💫T.Katsumi #BlackLivesMatter · @tkatsumi06j
9th Jun 2020 from TwitLonger
DETAILS: The ridiculously biased #NHK #Sekaima TV program on #BlackLivesMatter
INTRODUCTION
On June 7, 2020. Japan's national public broadcast NHK aired a program on the ongoing #BlackLivesMatter protests in the United States. Within it was a short video that dealt with the 'reasons' behind the great anger of the protesters which was nothing but RACIAL with ridiculously caricaturized 'black man' posing to EXPLAIN what the socioeconomic background to the protest was. This caused a major uproar across the globe.
To give #NHK a FAIR review, I watched the entire program, which was split into two parts; one on U.S. BlackLivesMatter protests and one on Swedish response against #COVID19 -- don't know why they coupled this two. Ask THEM for answers...
Of total 37 min, 27 min was on protests. It was explained by an "expert" who is NOT a sociologist or anthropologist or even a historian, but a mere Editor in Chief of NHK's International Affairs Section. In other words, a political analyst.
And this was how NHK summarized the first part of the program with ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION WHATSOEVER of what is right or wrong or just or unjust: their point was to state that America is increasingly divided by radicalism on both sides of the political spectrum; Left and Right. And the video in question was used to depict the tiny bit of that 'divide' caused by poverty gaps written here which says "黒人" or Black people saying "白人ばかり金持ちだ" which roughly translates to "Whites are always getting richer!". So THAT'S what that video was about.
So NHK's obvious excuse to any criticism against the video would be to say:
"We did also feature other factors such as #policebrutality and the recent death before the video was presented."
It only mentioned, without naming, as 'one of the many incidents' that ignited the flame of anger against racial inequality.
The program featured a NY correspondent saying:
"Violent protests are subsiding. For while I thought I will be raided if I walked out during the night."
True, the program did mention #RodneyKing , the #LAriots but not #GeorgeFloyd's name.
Then it went on to show the streets of NY and how stores are 'protecting' their shops from being looted or destroyed. They even feature a resident New Yorker who says:
"I dis-support the protesting," followed by a studio commentator who says:
"I completely agree with that NY resident."
1. REASONS BEHIND THE "VIOLENT PROTESTS" PER NHK (Part I)
The #NHK program then goes onto explain the reasons of such "violent protests" saying it was caused by THE GREAT ANGER of the black people, first one being this:
1) Unending #policebrutality against the black
Then a female commentator asks:
"Why doesn't this go away?"
The #NHK expert point to this reason:
"The white cops fear the black people."
He explains that "there is an indistinct sense of fear in general against the black people," pulling from his personal experience with the LA cops making city rounds.
Then the expert goes on to say:
"That's the kind of pressure the cops are under."
like no other police in the world will be under pressure when you are in pursuit of a criminal gang.
Then suddenly he brings out a statistics; that 2.5 times more blacks are killed than whites.
OK. So he first says the blacks are being shot at because white cops are 'afraid' of black people. And then he says, blacks are killed 2.5 times more that whites BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING FEARED BY THE WHITE COPS?
The expert finally says that though white cops may fear the black people, "from the black people's viewpoint, it MAY BE that being killed for doing nothing is racial discrimination. That's how they are against each other."
So you see what he is trying here.
Then the expert comes to the second reason of the ANGER of the protesters where that ridiculously offensive video in question comes into play. This is about 7 minutes into the program.
2) White people are always getting richer
https://twitter.com/nhk_sekaima/status/1269558019316056064?s=20
The script goes as how I translated it: It shows the socioeconomic disparity between the black and white people, the unequal treatment of black people in the wake of the #COVID19 pandemic, and then goes on to SING 'that's why WE are all so angry'.
2. SCRIPT TRANSLATION
Black Man: "One of the reasons behind our anger is the POVERTY GAP between the White folks and Black folks. Yes, the White folks have 7 TIMES MORE in private assets than Black folks do!"
Black Man: "And then comes the #COVID19 pandemic which affected us Black people the most. Hey, a question to you: How many Black folks lost their job or got their job hours cut?"
Statute of Liberty: "Hmm..."
Black Man: "45 PERCENT!!!!!
Then the Black Man SINGS:
"This and 'other matters' that make us angry erupted everywhere. [That's what's happening today]"
3. POST-VIDEO DEPICTION
After the video, the female commentator says:
"I'm just so astonished to know all this now!"
The expert shows a graph showing how the disparity between black and white assets have widen during the past 40 years and explains this leads to educational and income gaps.
The #NHK program then interviews a black female protester who is participating in the rallies in LA, Ms. Danna Kiel
@djdannak .But most of her words are voice-over and can't really hear what she is saying but viewers are forced to believe what is v/o and written in subtitles.
4. REASONS BEHIND THE "VIOLENT PROTESTS" PER NHK (Part II)
Then the NHK expert goes on to explain the third reason of the GREAT ANGER:
3) Worsening cases of racial discrimination
Then the first picture he posts on the blackboard is Pres. @BarackObama and says, after Pres. Obama the blacks hoped that hate will dissipate but it did not.
The expert explains there were "many people in the white society who were against a black president, especially the white youths", according to his personal experience.
And then he explains Trump came into the picture as a leader who would address the white people's distress.
The expert then cites a survey taken this January saying, "83 percent of black people feel that racism has turned worse since Trump came into power."
So the expert wants to imply that racism became worse during the Obama era and Trump made it even worse.
