With all the Cowboys fans and haters around here, I'm surprised this hasn't been posted... IRVING, Texas -- Bill Parcells apologized Monday for calling the surprise plays used in practice "Jap plays," saying the remark was inappropriate. The Dallas Cowboys coach was talking to reporters at the team's minicamp about how his quarterbacks coach and defensive coordinator try to outdo each other when he made the comment, perhaps a reference to Japan's 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. "You've got to keep an eye on those two, because they're going to try to get the upper hand," Parcells said about quarterbacks coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. "Mike wants the defense to do well, and Sean, he's going to have a few ... no disrespect for the Orientals, but what we call Jap plays. OK. Surprise things." After a murmur in the room of reporters, which included a Japanese journalist, Parcells repeated, "No disrespect to anyone." "Bill Parcells is a brilliant coach," John Tateishi of the Japanese-American Citizen's League, a national civil rights group told DallasNews.com. "Unfortunately, he is ignorant about racial slurs. I take great offense by what he said. Parcells ought to know better. He sorely needs more education on what is offensive and non-offensive to Japanese-Americans. I am shocked that he would say this." Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple apologized on behalf of the organization, and Parcells later issued a statement. "Today during my news conference I made a very inappropriate reference, and although I prefaced it with the remark, 'no disrespect to anyone intended,' it was still uncalled for and inconsiderate. For that I apologize to anyone who may have been offended," he said. Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple said the "organization apologizes to anyone who may have been offended." Akira Kuboshima, editor of American Football Magazine in Japan, said he wasn't offended, though he knows many Japanese will be. "There is a lot of chance for someone to feel offended," Kuboshima said. "To me, it was no big deal." Parcells spoke to Kuboshima, offering what the reporter perceived to be an apology. Kuboshima said he was surprised more by the reaction of other reporters than the comment. That comment was only part of Parcells' 45-minute session with reporters, in which he also talked about the team's quarterback competition, players at several positions and some of the new additions. He said he isn't going to be as patient in his second season with the Cowboys. After three straight 5-11 seasons, the Cowboys went 10-6 and reached the playoffs in their first year under Parcells. Still, he expects better in 2004. "That doesn't mean we'll win more games," Parcells said. "That just means I think from head to toe that we have a chance to be better. I really believe that." Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who had two of his Pro Bowl seasons for Parcells while with the New York Jets, came to Dallas in a trade with Tampa Bay. Vinny Testaverde was reunited with his old coach last week, leaving the Jets as a free agent. The 40-year-old quarterback will compete for the starting job with incumbent Quincy Carter and serve as a mentor to Drew Henson, who was added this spring after he quit professional baseball. "These guys that were here last year, they've already bought into it. From that alone, we'll be a better team," running back Richie Anderson said. "We already know what to expect. He's not going to allow certain things to happen or go on."
http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78324 Shouldn't this go in the "breast" thread? I mean, Parcells man-boobs are bigger than a lot of women's I've seen.
Right, the "racial slur" was such an issue, espn switches to talking about the cowboy's upcoming season mid-article.
He said something stupid. He apologized. By the way...is Japanese a race, or is it a country of origin? Or both? Is what he said like calling somebody a Yankee, or a "Yank" from America, or is it like using the N-word? just curious.
Country of origin. I'm Japanese, even though my father is American, because my mother is from there and I was born there and lived for the first six years of life there. I'm not offended, because who cares about that sort of thing except for the heart-on-their-sleeve crowd who are looking to take offense.....at something.
So technically, its not a racial slur. Its like calling somebody a "Yank" or a "Brit." One might be offended I guess. Just not a good idea to touch on stuff like that in a press conference. If you have to preface something by saying "no offense" then its usually better to just not say it. Probably poor taste more than racial insensitivity. He gets it from the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, so saying a surprise play is like that probably would offend family members of those who died at Pearl Harbor more than anything.
Exactly. It is no different than calling someone a Nip or a Yank. But I guess people are going to howl for his apology, like that does any good either way.
