"Your country lost the war."

I was making returns at a local outdoor shopping mall with my teenager. She typically waits for me outside the store in an area that has frequent foot traffic. While I was in the store a woman approached her, noting my teen's presence. The woman proceeded to state, "Your country lost the war; you are not culturally superior.” I had been in the store for 10-15 minutes when my teen came into the store, looking stricken and shocked.

My teen noted that the woman was walking a dog, carrying a loud clicking device and was followed by a man with a clipboard. Because of the strange scenario around this biased individual, my teen quickly left without exchanging any comments.

What is ironic is that my teen was considered to be Japanese (hence the reference to losing "the war") yet her great grandfather fought against the Japanese on behalf of the US military. My teen was not wearing any flags, slogans or images that would suggest that she is Japanese. We aren't Japanese. Many of our family members have served in the US military and/or continue to serve. This incident happened Memorial Day weekend, 2021.