【英語の時間だよ】日本在住外国人（black）が日本で差別主義者？（日本人）に会った話。

私の旦那マリオは、チョコレート色の肌を持つアメリカ人です。

色のついた肌を持つ人々はマイノリティとしてその国で育つ過程で

ある種の防御反応、人間察知判断力がついていると、勝手ながら思っています。笑

自分を嫌う人を視線や仕草から察知するのです。

私達は東京でも割と外国人が住むエリアに住んでいます。

ま、いまやどこにでもいるけどね！

そんなところで、外国人嫌いの方？とマリオが出くわしました。しかも道端でw

彼のルーティンであるジムの帰り、いつもどおり家路を歩いていたら、向かいから歩いてくる4〜50代のおじさん。

いつもの「あ外国人だっ！」とは違う差別的な視線を感じたマリオ。

おそらくジム帰りでアドレナリンとかもろもろ出ていたのでしょう。

なんとおじさんに声をかけました！笑

（私がそのおじさんだったらビビるぞ！）

さてここからはマリオの心情も含んだ本人によるストーリーを英文でお届けします。笑

So...as I was leaving the gym today, heading home after a solid workout, I saw, ahead of me, a Japanese man in his late 40s, early 50s walking the opposite way, staring at me. Being a black guy in Japan, super common, in fact, the moment people stop staring at me is when I start to get paranoid, but anyways...as I get closer, I noticed, that its not just a "Oh look, that guys super different, maybe he looks a little dangerous, better to tighten this grip on my purse in case he came all of this way just to mug me in broad daylight for my knockoff makeup supplies and free tissue paper!" No, this guy had the look in his eyes that a colored guy growing up in Virginia gets to know very well from time to time. This guy not only didn't like me, but he wanted me to immediately leave his country, and take everything that was "un-Japanese" with me.

Well, with Endorphines, Seratonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine still thrashing about from my workout, I decided to be a little extra today. Now, normally, being a larger guy in Japan, when placed in a seemingly confrontational situation, I'll try to adjust my body language ever so slightly to send positive, non-intimidating vibes in a country that can immediately place me in the "scary" category. I spared this man no such mercy. The hatred, I guess from both sides at this point, was so rather intense. As I neared, I realized I was being an idiot, so, I said "good afternoon, are you from here?" My newly found mortal enemy replied, "yes, I am, are you?" I gave him a "well played sir" laugh and said "it looks like it huh." I asked him what he did for a living, how work was, and mentioned how tough it must be to head to the office on a Saturday.

"So...you don't like foreigners, or something about me that ruined your day." His response, a classic. "I don't have a problem with foreigners BUT..." Never gets old. "BUT, when I was kid there were no foreigners here. I could spend weeks, even months without seeing someone who wasn't Japanese. Now, ha, I step outside of my front door and there are foreigners everywhere."

I prodded, "And they shouldn't be here or..."

"No, its fine if they are here, but they come here, they don't work, they don't pay taxes, they don't respect our culture. They're just all around lazy and we have to deal with them now."

I asked him if he thought the declining birthrate and diminishing workforce had anything to do with the influx of foreigners.

"That's what the government says, but it shouldn't matter. We can fix our own problems, we don't need outside help, we don't need non-Japanese here."

In an odd sense, I was a bit relieved actually. Most of my life, the opposition I have faced to me...well, existence, has been due to the color of my skin. But here, in front me, was a man that couldn't care less about what color I was. He wanted me out of Japan, because I wasn't Japanese, and I don't know why, or how, but that realization, was somehow extremely refreshing. And with a cooled head I started to ask him, from a strictly rational point of view, if given the events of the last 100 years, would Japan still be here without foreign aid, of any sort. But I decided to go with a less damning question.

"You know I've heard a lot about people like you, your issues with non-Japanese, your fear of losing your country. In America, there are people with a similar point of view. I don't understand it, but, I'll ask you what I've always wanted to ask them. When does Japan start? And more importantly, where does Japan end? When people first started arriving on this land, from what is now Mongolia and China, was that Japan? The borrowed text from China, is that Japan? The Ainu culture that existed in Northern Japan before being nearly wiped out, is that Japan?"

He paused, actually stopped walking, looked at me, and said "You're right, if you look at history, those people came from the mainland. And yes, about....well, a long time ago everyone came from Africa (and he pointed at me, which...of course I understand but I wish he knew that I have been to more Japanese temples than African cities)."

He paused again, this time, seeming to have nothing left to say. "Listen man, I'm here in this beautiful country, learning this beautiful language, and appreciating this beautiful culture. I work hard, I pay my taxes, and I contribute to society. Before we talked, you didn't know anything about me, my life, my story, but now you understand that I didnt come to Japan because I wanted to change anything, I came because I fell in love with the country. I really hope you understand that foreigners, can be good people too.

 私には声をかけたことも理解出来なかったけど、なんだかんだ最後は握手して別れたらしい。

おじさんは英語を話していたみたい。

英語ってある程度やってたり、慣れてたり、身近にないと日本人は話さないと思うんだけども、そんな外国人と接触があるであろう人であっても嫌悪感を示す人がいる、という事が驚きだった(´⊙ω⊙`)

まぁおじさんの言うとおり、生活保護など国からの補助などをもらいながらも、納税せず暮らしている外国人もまあいるだろうし、気持ちは分からなくはないけど、

マリオは納税してるから、やたら嫌悪感出しまくっても良くないね！

と思いました♪(´ε｀ )

ってかそもそも差別的な人に声かけるってのは、撃たれたり暴行されたり本当に自殺行為なので、それが出来たのも日本だからこそだったに違いない。(°_°)おそるべし