You can edit almost every page by Creating an account. Otherwise, see the FAQ.

Baye McNeil

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki



Baye McNeil is an African-American writer living in Japan since 2004. He is a columnist for The Japan Times and has authored two self-published memoirs, Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist (2012) and Loco in Yokohama (2013).

Early life[edit]

According to his books and interview, McNeil was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he was raised by a single mother.[1] He went to a pan-Africanist school and has membership in the Five-Percent Nation, a Black nationalist movement influenced by the infamous organization Nation of Islam. [2] He once served in the U.S. Army and witnessed the events of 9/11. Baye McNeil moved to Japan in 2004. He worked as an English teacher at an eikaiwa for 3 years and then moved to Yokohama in 2008[3]

He stated in an interview that he is not currently studying Japanese as there were no "benefits" or "incentives"[4]

Career[edit]

McNeil since then has blogged extensively from his website bayemcneil.com on topics mainly about racial issues. He has a monthly column called "Black Eye" in The Japan Times since 2014[5] about issues of race and ethnicity from his viewpoint as an African American.McNeil's commentary has been sought out by some journalists. He has appeared in various media outlets, including BBC, TBS, The New York Times, The Japan Time, The Washington Post and Japan Up Close commenting on issues about race in Japan. [6][7][8][9][10]

In 2015, McNeil was involved in a successful campaign to remove a segment of a show planned to air on Fuji TV in Japan, in which Japanese bands were to perform in "blackface."[11] Later, in 2018, comedian Masatoshi Hamada appeared in blackface on Japanese television. McNeil's opposition to this was covered internationally by news outlets such as BBC, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Vox and TBS. [12][13][14] However, some Japanese people argued that "Blackface" was only considered offensive in America since they intentionally used it to mock black people back then while other countries don't have this historical context.[15] [16]

Controversy[edit]

In 2020, Baye McNeil was upset about Japanese people for not supporting the BLM protests in Japan. Many locals view this movement is not related to themselves and also it would be dangerous to the public for holding huge protests in the middle of a global pandemic outbreak. However, McNeil was angered by the fact that Japanese people are unable to feel empathized. He wrote a blog post expressing his disappointment and called the Japanese who opposed the protests "castrated". [17][18][19] His remarks quickly sparked backlash on the Japanese internet and also some foreign forums as they thought Baye was being too arrogant and entitled, who was just trying to bring his home issues to another country and enforce his value on other people. [17][20][21][22][23] Famous Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi criticized him for trying to impose his own values on Japanese people without even understanding the Japanese culture and people. [23]He later changed the word 'castrated' to 'spiritually neutered' in the English version without any explanation but still can be seen in the Japanese version.[20][17][18][19]

Reception[edit]

The American critic Kam Williams included McNeil's book in his list of "10 Best Black Books of 2012"[24]

Baye McNeil self-describe himself and his works as "The driving force of what was to become one of the most talked-about blogs around these parts, as well as one of the most respected books on expat life in Japan: “Hi My Name is Loco and I am a Racist."[25]

He has received some criticisms from Japan and aboard as many see him being too American-centric and too obsessed with races. Many argued that a lot of things which he seem as racist are often misunderstandings (since he does not speak Japanese) or cultural differences.[20][17][26][18] Japanese famous sculptor and manga artist Megumi Igarashi (ろくでなし子) openly criticized Baye McNeil for his tendency of imposing his own beliefs on Japanese people without even understand much about Japanese society and culture. [23]

Japanese Manzai 南野やじ also called out NcNeil, saying he spent almost 20 years in Japan but didn't bother to learn the language is not "Good".[27]

Books[edit]

  • Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist (Hunterfly Road Publishing, 2012) ISBN 978-0615587783 Search this book on .[28]
  • Loco in Yokohama (Hunterfly Road Publishing, 2013) ISBN 978-0615885117 Search this book on .[29]

References[edit]

  1. Ross, Steve. "Baye McNeil on writing in Japan and work as a newspaper columnist" Japan Up Close, April 5, 2019 (Set A of four sets/parts)
  2. "Nation of Islam". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  3. McNeil, Baye. (2012). Hi! My Name is Loco and I am a Racist, Brooklyn, New York: Hunterfly Road Publishing.
  4. Seeroi, Ken (2013-10-24). "Loco in Yokohama, an Interview with the Author". Japanese Rule of 7. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  5. McNeil, Baye. "Black Eye" The Japan Times
  6. Baye McNeil Interview (Index), Japan Up Close, April 5, 2019
  7. Hassan, Adeel. "What It’s Like to Be a Black Man in Japan" The New York Times, March 9, 2019
  8. Reedy, Thomas. "Meet Loco: blogger, author - and racist?" The Japan Times, August 21, 2012
  9. "The whitewashing of Japan’s Naomi Osaka was no accident" The Washington Post, January 31, 2019
  10. "Opinion | The whitewashing of Japan's Naomi Osaka was no accident". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  11. Spitzer, Kirk. "Japan TV removes 'blackface' segment on popular music show"USA Today, March 12, 2015
  12. 'Japanese TV show featuring blackface actor sparks anger"BBC, January 4, 2018
  13. McNeil, Baye. "Time for Japan to scrub off that blackface — for good" The Japan Times, January 30, 2018
  14. Sblendorio, Peter. "Comedian wearing blackface on Japanese TV show sparks backlash" New York Daily News, January 4, 2018
  15. 編集部, ABEMA TIMES. "『ガキ使』"黒塗り"に日テレ「差別の意図なし」と回答も…ハフポスト編集長「モノマネでも許されない」理由 | 国際". ABEMA TIMES. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  16. Top: LocoRoco Racist? Archived 2009-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "黒人記者「抗議デモに共感しない日本人に失望。同じ状況なら皆さんも火炎瓶を作って投げ始めるはず。去勢されてるのか?」 : はちま起稿". blog.esuteru.com. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 "黒人記者「反差別運動に共感しない日本人に失望。同じ状況なら皆さんも火炎瓶を作って投げ始めるはず」". hayabusa9.5ch.net. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  19. 19.0 19.1 "You Might Be Dead Already". bayemcneil.com. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 "黒人記者が語る「抗議デモ」と「人種主義」 | アメリカ". 東洋経済オンライン (in 日本語). 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  21. nyarbobo (2020-06-14). "A black journalist, Baye McNeil calls the Japanese "castrated."". r/kotakuinaction2. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  22. Silver_7777 (2020-06-14). "A black journalist, Baye McNeil calls the Japanese "castrated."". r/brasilivre. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 "https://twitter.com/6d745/status/1272806145183428608". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-11-28. External link in |title= (help)
  24. "Ten Best Black Books of 2012 (FEATURE)". Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  25. McNeil, Baye (2018-10-17). "The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train: 10 years on, the 'gaijin seat' still grates". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  26. "https://twitter.com/toyokeizai/status/1270923941779959815". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-10-29. External link in |title= (help)
  27. "https://twitter.com/minaminoyaji/status/1286264565500583936". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-10-29. External link in |title= (help)
  28. McNeil, Baye (2012-01-15). Hi! My Name is Loco and I Am a Racist. ISBN 978-0615587783. Search this book on
  29. McNeil, Baye (2013-09-30). Loco in Yokohama. ISBN 978-0615885117. Search this book on

External links[edit]


This article "Baye McNeil" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Baye McNeil. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.