Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

Americans earned two dollars per day for doing the same job! At times,they were “stoned” by the Americans. After the earthquake of 1906 in SanFrancisco, the city ordered ninety-three Japanese children to be transportedto the school that was for the Asians only. When the Japanese ambassadorUeno visited the site, he was outraged because the building was standingin the middle of nowhere, making it very hard for the children to walk tothe school. (This problem was solved when President Theodore Rooseveltintervened on behalf of the children.)In 1913 the California state government created the law to take awaythe lands owned by Japanese people. Nobuasa Makino was very concernedabout the anti-Japanese attitude of the Americans. When this idea was proposed,many delegates opposed. Makino patiently tried to persuade theseopponents one by one. When the final voting took place, the result was elevento five in favor of Makino’s proposal. This proposal would have passed, butsomething unprecedented happened. The chairman announced, “Since wehave not reached a consensus, the proposal from Japan is denied.” Makinowas outraged and asked, “Why, Mr. Chairman, we have been deciding, upto now, by majority!” The Chairman replied, “The issue as important asthis must be decided by consensus!” This chairman was none other thanPresident Wilson. At any rate, the League of Nations could not adopt theRacial Equality Proposal because of Chairman President Wilson’s ruling. 1One does not need to actively persecute others to be a racist. I was toldthat even if one experiences a mild discomfort in the presence of the peopleof another race, that could be the sign of the inner tendency towards racism.Karma of Japan and the United StatesThe re-discovery of the American continents by Christopher Columbuswas due to the fact that he wanted to reach Japan by going “west.”He was inspired by both Marco Polo and Toscanelli. Rudolf Steiner, in hislecture cycle The Reappearance of the Christ in the Etheric, mentions that beforeColumbus access to the American continent from Europe was blocked.Columbus himself “heard” the voice from heaven that he had been giventhe “key” to unlock the chain that guarded the continents. One can also saythat the Pacific access to Japan was shielded by the American continent. Itis interesting to note that the “isolation” of the American continent fromthe European world was, in a way, echoed by Japan isolating itself from theWest during the Edo era. While there were many visitors from Holland toDe-jima, “Nagasaki” in Japan during the isolation, it was the United Statesthat forced this isolation to an end in 1854. During President Fillmore’s term,Japan was visited in 1853 by Perry and in 1856 by Harris via the Pacific Ocean.289