The studio then turns to the NY correspondent who was asked about the current state who says:
"From reporting on the various protests I came to re-recognize how deeply rooted racism is in America, " and that he found black youths determined to stop racism in their generation.
Oh, finally a sensible comment?
No, Wait for another disappointment.
Then the reporter goes on to say this:
"However, some white people fear that blacks still have high crime rate and that many whites are being killed by the blacks. But they won't protest like today."
The reporter then goes on to say this:
"This is how serious the divide is. And it is not easy at all to resolve this issue of racism."
Yeah, like a three-year-old would not know what.
Then the female commentator sighs deeply and says:
"My gosh the divide is SOOOO DEEP!?"
5. "VARIOUS GROUPS" IN PLAY
The show then features an actual DIVIDE in the picture of two sides fending on each other. Then the expert goes on to say, "various groups are also at play causing this divide."
And then he calls onto #ANTIFA as the contending "group" against the #WhiteSupremacists.
The expert introduces #ANTIFA as a group "that particularly is against anti-racism" and that "their radicalism is becoming an issue today." Then the program shows the ANTIFA people dressed in all black hoods and how they have vandalized the cities since Trump' 2017 inauguration.
Then the program quotes Trump saying "ANTIFA was involved in the violent protests" and shows a video where an alleged #ANTIFA supporter says this:
"Some might destroy things or burn things down, but this is NOT violence. We are just destroying to let our voices be heard."
So what will the female commentator say?
"No.... that's not how I will do it....I will not do it that way."
The MC then says, "They're just breaking things...but it may be looked as being violent."
Then what does she say?
"No, that IS violence."
Finally, the expert makes a VERY brief reference to the #WhiteSupremacists (白人至上主義者) on the recent arrest of the Right (右派) POSED as #ANTIFA to INCITE violence and BLAME it on them. Again saying this shows how big the divide is WITHOUT EVER criticizing their act.
Up to now, the sheer ratio of videos showing “violent” actions of #ANTIFA versus that of the #WhiteSupremacists are 10:0. There were no videos shown about the Right. Zero. Then the female commentator says this:
“So they both think differently but act radically?”
They BOTH do?
6. THE POLITICS OF IT: LEFT VS. RIGHT
Then the program gets into politics. The expert:
“The reason both sides get radicalized is NOT just due to racism but due to polarization of the American society itself”
Commentator: “This is getting deep...”
LEFT: A more equal society.
RIGHT: Protect America’s interest.
The expert explains that the LEFT wants a more “inclusive society” where the weak are lifted from their despair. Whereas the RIGHT rejects that notion saying, “That’s not the American way.” They want to keep holding onto their national values and reject anything “UnAmerican”.
But the point I couldn’t help miss is that when the #NHK expert said the RIGHT reject the LEFT’s notion of lifting up the weak up the social ladder, he said this:
“Yes, it may sound like a nice idea but...”
It’s like the current White House spokeswoman during FOX era.
Then the expert goes on to explain what being “UnAmerican” means from the RIGHT’s perspective. He says:
“The Right believes that America is founded on the principle of free competition and helping the weak goes against that very principle.”
Oh, so THAT’S HOW THEY think.
The expert goes on to explain that Trump was the winner in this battle for being right. And that “extremist groups” on both ends radicalize even further as the sociopolitical divide widens. Sounds like a correct assessment of the big picture, but you can see which side they’re on.
7. THE DC CORRESPONDENT
As I am trying not to summarize this so that everyone can get the full picture of this to make your judgment, I will continue with the review even if I may bore you to death by showing what is so obvious to all Americans. Here comes in a DC correspondent with recent updates.
The DC correspondent reports how TOUGH Trump is trying to show his supporters to stop the protests, even by resorting to federal military force. But he points out the criticisms from the Generals, presenting views that America is acting more like China than a democracy.
Then a dull question from the commentator:
“So how does the Trump Administration intend to respond to this?”
The DC reporter then shows that Biden is winning over Trump on the upcoming Presidential Elections, because of the failed response against the #COVID19 crisis.
CONCLUSION
Now coming down to that summary; that there is a great divide in the American society calling it “The Era of Division”. True in many aspects, but that big picture DOES NOT justify the initial violence and bigotry against the black people. It DOES NOT justify stereotyping.
The expert delivers his last statement about whether Japan is addressing the needs of people so that it would not erupt into violent protests. But all that seemed superficial when a public broadcast does not guide you to think what is right or wrong.
Thanks for reading this long thread. I was re-watching the whole program as I tweeted this. I wanted to give you all a fair presentation of what the entire program was about NOT because I wanted to defend NHK but so that you get the bigger picture of how awful the program was.
The program was cunningly appearing balanced, and yet it lacked objectivity on one side while cleverly undermining the wrongs of the other side. The audio-visual depiction of both sides were actually one-sided with zero depiction of the RIGHT’s actions but only in few words.
The focus of the program was to explore how great social divide can be averted instead of how great evil like racism can and should be dealt with. It was a deformed simplified version of the intricate, complex nature of the American society with deep sociecononic roots.
Remind you the main title of the program is “これでわかった！世界のいま“ or “This is ALL you need to know about the today’s world!” — Well it’s really up to the Americans on the ground to judge this program and their approach.
But I for one, detested it. Thanks for reading :-)
I will personally like to rename the program title to read:
『これで世界をわかったつもりになれる！』
or
"This is ALL you need to PRETEND to know about the today’s world!”