All, Having taken a look a xadmax2's piece of work, I must admit that I am not really sure whether it intends to be a reactionary racial slur or an anti-racist artistic/political statement which utilizes a racial slur to make its point. In truth I think it can be read either way. (Personally, I think it is an anti-racist statement, but art is necessarily open to disparate interpretations.) However this may be, I am dismayed at the dismissive apologetics used to excuse the piece to this point. I suspect that nakamuram's sense of outrage arises from either one of two sources: (a) the caricaturish (and thus potentially insulting) nature of the bust that xadmax2 depicts. While I find the exaggerations of the piece as obvious and deliberate (and strangely beautify in its way,) as a non-Japanese American not subject the cultural taunts and slurs of this sort, I am free to look for the artistic beauty of the piece. For it is easier to be "objective" (whatever that means) when you are not the one likely to be insulted. Secondly, I suspect that nakamuram may be insulted by the racist cultural/historical implications of conflating the terms "Jap," the historical significance of the WWII Kamikaze pilot with anyone of Japanese origin. For using the tern, "Jap" is to invoke the dark spectre of the WWII era racist hatred of the Japanese. For nakamuram has admitted his/her American heritage. Should all people of Japanese heritage be the target of such hatred? After all, several hundred thousand AMERICAN citizens were wrongfully and shamefully deprived of their libery and livelihoods by being incarcerated in American internment camps for this very racist reason. To conflate Kamikazes with all Japanese is the same as conflating Nazis with all Germans, not just in Germany, but worldwide. Who does such a thing? The insidious power of such statements comes, I think, from their being accepted as ok and taken for granted. Nakamuram, thank you for not allowing us to take it for granted. Having said this, I still think the piece is a passionate (and beautifully aggressive) anti-racist statement. But, unlike some above, I refuse to let my artistic sensibilities cause me to be blind to another human's pain. I hope others agree. I will step down now. --lb