Google Doodle- May 19, 2016- Yuri Kochiyama's 95th Birthday:
It’s with great pleasure that Google celebrates Yuri Kochiyama, an Asian American activist who dedicated her life to the fight for human rights and against racism and injustice. Born in California, Kochiyama spent her early twenties in a Japanese American internment camp in Arkansas during WWII. She and her family would later move to Harlem, where she became deeply involved in African American, Latino, and Asian American liberation and empowerment movements. Today's doodle by Alyssa Winans features Kochiyama taking a stand at one of her many protests and rallies.
Kochiyama left a legacy of advocacy: for peace, U.S. political prisoners, nuclear disarmament, and reparations for Japanese Americans interned during the war. She was known for her tireless intensity and compassion, and remained committed to speaking out, consciousness-raising, and taking action until her death in 2014.
Backlash- i.e. The Weekly Standard response:
On Thursday, the homepage of Google featured one of the search engine's doodles honoring the birthday of Yuri Kochiyama, a "civil rights" activist who died two years ago at age 93. After Google drew attention to Kochiyama's life, the Smithsonian highlighted the museum's "digital exhibit" honoring her. Kochiyama was one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans interned during World War II, and she spent the rest of her life speaking out against what she saw as injustice. Aside from supporting various civil rights causes, she was a big advocate for the Civil Liberties Act, legislation signed by President Reagan that approved $20,000 in reparations to the thousands of Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.
However, it's also fair to say that, her unjust internment notwithstanding, Kochiyama harbored an unacceptable degree of contempt for her country. It is appalling that Google would choose to honor her, and even more appalling the Smithsonian would spend taxpayer dollars paying tribute to her. Just to give you a flavor of how bad she was, consider this interview from 2003:
Giving credit where credit is due, this interview was unearthed by the left-leaning Vox, and even they are queasy about honoring Kochiyama. Aside from praising murderers such as bin Laden, Che, and Castro, Kochiyama was a full-blown Maoist who supported the South American Maoist terrorist organization the Shining Path, which has killed some 30,000 people.
Slightly less controversial, but also worth noting, Kochiyama was close to Malcom X. She was one of the few notable non-black black nationalists who was a big supporter of the Black Panthers, a group liberal America is still trying to canonize despite the inescapable facts illustrating they were a "murderous and totalitarian cult." And naturally, she was an outspoken supporter of a who's who of left-wing fugitives and criminals such as "Mumia Abu-Jamal, Angela Davis, Marilyn Buck, Assata Shakur and the Puerto Rican nationalist activists arrested after opening fire inside the U.S. House of Representatives and injuring five lawmakers in 1954."
Google should promptly apologize for honoring Kochiyama, and Congress should look into why the Smithsonian is blowing taxpayer dollars creating exhibits venerating this woman. (Senator Pat Toomey has already issued a letter blasting Google for their poor judgment.) More broadly, though, this incident should give liberal America pause.
Certainly, this publication has been on the vanguard of condemning Donald Trump, who has done and said alarming things to stir people up. But if earnest liberals wondering where this reactionary political movement may be coming from, well, take a look in the mirror. Liberal elites have spent decades unfairly discrediting opposing views to the point where the Smithsonian and arguably America's most influential corporation see nothing wrong in paying extensive tribute to an ideologue who spent her life defending mass murderers and is mistakenly regarded as a civil rights icon. And now we wonder why much of the country is tuning out those same liberal elites when they issue warnings about Donald Trump?
It’s with great pleasure that Google celebrates Yuri Kochiyama, an Asian American activist who dedicated her life to the fight for human rights and against racism and injustice. Born in California, Kochiyama spent her early twenties in a Japanese American internment camp in Arkansas during WWII. She and her family would later move to Harlem, where she became deeply involved in African American, Latino, and Asian American liberation and empowerment movements. Today's doodle by Alyssa Winans features Kochiyama taking a stand at one of her many protests and rallies.
Kochiyama left a legacy of advocacy: for peace, U.S. political prisoners, nuclear disarmament, and reparations for Japanese Americans interned during the war. She was known for her tireless intensity and compassion, and remained committed to speaking out, consciousness-raising, and taking action until her death in 2014.
