No Choice but to Cry Himself to Sleep

By Yutaro Shirako / Spring 2021

People from abroad, including my parents, moved to the US in order to live in an environment where everyone respects other people’s backgrounds.

My father grew up in a Japanese orphanage and got bullied in high school because of poverty. Nevertheless, even though many people went to cram schools, he got into a highly-selective university through self-study. After he graduated from the university, he decided to work for a major automaker because he thought he would have a chance to work abroad. In the 1980s, he was appointed to a manager of an automotive factory in Detroit, Michigan. He was excited about the possibility that he could provide people all over the world with high-quality automobiles and could develop the city with revival of the automobile industry. However, he was hit by the cruel situation. In reality, low‐paid workers could not receive benefits from development of the automobile industry, and to make things worse, it widened economic disparities in Detroit.

Local people directed the brunt of their criticism at Asian people who were working in the Japanese automobile industry. He said that it was impossible to go out downtown at night because the number of hate crimes against Asian people was getting higher. One day, he parked his car and walked to a Chinese restaurant with his Chinese American friend in a suburb. All of sudden, several black men appeared and picked a fight. They used discriminatory words and kept on insulting my father and his friend. Although they tried to tolerate their behavior, his friend talked back to them unintentionally. Immediately after, one of the strangers pulled out a gun and pointed it at his colleague. His friend was shot and got robbed by the strangers. Just after they left, my father barely called an ambulance while losing his head. It could have been worse, but luckily, there was no threat for his friend's life. However, the local police were not engaged in fully concerted efforts to identify the perpetrators. My father told me that the strangers must have strong hatred for Japanese people and the Japanese automaker.

The incident highlighted the complication of racial problems. The city and Japanese companies connived the discrimination for economic profits. African Americans, as a minority, discriminated Asian people as a minority and lashed out violently at them. My father had no choice but to cry himself to sleep. It reminds me of today's hate crime for Asian Americans.