A Response to Disrespectful Twitter Users

For reference, here's a link to the article about which I'm writing: http://www.japanprobe.com/2012/08/10/racist-tweets-after-u-s-soccer-victory-over-japan-japs-pearl-harbor-trending/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JapanProbe+%28Japan+Probe%29

Dear Tweeters, 

I would like to first begin this letter by saying that I'm not writing to all Twitter Users, but only to those of you who feel that you need tweet offensive slurs in regards to race, gender, religion, sexuality, or any other trivial details of a person's (or group's) life. To those of you who try to maintain respectful attitudes toward your fellow human being on twitter (as well as other social networking sites), I commend you on being a good, kind-hearted, genuine person. It's something that I have been shocked to see is not actually that common anymore. 

This article really opened my eyes to how awful we can be to one another as human beings. Don't get me wrong: I always knew that racism, sexism, religious discrimination, homophobia, audism, and many other forms of discrimination were problems we faced in our supposedly "forward-thinking" society(ies). However, I've always thought of these ideals as only being visible when the bigots were trying to knock the group being discriminated against down a peg or two through victimizing them after they did something well. It's for this reason that I was so shocked by the barrage of racist texts against Japan coming from American twitter users after the US women's soccer gold-medal win in London. I mean, shouldn't we just be happy about a win and call it a day? Well, apparently a lot of these people didn't think so.

The first point that I'd like to make about all of this is that I'm quite certain that a lot of the tweets from this article can be classified as cyber-bullying, which is actually illegal in 49 states. The tweets included the derogatory-inflected slang label "Japs," claims that the US taking gold in the Olympics was "payback for Pearl Harbor," and (most shocking and disgusting of all, in my opinion) comparisons to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. I'm simply floored by how many people were so ready to jump on the bandwagon of tasteless tweets. Even as a caucasian woman born and raised in America, thereby having no really personal connection to Japan other than on a human-relations level, I was offended by these comments. I actually felt physically sick to my stomach when I read the tweet, "I haven't seen that many japs cry since hiroshima." I just don't understand how people can be so openly close-minded and blatantly intolerant in a society that claims to want equality for all. 

The real kicker for me, though, was the fact that these tweets happened in response to an Olympic sporting event. I mean, this is the Olympics, people! Clearly, those of you sending tweets like this don't understand the point of the Games. The point is not to spread your egotistical view of America's "supremacy" over other nations. It's about global camaraderie. Of course it's about rooting on your country's team, but it's also about sportsmanship. (What kind of sportsmanship are we teaching our youth if we exhibit such poor behavior in response to our team winning a global championship title?) As for those of you who are supposedly making these horrific comments because you believe that "we were robbed in the World Cup," I'd like to kindly ask you to shut the hell up! I'll be the first to admit that  I was disappointed when the US women's team lost the World Cup game in South Africa. However, at the same time I was so happy for Japan. Their country had just suffered from one of the most devastating natural disasters of our lifetime (from which it is still recovering), and if winning the World Cup was what would bring their country a little bit of hope and a reason to celebrate life again, how could I possibly have begrudged them for that accomplishment? 

I know that a lot of you may not have legitimately thought about what you were saying when you sent the tweets about World War II. To put it into perspective for you, I'd like to ask you this: how would you have felt if, when Japan won the World Cup, there were thousands of social networking posts like "This game ended the same way 9/11 did - with all the Americans in tears! Go Japan!!" Based on your readiness to praise the dropping of the atomic bombs and your general disregard for other peoples' lives and cultures, you would have probably been calling the White House requesting missile launchings. So, how can you possibly justify saying that to someone else about their country and culture?! What gives you the right take a nation's suffering and pain from events that happened entire generations ago - meaning that none of the players from either team, nor probably any of you, were alive - and use it to bring them down even further in their already disappointed mood? You're destroying the entire spirit of the Olympic Games, and you're not helping to create a world we should be striving to make - one in which we can share our experiences with each other and exchange cultural differences openly.

So, to those of you who feel the need to post racist comments on social networking sights, please just stop. Throw your phone off a bridge, smash your computer with a sledge hammer, and stay away from iPads and tablets at all times. Nobody of any notability is going to want to read what you have to say. And quite honestly, posts and viewpoints like yours are one of the reasons the rest of the world hates America, so you'd really be helping this country that you claim to love so much by ceasing to have an online existence. When you're ready to play nicely with your fellow human beings, we'll gladly welcome you back to the cyber world, but until then get the hell off the internet - please and thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Bee