Explaining the uniqueness of black trucks in the classroom

A junior high school student asked me if there were anything like black nationalist trucks in my hometown. I wasn’t sure how to answer the question, so I pretended not to understand and moved on to the next activity.

What could I have said?

12 comments
  1. Nothing. Unless you are in a university teaching ethics and are qualified to do so, you don’t have the knowledge or cultural understanding to approach the subject. Attempting to educate someone about those kinds of things without the proper training and education can and will likely get you in some deep muck without even knowing it.

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    The truth about the trucks is they are not breaking any laws. What they are saying isn’t nice or good but they do have the legal right to do what they are doing.

  2. “In every country, there are angry people who are noisy. They think cheering for their country will make them happy. Maybe that’s true. But you can love your country without hating people from every other country. If you can’t cheer without hate, I think you’ll never be happy.”

    …or just, “no,” assuming that’s true. (Or even if it’s not, you can lie. I’m not your mom.)

  3. > What could I have said?

    The truth?

    If there are any, yes, there are. Or if there aren’t, no, there aren’t.

  4. Just say “No.” They asked if there are any uyoku dantai noise trucks in your hometown, you can answer with the truth and say “no” and then move on.

    It’s not on you, a foreigner, to put something in someone’s own country into context. No offense, but there’s not a lot of wisdom you can impart besides stating the truth about your hometown. He probably knows they’re clowns anyway. The groups who run those trucks are almost universally considered losers in Japan, even by other right-wingers. They’re annoying, but they’re operating legally most the time.

    Edit: I wonder what would happen if a black truck got caught behind a [Vanilla truck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow6Q0zRa4Xw) in a traffic jam? Who would win in noisiness? Prostitution or nationalism?

  5. I read this and the first image that came to mind were Black Hebrew Israelites in a truck with a megaphone calling white people cave bitches. Gave me a good laugh.

  6. We don’t have black trucks here in Philly but we do have a group of people that go on college campuses and preach their “unique” way of life. I’d say it’s a similar concept, a different way of doing it.

  7. Uhhh, I would have said that we don’t have trucks that drive around, but we certainly have people that have similar ideas. I teach at university, and I aim to encourage questions like this. Even at JHS, I see no harm in answering a factual question from a student.

  8. There’s a Japanese dude in Mie who walks around in full Nazi officer uniform…saw him coming down the escalator at Aeon and couldn’t freaking believe it. He didn’t wear an expression of gregariousness.

  9. In ‘Murca it’s a lifted F350 diesel pickup with Confederate war flags and a Let‘s Go Brandon bumper sticker

  10. I’d explain we have fascist losers in our country as well, but they don’t usually drive around in all-black clown cars.

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