"Calm in Controversy"
2020-Jun-04, Thursday 10:15![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
Yesterday I woke up late, went to work late, and stayed late so I could go to a meeting entitled "Calm in Controversy: Health Equity Implications of the Current Social Context" about the murder of George Floyd and the protests against police brutality. We were asked not to share specifics of the meetings contents, so I won't, and I just came to listen since I'm not directly affected by police violence against black people, but it did make me think of some things that I'm going to write about here instead.
One is about being Jewish, and one is about being a foreigner in Japan.
If you're going to be foreign in Japan, being a white man is the best thing to be, but I still wasn't Japanese. I remember people refusing to sit next to me on public transit, crossing the street to avoid me, watching me wheneverschoolpsychnerd and I went shopping at the shopping center, looking in our cart to see what the foreigners ate, being told that restaurants were full or being sat at the farthest seat from everyone else, sometimes having a surprise seat charge sprung on me that wasn't anywhere in the Japanese menu I could find, etc. schoolpsychnerd had clothing shop attendants tell her to leave as soon as she walked in and was told there was no room at a mostly-empty rest stop on Mt. Fuji.
None of this was police brutality, fortunately, but there are currently protests in Tokyo about police brutality, so. And the major difference between all of this and being black in America is that if it had worn on us too much, if it had become intolerable, we could have just left. None of this happens in America, and we could have avoided all of it by moving back. None of this has happened to me since I did.
The other thing I thought of during the meeting was the relationship between Jews and the police. Antisemitism means that major Jewish events often have police protection, and historically we've relied heavily on the authorities to protect us from the people around us. But last year, after the Tree of Life shooting, there were several pieces that came out about how the increased security didn't actually make all Jews feel secure. Jews of color aren't going to look at a bunch of cops and think, "Oh thank G-d, now we're safe," they're going to wonder about their own safely, especially since they often have to deal with racism, antisemitism, and people assuming they aren't Jewish. Constant police presence is an obstacle to allowing Jews of color to feel included in Jewish communities.
That's a hard problem to solve, but with the police rioting all around the country it's obvious that the current police culture isn't going to solve anything.
Just yesterday I saw a quote from Pirkei Avot that's really relevant to this particular problem:
One is about being Jewish, and one is about being a foreigner in Japan.
If you're going to be foreign in Japan, being a white man is the best thing to be, but I still wasn't Japanese. I remember people refusing to sit next to me on public transit, crossing the street to avoid me, watching me whenever
schoolpsychnerd and I went shopping at the shopping center, looking in our cart to see what the foreigners ate, being told that restaurants were full or being sat at the farthest seat from everyone else, sometimes having a surprise seat charge sprung on me that wasn't anywhere in the Japanese menu I could find, etc. schoolpsychnerd had clothing shop attendants tell her to leave as soon as she walked in and was told there was no room at a mostly-empty rest stop on Mt. Fuji. None of this was police brutality, fortunately, but there are currently protests in Tokyo about police brutality, so. And the major difference between all of this and being black in America is that if it had worn on us too much, if it had become intolerable, we could have just left. None of this happens in America, and we could have avoided all of it by moving back. None of this has happened to me since I did.
The other thing I thought of during the meeting was the relationship between Jews and the police. Antisemitism means that major Jewish events often have police protection, and historically we've relied heavily on the authorities to protect us from the people around us. But last year, after the Tree of Life shooting, there were several pieces that came out about how the increased security didn't actually make all Jews feel secure. Jews of color aren't going to look at a bunch of cops and think, "Oh thank G-d, now we're safe," they're going to wonder about their own safely, especially since they often have to deal with racism, antisemitism, and people assuming they aren't Jewish. Constant police presence is an obstacle to allowing Jews of color to feel included in Jewish communities.
That's a hard problem to solve, but with the police rioting all around the country it's obvious that the current police culture isn't going to solve anything.
Just yesterday I saw a quote from Pirkei Avot that's really relevant to this particular problem:
הֱווּ זְהִירִין בָּרָשׁוּת, שֶׁאֵין מְקָרְבִין לוֹ לָאָדָם אֶלָּא לְצֹרֶךְ עַצְמָן. נִרְאִין כְּאוֹהֲבִין בִּשְׁעַת הֲנָאָתָן, וְאֵין עוֹמְדִין לוֹ לָאָדָם בִּשְׁעַת דָּחְקוֹJust as true now as it ever was.
Hevu zehirin barashut, she'ein mekarevin lo la'adam ella letzorech atzman. Nir'in ke'ohavin bish'at hana'atan. Ve'ein omedin lo la'adam bish'at dacheko
Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress.
-Pirkei Avot 2
