Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Inflatable Sumo Suits are "an example of "white supremacist anti-Asian structural racism."

The stupidity burns.  UC-Davis Students: Sumo Wrestling Fat Suit Amounts to Anti-Asian Racism, White Supremacy - Hit & Run : Reason.com: "The student government of the University of California-Davis apologized to members of campus who were offended by a sumo wrestling activity that was available during a recent outdoor social event. But a mere apology isn't good enough for students who say the sumo suit appropriated Japanese culture.  One of the offended is now insisting on mandatory cultural competency training...

At least one student complained to ASUCD about the activity, which prompted a formal apology:  
We’d like to apologize for any harm the “Sumo Suit" may have caused you all. This lapse in judgment is completely ASUCD's fault and responsibility alone.  We are thankful to the student who courageously brought this issue to our attention. We appreciated their honesty and that they took the time to include the history of the Japanese sumo wrestlers (rikishi) and that this activity could be seen as a racially insensitive to Japanese culture.  This was an egregious oversight and it will hopefully not happen in the future.   

Yes, the student-government believes it was "courageous" to report the sumo suit as a microaggression.  The California Aggie's story sheds additional light on what was so disturbing about the sumo suit. Cultural studies PhD student Scott Tsuchitani told a reporter that the incident was an example of "white supremacist anti-Asian structural racism." 

He continued:  "It is pitiful that the ASUCD would pathologize the so-called victims as in need of treatment instead of reflecting more deeply on what is needed to address ASUCD’s own failure in this situation. From my limited perspective, I would suggest that the foremost need for treatment might well be for cultural competency training for ASUCD itself. That is much more relevant here than any Orientalist history of sumo wrestling."  

In other words, a cultural studies student and instructor thinks the answer is mandatory instruction in cultural sensitivity. How novel.  Tsuchitani thinks these things—inflatable fat suits—represent anti-Asian white supremacy in action. "

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