Tolerance with Discrimination

This is the President of “indispensable ally” for Shinzo Abe administration. United States President Donald Trump defended protesters against removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, VA, by accusing both sides of white supremacists and protesters against them. Keeping deep and consistent discrimination inside their society, Japanese people were shocked by U.S. President’s tolerance with racism.

Trump made the remark in an emotional exchange of words with reporters in a press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan. “I think there is blame on both sides. If you look at both sides – I think there is blame on both sides,” reiterated Trump. “You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now. You had a group – you had a group on the other side that came charging in, without a permit, and they were very, very violent.”

Japanese newspapers remembered that Trump did not unequivocally condemn the white supremacists right after the crush of mobs in Charlottesville last Thursday. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” told Trump. After receiving criticism against his unclear message, Trump tried to settle the dispute by blaming white supremacists. “Racism is evil,” told Trump in White House, “and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”

Japanese news reports recognized Trump’s inconsistent responses as effusion of his racism inside. Asahi Shimbun quoted the facts that Trump picked Stephen Bannon, who had been running a white supremacist news site, for chief strategist of his Presidential campaign, or that racist groups were recruiting white workers in economically suffering area called Rust Belt.

Even a pro-American newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, also joined the blaming on Trump. Quoting a joke that a boy who broke a window glass with thrown ball argued his dad that the window broke his ball, the paper accused the excuse that blames were on both sides of ball and glass. “Blame a boy who does not apologize after breaking window by his ball,” the column article made a request to Trump.

Trump’s handling of the issue revealed a serious fact that he is not suitable for U.S. President. He is losing support from not only from Democrats but Republicans. “We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity,” the Speaker of House, Paul Ryan, accused Trump in Twitter. Trump may evoke a serious question in Japan, for example: Do you think that blames are on both sides of North Korea with missile launches and Japan with missile defense, Mr. President?