THIS IS MY TRUTH

 

 

The incidents that started the “Black Lives Matter” protests have affected me because it has raised many of my PTSD incidents and feelings as a multi-ethnic person. 

I am not trying to attach myself to the movement or trying to make equal comparisons. I have feared for my life and safety but not to what the African Americans have had to face for centuries. I want you to understand what those of mixed race/ethnicities experience, go through and navigate in their lives.

 

This is my TRUTH

 

I am a post WWII baby of Japanese, English, Scottish, Irish and Cherokee descent. I was born 1953 in Fukuoka, Japan, birthplace of my mother, grandparents and other relatives. My mother and I are 1st generation Japanese and I am a naturalized citizen. I am also known as a military brat. I really don’t know why the term “brat” was originated but that’s what it is. As a military dependent, I moved constantly and lived throughout the South in my early years where I was subjected to getting beaten up and bullied by kids without any provocation from me, other than my ethnic heritage. 

I remember being beaten up and my mother coming out to stop and protect me from further harm. Phrases like; go home Jap, you killed my uncle in the war Jap, you Nip, you gook, you are just a slant eye, you are yellow, your English accent is so good, you should be proud of your accomplishment, where are you from? There were a couple of times I fell for “What were the Japanese known for?” Punch Line, Sneak Attack! Me getting kneed in the gonads. With the bully kids laughing.

In the South at this time, there were Black and White bathrooms, water fountains, etc. I once went into a Black bathroom because the White one was occupied. When I came out, I was given the treatment by a Black man who was angry that I used his bathroom and that I should be using the White bathroom. I remember thinking “I’m not white,” as he was berating me for using his bathroom. 

I learned to keep myself the smallest target possible from being noticed. Never trusting anyone completely because of the betrayals, the overt and subversive discrimination tactics. My father was frustrated because I wouldn’t protect myself. I understood but I never wanted to inflict others with pain and hurt. It felt senseless to me. It wasn’t until I was a sophomore in High School when I had had enough and stood up for myself and fought back. I gained respect and I felt better, but when I broke someone’s nose fighting a kid over my girlfriend’s honor the fight left me.

I was in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1974. When I left basic training my Drill Sargent pulled me aside and gave me this important advice that I never forgot. He said, “When you are in Nam always stay close to the white soldiers because you never know when you would be mistaken for a VC.”

The only time in my life that I blended in and felt accepted is when I lived in Hawaii. In Hawaii I am a Hapa-Haole, Half white. Because of the racial/ethnic mixing in the islands I was ethnically accepted. Things were much better in my life, but there were suppositions that I had to get beyond. Islanders expected me to have the local Japanese cultural upbringing. I was raised in white communities. Before Hawaii there weren’t any other communities that I was subjected to. That is the big reason I love Hawaii because I felt I was accepted. Also, there is the spirit of the Islands, the Aina, the Aloha, the ethnic diversity, the ethnic foods and the ocean.

I do have close friends that I value, some friends I have had for over 50 years. But honestly none know of my past ethnic issues. I am posting this to out my truth, but to also increase consciousness of racial/ethnic discrimination, hate and division of multi-racial/ethnic people and how racism/ethnicism is rampant globally and more importantly here in the United States where we are supposed to be above a higher standard and aren’t. It is going to take every citizen to stand up for us to ensure everyone is treated equally based on our actions and not because of our racial/ethnic and religious differences. I have had to deal with discrimination all of my life and would like before I pass this plane of existence to see and experience real forward and positive change towards racial/ethnic and multi-racial/ethnic equality coming from the community because it’s the right thing to do and not because of laws that have been enacted.

 

 YouTube Link 

https://youtu.be/CpGXSLmp30Q


 

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