Furman Bisher’s recent rant about Opening Day in Japan is all over the blogosphere. Everyone seems to be poking fun at it, or at Bisher himself, for being too old-school (or just too old), as he complains that baseball’s being played in Tokyo and being played by Japanese people. Ha, ha, isn’t it funny.
NO! It’s not! It’s horribly racist and nationalist. Bisher’s comments aren’t just backwards; they’re appalling. He is upset because Opening Day is being held in a country that once upon a time fought our country (let’s not forget that we fought back), and being played by one of its countrymen. He’s lumping everyone who shares attributes with the decision-makers of WWII-era Japan together with those decision-makers themselves.
How can we ever envision an end to the national and religious strife we see around the world if we use this kind of logic to defend even our kinder nostalgic musings?
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