Persuasive Speech-Tora Sellers

As much as I'm sure many of you hate to admit it, most, if not all of you see an Asian kid in front of you; in other words, you see somebody of a different race than yourselves. This is ironic because, if I go to Japan, I am treated in the polar opposite way- I am white. This makes me a foreigner to everyone around me, no matter where I go.

            In the United States, there has always been racism and there has always been ethnic conflict. But that has shaped the nation into a more diverse and more accepting place. Of course, there racism is still a major issue that must be corrected, but I would rather have this than the alternative. Countries like the UK or Japan have it much worse. Because racism was never a major, game-changing topic in either country's history, prejudice seems more accepted than diversity.
            In psychological experiments done by Jane Elliot, racism was turned against the historical oppressors: white people. Most countries, like the US or South Africa or Australia, were very responsive to the exercise, and the white people, through being persecuted themselves, realized what racism truly is and how they could make themselves more accepting people. But in the case of the United Kingdom, the white people refused to recognize even the mere existence of racism, and even went on to believe that society persecutes white people as much as it does with minorities. This same phenomenon was seen in a vice documentary on the unrecognized white student union at Towson University in Baltimore.
            Japan, my nation of birth, is probably one of the worst developed nations in terms of racism, sexism, and homophobia. It could be the history with rigid social structure, it could be the prewar fascism, or it could be the ethnic homogeny; its most likely all three. The nation's media is content with portraying ethnic minorities, genders, and minority sexual orientations as humiliating caricatures, and the citizens accept it. I was watching a Japanese talk show, and in one episode, mixed-race comedians were brought in as guests. They talked about past experiences with being ostracized, and their struggle with accepting their own race. But the way they did it by making them into jokes and trivializing their traumas. When I saw it, I thought to myself that that must be the only presentation of the topic that Japanese people can accept.
            Despite the fact that I am equal parts American and Japanese, people always see me as the minority, and judge me as such. I have endured my fair share of prejudices. People were surprised when I was halfway decent on the track team, even though I never gave any indication that I wouldn't be other than my outward appearance. My middle school also called me, and me alone in to the office to discuss my "radical" and potentially "terroristic" opinions on the United States government, despite my friends having nearly identical views. But in the United States, after the initial realization that's race doesn't define me, most people are willing to accept who I am. In Japan however, it is a whole other story.
            In Japan, bigotry is the official state language when the topic is about race. People are not willing to accept that I can speak Japanese fluently. People are not willing to accept that I understand and live the culture. People are not willing to accept that I can be just as intelligent as everybody else. There, people see me as an ignorant, white, gangster. Even my closest friends today used to avoid me because they saw me to have the capacity to harm them-they were afraid of me. And this portrayal of me as a gangster hurts me.
            That, is why I hate racism. The United States has it bad, and some countries have it even worse. It is illogical, entirely arbitrary, and it is simply hurtful. That's why I believe that (and this is the same for everybody) if you look at me and you see an Asian, you're looking at me wrong.