I lived in Japan for almost 8 years & am married to a Japanese woman. And I am a bit sensitive about this. Saying "I sank a Jap destroyer!" Doesn't sound offensive to me. But saying somone is a Jap or Nip sounds derogatory to me. As a history buff i know there is no real comparison between the word Jap and Yank or tommie for instance. Jap was said with alot more hatred and the racism against Japanese Americans was much worse than against German or Italian Americans for instance.
Its just as easy to type JP or Jap. for Japanese. My personal belief is that prejudice against people who are different in partly an instinctive survival mechanism-for early humans it was a case of better safe than sorry when encountering a stranger in the wilderness etc. As such I think we have to work a bit to overcome this instinct.
Prejudice and racism are central problems throughout American history. And many predicted that a nation of immigrants couldn't survive. That "mongrolism" and the clash of cultures , values and beliefs of disparate groups would lead to chaos.
There is a Japanese forum for SH3 & I'm always happy to meet Japanese gamers who enjoy WW2 games. I'd hate for any to be driven away by a perception of prejudice. Now I know that the folks here at Subsim are all wonderful, & I don't want moderaters to get involved and make a big deal out of this, but I hope everyone will think about this issue carefully before making their decision about what words to use.
As background my Grampa's brother served on carriers in the Pacific and had a bad time of it. My wife's Grandfathers both fought in China. They were all farm kids and would have had a lot in common. Because of the war they all suffered a great deal. So I think its best to focus on the things we all have in common.
Alright, got that out of my system, if you've made it this far thanks for reading and considering my 2 cents worth.
