Soccer, Racism, and Pearl Harbor

                                                  Soccer, Racism, and Pearl Harbor 


 As some of you know I am a unashamedly a soccer fan in a (mostly) football/baseball/and basketball nation. :) I was pretty thrilled to see the USWNT take the cup on July 5th - I was especially happy for Abby Wambach, Lauren Holiday, and Christie Rampone, as they are all scheduled to retire before the next world cup, what a way to go out! 


Admitted, we looked pretty vulnerable in our first four games - against Nigeria, Australia, Sweden, and Columbia. However, in the quarterfinals against China we seemed to finally come alive! And then we beat FIFA's number one ranked team, Germany, 2-0. Our World Cup journey ended with the cup when we beat number four ranked Japan 5-2. :) 



A while later I went on Twitter and heard that the hashtag #PearlHarbor was trending. This really shocked and saddened me. Yes, I am an American and proud to be one! However, I don't believe that God created one country better than another, which is one of the reasons why I am so against racism (not to mention that it is just plain wrong!) Tweets and tweeters like this definitely do NOT make me proud to be American!



Some very cringeworthy tweets compared the Women's World Cup final to #PearlHarbor. Such as user @KyleKelly56

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      View photo17 retweets33 favorites
      
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       I don't know what disburdens me more - that someone would be this asinine or that 76 people retweeted it. Unfortunately, this was one of the "milder" racist tweets that was trending. 

      
      

      
      

      
      

      1. Drake Fleck ‏@Dr_Fleck  Jul 5

         USA just bombing Japan with goals today #Hiroshima #Nagasaki

         7 retweets27 favorites
         
      2. Tyler Davis ‏@tdfitness28  Jul 5Monroe, OH

         USA hasnt put a beat down on Japan like this since WW2 #Hiroshima #Nagasaki

         4 retweets5 favorites
         
      3. Kyle ‏@CptAmerica69  Jul 5

         I am suddenly considerably less upset about the attack on Pearl Harbor. #nagasaki

         3 retweets5 favorites
         
      4. ♛Rich Homie♛ ‏@YngBasedRich  Jul 5

         this is a massacre #Hiroshima #Nagasaki

         1 retweet3 favorites
         
      5. Patrick Kennedy ‏@patkennedy28  Jul 5

         Japan always get crushed by the U.S. #Nagasaki #Hiroshima

         1 retweet20 favorites
         

         
         

         2. Drake Fleck ‏@Dr_Fleck  Jul 5

            USA just bombing Japan with goals today #Hiroshima #Nagasaki

            7 retweets27 favorites
            
         3. Tyler Davis ‏@tdfitness28  Jul 5Monroe, OH

            USA hasnt put a beat down on Japan like this since WW2 #Hiroshima #Nagasaki

            
            

      
      

      
      

      Racist users on Twitter also compared the game to #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki, the two bombs which killed between 130,000 and 240,000 people, many of them innocent civilians. I am not necessarily saying that these bombs were wrong for us to drop, per se, but making jokes over innocents that were killed and comparing it to a soccer game? Well that just made my blood boil!

      
      

      And of course people also started making slurs about #japs and that they couldn't see the ball because of their "squinted eyes." There were also racist comments about the Germans and users compared the USA's semifinal victory over Germany to World War 2. 

      
      

      
      

      Mr 2 and 10 ‏@J_Selly05  Jul 5

      That goalie couldn't see the ball because of her squinted eyes #Japs

      2 retweets4 favorites
      

      1. Connor Grott ‏@Connor_Grott  Jul 5

         This game has to be rigged... USA just throttling the #Japs.. #USA

         0 retweets3 favorites
         
      2. Ian McDonald ‏@imcdonald12  Jul 5

         What a joke lol #japs
      4. Marty Walsh ‏@walsh_marty  Jul 5

         That one was for Pearl Harbor #japs

         18 retweets70 favorites
         

      
      
      

      So I went on Twitter and started reporting some of the "jokes." Then I took it a step further by asking some of the people why they didn't like the Japanese players and why they felt the need to be racist in 2015. The answers that I got back were... very... offensive and full of name calling (why was I surprised?!) 

      
      

      I will include one tweet here, but if included all of the tweets you would all probably be blushing at the bad words!

      
      

      
      

      Alisha A Trost   @BookReviewerLT Jul 11 @TonyVanDamme Why the racism toward Japan? Just wondering.

      Tony Van Damme @TonyVanDamme Jul 12 @BookReviewerLT Oh fuck off you sad soppy Jap loving cunt!!

      
      

      
      

      User @TonyVanDamme has since removed his tweet - or it was reported. 

      
      

      
      

      
      

      If you would all help me - when you have a spare minute (if you have a spare minute ;) ) to report this racism I would be very grateful. Just Twitter search #Hiroshima, #Nagasaki, #PearlHarbor, or #Jap and you will find plenty of mind boggling racist tweets that are begging to be reported. Interestingly enough, racist posts are much less on Facebook and G+ than they are on Twitter. Why that is so I have no idea!  
      
      
      Just like many of you I really enjoy sports. However, there is a line between being a passionate fan and being offensive to other people and other countries. It is disappointing to still see so much racism in 2015, but it is encouraging to know that most people are against that type of behavior. 
      
      Hope you didn't mind my rant and thanks for Christian T for letting me do this!