Captain America Vs. Toyota; Protesters Rally Against Closing of Nummi Plant

In April Toyota will be closing one of it's manufacturing plants, the Nummi plant in Fremont, CA. Over 4,000 people will be out of work on April Fool's Day. The Nummi plant is a joint venture with GM and is the only Toyota plant in the United States that is unionized, the plant closure was precipitated by GM pulling out of the plant after their bankruptcy.  The UAW (United Auto Workers) has been protesting the closure since it was announced and is promising a giant boycott of Toyota, among other things.

The UAW recently had a rally in which workers showed up to protest the closure, in attendance was one Captain America.

Cap was there holding his shield and a protest sign urging Toyota to keep the plant open. A sign of the US worker and his strength perhaps, not sure. Here's what I do know, using Captain America as your symbol of protest against a Japanese company is either stupid or racist or both since the good Captain earned his super-hero bones battling Japanese during World War II. Comic book covers like this one were the norm during the period.

I understand the frustration about the plant closing and people losing jobs in an economy where new jobs are not easy to come by, but that doesn't mean a little common sense isn't in order. I think this was just kind of a dumb move by a union which doesn't hesitate to play the nationalist card whenever it can. I think it's counter-productive and not likely to make Toyota rethink it's positions.