Add “Marxist extremist” “Islamic radical” and “murderer sympathizer” to the list of controversial people Google finds worthy of celebrating. The major tech company and search engine decided to use yesterday’s “doodle” to honor Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese-American radical who converted to Islam and considered terrorists and cop-killers her heroes. Google’s post solidifies the company’s stance of promoting radical leftist icons and ideas while scorning mainstream and traditional American heroes and holidays.
On May 19, to celebrate her would-be 95th birthday, Google put up an illustration of Kochiyama holding a mic in front of protesters holding up signs that read “Equality.” If Google’s point was to celebrate Kochiyama as simply a civil rights activist, they were completely misrepresenting just how radical she was.
On the list of people Kochiyama said that she admired: Osama Bin Laden, Mao Zedong, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara, and convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. She was close, personal friends with Malcolm X. Beyond that she was an outspoken advocate of violent, Marxist terrorist groups around the world and clearly didn’t mind the disastrous and deadly regimes and terrorism orchestrated by many of the people above.
In 2003, Kochiyama told the radical newspaper The Objector, “I consider Osama bin Laden as one of the people that I admire. To me, he is in the category of Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba, Fidel Castro, all leaders that I admire."
So Google apparently considers such a woman who admires mass-murdering dictators, worthy of honor.
Conveniently, Google’s post on their choice didn’t mention any of this.
Instead, Google’s post read:
It’s with great pleasure that Google celebrates Yuri Kochiyama, an Asian American activist who dedicated her life to the fight for human rights and against racism and injustice. Born in California, Kochiyama spent her early twenties in a Japanese American internment camp in Arkansas during WWII. She and her family would later move to Harlem, where she became deeply involved in African American, Latino, and Asian American liberation and empowerment movements. Today's doodle by Alyssa Winans features Kochiyama taking a stand at one of her many protests and rallies.
Kochiyama left a legacy of advocacy: for peace, U.S. political prisoners, nuclear disarmament, and reparations for Japanese Americans interned during the war. She was known for her tireless intensity and compassion, and remained committed to speaking out, consciousness-raising, and taking action until her death in 2014.
The really rich part of this post is Google’s characterization of Kochiyama as as advocate for “human rights.” Yes, someone who fought for terrorist causes and advocated for regimes that murdered and raped millions of people sounds like someone who has a strong grasp of “human rights.”
This is even worse when you remember about who Google conveniently leaves out of their Google Doodles each year.
Here at Newsbusters we noted and when Google defended it’s repeated omission of Easter, Christianity’s most important holiday, not just here but globally. Or how about when Google “forgot” to honor Ronald Reagan on his 100th birthday.