I think where he really screwed up was starting the comment off by saying “no offense to the orientals”. I think using the term 'nip' is generally considered offensive these days, but it's just short Nipponese. I guess that's at least as bad as calling someone 'Yank' below the Mason-Dixon... But lets not beat a dead horse ~ he said he was sorry.
Technically, "Jap" was and maybe is considered by some to be a racial slur. This was historically true during the WWII when the US government placed the Japanese-Americans into the internment camps. It is similar to calling a Chinese person "ch*nk." Basically early on in Asian-American history (early 20th century up until probably 50s or so), it was a problem. It is probably considered less so for a lot of reason. A main one might be that Japanese from Japan have really never heard it used as a racial slur (except briefly during the 80s) and that recent immigration to US has really slowed since WWII with most Japanese-American families being thoroughly integrated into the American culture - fifth, sixth generation families. (Japanese-Americans now constitute a smaller portion than it once did). Just my thoughts from a Japanese person born in Japan, raised in Texas, and living in the US now. Anyway, I tend to think it's not a big deal, but I can understand if some people do get upset. Of course it is about the Cowboys, and I can find a lot of other reasons to not like them
What do the Japanese teach about WWII? I'm just curious how you speak about the U.S., the bombing, and your leadership in Japan? I wonder the same thing about Germany? Are those countries embarassed about their past?
I can tell you from first hand, reading Japanese history textbooks that were authorized by the Japanese Ministry of Education during the 1980s that WWII is heavily glossed over. For example in a typical Japanese middle-school history class. they would spend several months talking about the great Meiji period (leading right up to the opening of Japan to the West, and the "modernization of Japan."), the great victory of the Russo-Japanese War that led to Japan being stamped as a world power, and then all of a sudden no time to talk about the last 50 years. Admittedly, Japanese history is MUCH longer than US history, but still there is only a brief mention of Pearl Harbor, a brief mention of the atomic bombs, but that really is about it. Recent history books might be different than the ones I used. It is very sad and very unfortunate. This irks me a lot. The country, Japan, has a very "that was in the past, we want to move forwards, truce" kind of outlook. This of course understandably makes a lot of other countries around Asia such as China and Korea very upset. The one good thing that came about this thinking is that a vast majority of Japanese people are VERY pacifist and are heavily anti-war to the extreme (we don't ever want to go to war again - of course that could be due to the atomic bombs, and the burning down of Tokyo in WWII - which incidentally killed more people than either atomic bombs). This is changing somewhat with the younger population, but I would say that Japan becoming a large military power right now is still pretty hard to fathom (even though the economy is the 2nd strongest in the world next to the US). That being said the issue is different and distinct if you are talking about Japanese-Americans, who are American citizens but are of Japanese descent. I think "Japs" could be quite offensive to some members of that population of people and their families who may experienced this (i.e., due to history of racial discrimination in this country). However, this group outside of the West Coast and Hawaii is quite small. The two issues (Japanese versus Japanese-American) are separate (linked to some degree but nonetheless separate), and that is what people have to understand. To be honest, I have not heard the term "Japs" used very often since the 1980s when US and Japan had their large economic battle of sorts. Anyway sorry for getting long-winded on the soap box there.
Actually mishii, "I want to thank you! Please... thank yo-ou!" (sorry, that is the worst inside joke ever).* Anyway, seriously, no need to apologize for a fascinating post that offers us something different here. I'm sure you know this better than I do. But our fire-bombing campaign against Japan apparently encompassed far more than Tokyo. I didn't know this until recently, but the recent film "The Fog of War" goes through the statistics of that bombing campaign and they are beyond comprehension. I am not "hating America" here, and I know it was a war, but the civilian casualties were just really insane. I won't even go into my feelings about the atomic bombs, which I've posted on this BBS before. I am just really impressed that our two nations have the current relationship we do. *But honestly, I've always wanted to ask this. Did Styx's "Mr_Roboto" ever catch on in Japan?