Backlash- i.e. The Weekly Standard response:
On Thursday, the homepage of Google featured one of the search engine's doodles honoring the birthday of Yuri Kochiyama, a "civil rights" activist who died two years ago at age 93. After Google drew attention to Kochiyama's life, the Smithsonian highlighted the museum's "digital exhibit" honoring her. Kochiyama was one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans interned during World War II, and she spent the rest of her life speaking out against what she saw as injustice. Aside from supporting various civil rights causes, she was a big advocate for the Civil Liberties Act, legislation signed by President Reagan that approved $20,000 in reparations to the thousands of Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.
However, it's also fair to say that, her unjust internment notwithstanding, Kochiyama harbored an unacceptable degree of contempt for her country. It is appalling that Google would choose to honor her, and even more appalling the Smithsonian would spend taxpayer dollars paying tribute to her. Just to give you a flavor of how bad she was, consider this interview from 2003:
I'm glad that you are curious why I consider Osama bin Laden as one of the people that I admire. To me, he is in the category of Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba, Fidel Castro, all leaders that I admire. They had much in common. Besides being strong leaders who brought consciousness to their people, they all had severe dislike for the US government and those who held power in the US.
Bin Laden may have come from a very wealthy family, but by the time he was twenty, he came to loathe the eliteness and class conduct of his family…
…You asked, "Should freedom fighters support him?" Freedom fighters all over the world, and not just in the Muslim world, don't just support him; they revere him; they join him in battle.
…You stated that some freedom fighters responded that bin Laden's agenda is more reactionary and does not speak to the needs of the masses of people who exist under US dominance. bin Laden has been primarily fighting US dominance even when he received money from the US when he was fighting in Afghanistan. He was fighting for Islam and all people who believe in Islam, against westerners, especially the US—even when he was fighting against the Russians.
Bin Laden may have come from a very wealthy family, but by the time he was twenty, he came to loathe the eliteness and class conduct of his family…
…You asked, "Should freedom fighters support him?" Freedom fighters all over the world, and not just in the Muslim world, don't just support him; they revere him; they join him in battle.
…You stated that some freedom fighters responded that bin Laden's agenda is more reactionary and does not speak to the needs of the masses of people who exist under US dominance. bin Laden has been primarily fighting US dominance even when he received money from the US when he was fighting in Afghanistan. He was fighting for Islam and all people who believe in Islam, against westerners, especially the US—even when he was fighting against the Russians.
Giving credit where credit is due, this interview was unearthed by the left-leaning Vox, and even they are queasy about honoring Kochiyama. Aside from praising murderers such as bin Laden, Che, and Castro, Kochiyama was a full-blown Maoist who supported the South American Maoist terrorist organization the Shining Path, which has killed some 30,000 people.
Slightly less controversial, but also worth noting, Kochiyama was close to Malcom X. She was one of the few notable non-black black nationalists who was a big supporter of the Black Panthers, a group liberal America is still trying to canonize despite the inescapable facts illustrating they were a "murderous and totalitarian cult." And naturally, she was an outspoken supporter of a who's who of left-wing fugitives and criminals such as "Mumia Abu-Jamal, Angela Davis, Marilyn Buck, Assata Shakur and the Puerto Rican nationalist activists arrested after opening fire inside the U.S. House of Representatives and injuring five lawmakers in 1954."
Google should promptly apologize for honoring Kochiyama, and Congress should look into why the Smithsonian is blowing taxpayer dollars creating exhibits venerating this woman. (Senator Pat Toomey has already issued a letter blasting Google for their poor judgment.) More broadly, though, this incident should give liberal America pause.
Certainly, this publication has been on the vanguard of condemning Donald Trump, who has done and said alarming things to stir people up. But if earnest liberals wondering where this reactionary political movement may be coming from, well, take a look in the mirror. Liberal elites have spent decades unfairly discrediting opposing views to the point where the Smithsonian and arguably America's most influential corporation see nothing wrong in paying extensive tribute to an ideologue who spent her life defending mass murderers and is mistakenly regarded as a civil rights icon. And now we wonder why much of the country is tuning out those same liberal elites when they issue warnings about Donald Trump?
