Cubs' Fukudome upset over new shirts

old_tony:

Fine line between "having fun" and "being offensive."

"Having fun" doesn't have to mean "shitting on someone else," regardless of what happens to you in the political threads.

 

What the hell is fun or witty about a Horry Cow T-Shirt, Tony?

Even if it wasn't offensive, it's fucking stupid.

 

Fukudome wanted to play for a team that had never had a Japanese player before. When you call attention to your ethnicity, don't bitch about it when people notice.

FWIW, the Japanese leagues openly discriminate against non-Japanese players.

This is much ado about nothing.

 

And Eddie Murphy makes fun of how white people talk in his standup. Yet I have never heard of a single white person crying and pissing and moaning about it.

 

So that fact makes it ok for fans here to impugn Fukudome's ethnicity? Right.

 

I don't understand how he is calling attention to his ethnicity. Sure, he is the first Japanese Cub, but as someone said before, there have been plenty of Japanese in the majors. Those vendors could have been a little more creative without being offensive.

 

What does that even mean? Calling attention to his ethnicity? Why? Because he's a Japanese player playing in the U.S.?

I don't know of any instance where Fukudome is out there shouting, "Look at me! I'm Japanese! Hey you! Over here! The rising sun comes up in right field!"

Was Ernie Banks accused of calling attention to his ethnicity when he was the Cubs' first black player too? What a moronic statement.

And this is relevant to Fukudome ... how? Last I checked, the Cubs play in Chicago, not Osaka.

But I like your brilliant idea of tit-for-tat racism. No harm ever came from that.

 

I hope this was sarcasm because if it's not, your mentality deeply disturbs me.

First, there's a difference for wanting to break ground and become the first of hopefully many Japanese players in the game and wanting to be made fun of based off racial stereotypes.

Second, would it be OK if others discriminated against you in a foreign country because people in your home country did it to them?

Clearly, much ado about nothing.

 

But mommy, they do it TOO!!!!!!!!!

Indeed they do; no disputing that. I forget if it was Tuffy Rhodes or someone else who no one would pitch to when he was close to the home run record, largely because the buzz was they didn't want a gaijin breaking it.

Of course, Japan doesn't have our supposed reputation for being an open nation that accepts people of all ethnicities. And "noticing" ethnicity should not lead to "insulting" it.

EDIT: Bubbler said it better than I could. Ditto for Diabeetus.

 

Well, Fukudome chose the Cubs because they had never had a Japanese player before. He didn't want to play for, say, the Mariners or Red Sox or Yankees or White Sox. So yes, that pretty much is saying, "Hey, look at me, I'm Japanese!"

Personally I don't find "Horry Kow" racist. There's nothing tit-for-tat about it either. Tit-for-tat would be Bud Selig limiting the number of foreign players each club could sign, or AL pitchers saying they would walk Ichiro because they wanted the all-time hits record to be held by an American.

 

There isn't any discrimination going on here. Fukudome is getting an opportunity to make millions of dollars and enjoys the luxury of being able to market himself as a free agent whereas a native player would not.

 

Maybe he wanted to show another group of players that Japanese players are just as good. IMO, getting to personally know a member of a minority group helps you understand them, or at least their views a bit better.