispute
Here is a very informative blog that uses articles to outline the dispute.
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/japanese-chinese-war-in-the-east-china-sea/