Let me add a little historical context to Debito Arudou's ludicrous comparison of the white man in Japan with the black man in the United States. Long-standing racism in America begat the civil rights' marches and Martin Luther King, the Black Panthers, the Watts riots, the Last Poets, etc. As well, we have the achievements of Arthur Ashe, Ralph Ellison, Maya Angelou, Jimi Hendrix, Arrested Development, Oprah Winfrey and, now, Barack Obama, surely the next U.S. president.

So if Arudou sees himself as a "black man" in Japan, where is the rich culture and groundbreaking achievements of his oppressed brothers and sisters? Are the Japanese-speaking foreigners on TV the best he has to offer? And where are the Gaijin With Attitude? I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Arudou may be free to scribble about it in his column, but due to a clear lack of news value, his oppressed white man's revolution will definitely NOT be televised.

sandra graves-takahashi