Japan: Enough Smarts to Go Around

As a civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson achieved his greatest gains -- and publicity -- through boycotts of consumer products whose makers discriminate against minorities. Now Jackson has taken his campaign to Japan, whose auto and electronics corporations not only export to the U.S. but are a growing presence in American manufacturing. At rallies and press conferences during his five-day visit, Jackson attacked Japanese firms for ignoring minorities. He asserted that blacks in the U.S. own some 2 million Japanese cars but have fewer than five dealerships nationwide. If Japan's businesses do not enter into a "mutually respectful and beneficial relationship" with blacks, Hispanics and women, he told the top officials of Toyota, Sony and other companies, they too may face boycotts. Said Jackson: "I am here to announce that we have enough intelligence to support people who support us."

The reference to intelligence was clearly a jab at Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, with whom Jackson met for 45 minutes. Nakasone's infamous remarks last September about intelligence levels in the U.S. being lower than Japan's because of black and Hispanic Americans set off a stormy flap that in Jackson's words "will not go back in the box."