America is the most racist place I have ever been to. Its hard to imagine but black people were only aloud to sit in the same glass room or same place in the bus from the 60s! That mentality hasn’t really changed unfortunately.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin]
“Latin (lingua Latīna, pronounced [laˈtiːna]) is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. It later evolved into such languages as French, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. It was also the international language of science and scholarship in central and western Europe until the 17th century. There are two varieties of Latin: Classical Latin, the literary dialect used in poetry and prose, and Vulgar Latin, the form of the language spoken by ordinary people. Vulgar Latin was preserved as a spoken language in much of Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire, and by the 9th century diverged into the various Romance languages.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Latin survived as the lingua franca of educated classes in the West, and this survival was reinforced by the adoption of Latin by the Catholic Church. In this milieu it survived as a mother-tongue at least into the second millennium A.D. and is referred to as Medieval Latin. The Renaissance had the paradoxical effect of briefly reinforcing the position of Latin as a spoken language, through its (re?)adoption by the Renaissance Humanists – for example the French essayist Montaigne (1533-1592) spoke Latin as his mother-tongue.[citation needed] After the 16th century, the popularity of Medieval Latin began to decline.

Latin lives on in the form of Ecclesiastical Latin used for edicts and papal bulls issued by the Catholic Church. Much Latin vocabulary is used in science, academia, and law. Classical Latin, the literary language of the late Republic and early Empire, is still taught in many primary, grammar, and secondary schools, often combined with Greek in the study of Classics, though its role has diminished since the early 20th century. The Latin alphabet, together with its modern variants such as the English, Spanish and French alphabets, is the most widely used alphabet in the world.”

So in reality, somewhere in the long line of your heritage, your indigenous mother or grandmother was raped or boned by a filthy, swarthy, hairy, smelly, un-bathed, disease ridden Spaniard. And where do all Spaniards come from? Answer: Europe. And what does Europe’s indigenous population consist of? Answer: White people. So in all reality, no matter how you shake, bake it, or baste it – every single jorge, maria, and santos in every area of the world that the Latins (French, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese) have invaded – we’re all white in some measure. So to berate, bombast, and ridicule “whites” is really just a proverbial self imposed slapping of the face and an ass-fucking of one’s self.

Just food for thought and my two cents.

GAMAN means to bear, put up with, or endure something.

I’m from northern California, but I’ve lived in Kansai for twenty years in Hirakata, Hirano, Yao, Saidaiji, Kyobashi, Senboku, Abeno, Tennouji, Shinsekai, Fuse, and Higashi Osaka, and I wouldn’t want to be any other place on earth, but so far I have yet to experience the politeness the Japanese seem to be so famous for overseas.

So-called Japanese Politeness seems to be based on Gaman and Saving Face, to the point of utter stupidity.

Why do people put up with neighborhood dogs that bark constantly?

Why do people put up with rude old men who fart, hawk up phlegm, and spit on subway platforms?

Why isn’t curfew enforced? Minors are out at all hours being mischievous and making all kinds of noise.

Every foreigner, in their own time and place in Japan, has many likes, dislikes, complaints, experiences, and tales.

I think many Japanese have good intentions, for the most part, but I don’t like the way some don’t know what to do when they find themselves in the presents of a foreigner–they laugh nervously and bow a lot, especially if they’re in a foreign country where they’re out of their group, their comfort zone, where their roles are explicitly defined for them.

I can’t help but remember when I was in Guam, when I had to practically walk the entire way back to the resort from the Japanese consulate because no taxis would stop for me. Finally, one did stop, and I asked the driver, “Is something going on today?”

The driver grunted and touched his small display of Mother Mary and the Christ Child on his dashboard.

“I just flagged about five taxis,” I continued, “but they didn’t even slow down.”

“Most driver only pick up Japanese,” the driver said. “They tip. White boy like you do not tip.”

“I tip!” I said. “I just don’t like it when you guys think you can keep ALL the change. It happened to me this morning. You guys just keep it and open the door without saying a word.”

The driver looked in his rearview mirror at me and grunted again.

“I think most Japanese can speak enough English to ask for their change, but the way you guys just keep it! They don’t want to make waves and embarrass you–that would make them very uncomfortable. They probably think you’re too stupid to figure it out!”

“What you say?” the driver said, and slowed the taxi.

“Yeah, pull over and let me out!” I said. I tossed aside a ten-dollar bill as I got out of the taxi and slammed the door. The driver flipped me his middle finger and sped off.

I walked the rest of the way back to the hotel in anger; I hated ignorant westerners and assholes that took advantage of what they considered Japanese Politeness. I thought it was, for the most part, just the lack of international skills of some Japanese, who, when out of their group that defines them to the core, have problems acting and reacting, so they rely on Saving Face and Gaman, even in their own country, which I don’t think is true politeness.

Politeness means to act in a courteous manner, but it also means to show regard for others, even if it means a few words of rectification, the act of offering an improvement to replace a fault, and not just putting up with it.