Well, all Blacks are loud.
That same thing happened to a friend of a friend of mine. He was at work when some random stranger walks up to him and says the exact same phrase that imbecile said to you. Another friend of a friend had her car windows busted out, a day or two after VT.
As if the racism before that incident wasn’t ugly enough.
Just because you’re black means you can’t be a redneck?
No, not as it’s commonly understood. Redneck carries geographical, cultural and racial connotations.
I’m no expert, but I don’t think the red would show through as easily.
I have to admit, I skipped a lot of the bickering and in-fighting in the thread. But I wanted to share a bit of my own experiences.
My SO is Chinese so I am a little more sensitive to it than I am even to stuff regarding my own race (E. Indian).
Racism against Asians is both subtle and very common. I’ve felt it here on the Dope, where questions about Asians are passed with no problem and the very same question about black folks is jumped on all over and no one answers it.
I tried to bring it up once but was shouted down by a couple people who said, and I paraphrase, “Asians don’t matter as much in the US because there’s so many less of you than blacks”. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that little gem.
Just the other day someone came into the office and started chatting with me and started claiming a Chinese restaurant in their community had been shut down because they were killing cats and feeding them. When I commented on the unfeasibility of doing so - the cost of catching the cats, hiding them from everybody, never being caught by the Health Department, she just looked at me blankly. Obviously the Health Department shut them down because they failed to meet some standards. I am highly dubious however that they were shut down for cats and it never even hit the local news.
Then when China took our stupid effing spy plane for months and months my SO got shit. He is a very nice guy but people turned on him. There were notes left on his car, shit left at his desk at work, it was a bad few months.
The Chinese language jokes are completely unfunny and people still think it’s OK to say them. Not to mention the whole thing with the Japanese & the letter ‘r’.
Now this thing with the shooting, and my SO is feeling the sting again.
When 9/11 happened I felt quite a bit of a sting from people who assumed I was Arabic.
And not too long ago when I went to a pizza place with my SO they were downright rude to us - first they ignored us, and helped every other white person, and when we kind of stepped forward they were just mean. Needless to say we never went there again.
As someone said, getting mad doesn’t help. And to be honest, the moment it happens it’s hard to get mad right away. First of all you’re shocked, and even a little ashamed/embarrassed. Anger only comes later. And now it only makes me sad and depressed and fairly cynical about people. And the world.
People suck. I’m a different color, the SO’s a different color, so in the eyes of some we are inferior. That is never going to change. Thankfully, there are people in the world who still have an open mind.
And now I shall get down off my soapbox.
Erm, a question, if I may. While we’re on the subject of racial ahem issues:
I’m probably one of the most curious people ever when it comes to cultures that are different from my own. My workplace is extremely diverse; I’m a part of the “Involvement Team,” and a recent study found that over 30 countries are represented on my shift alone. I really would love to inquire of some of these folks about their cultures, histories, and such. What’s the best way to go about this without seeming like I’m being a racist asshole? God, that sounds stupid reading it back to myself, but the one time I asked someone (an elderly Thai lady) about their home country, I got a withering look and a very short speech that amounted to “Why do you give a shit about ME, whitey?” I’m so uncool that I really have no clue how to ask questions without help. So any non-white or non-Americans, help a girl out, wouldja? /end hijack
She was angry because she was from Taiwan, not Thailand. Common mistake for whitey to make.
Maybe you should start a new thread with this question.
I’d first ask if the “Involvement Team” has representatives of other cultures as well. If people are aware that such a team exists, it won’t be such a WTF moment when you talk to somebody.
Second, I think you have to make it clear what you’re trying to accomplish with the IT. I think a lot of folks have seen these types of efforts before, only to have it reduced to an exhibition of what people eat for dinner in a particular culture. That’s all well and good if people know that upfront, but a lot of times people are happy to share their formative experiences, what life is like in their native country, and why they came to the States if there’s a larger point.
Good luck!
Well, that was rather rude of her.
My friends usually ask me stuff like that in the course of normal conversation (or a lot of the time I volunteer it). Like a few weeks ago we were joking about throwing one of our friends in the lake for her birthday (our department’s going on a cruise the same day) and one of them asked me about how we celebrate birthdays in Korea. Or we’ll be complaining about how early bars close around here, and someone asks me about how bars work back home. Or we’ll be discussing some local news and my friend will ask if similar stuff happens in Korea as well. Asking broad, general questions sometimes seems like an empty gesture (like when people ask me what Korean people eat - I always reply with a straight face that our diet consists entirely of rice, ramen, and kimchii) but sincere questions about specific topics will usually be met with a willingness to share.
Cheer up, things could be worse. At least nobody talks about the "Yellow Peril’ any more. (It has been supplanted by the Brown Peril.)
Interesting - do you remember where you read the article? I, a white female, get that question a lot, too.
I am so sick of the hatred I see levelled at big dumb rednecks. The victimization that they go through at the hands of people smarter than them. It’s not their fault that they were dropped or even that they huffed gas before discovering Crystal Meth, they didn’t know any better.
I hate these fucking arrogant chinks* who get all uppity when a redneck accosts them. Lording their superior math skills in the face of a lesser primate, who is lashing out because his brawn is the only thing he has over the math headed chink.
*All Asians are Chinks, not North Koreans
As long as you don’t call me a fob, we’re cool.
I’ve never, ever heard that expression until I read this thread. What’s it all about?
FOB - fresh off the boat.
Pretty ridiculous in this age of aviation.
Fresh off (the) boat, I assume.
Yeah, 'specially them there black rednecks, they’s the worstest.
Oh man you’re so edgy, it’s almost sexy. Calling people chinks in a thread about racism. It’s not ‘disrespect’, it’s ‘dazzling wit’ in your mind, right? Would you have been so apt to call me “nigger” if I was Black?
Who the fuck asked for your opinion anyway if that’s all you can offer? So tell me about the last incident of racism in your life then asshole.
This is precisely the kind of shit I am talking about. So if an Asian makes a pit thread about racism that he has personally experienced, he’s an uppity chink. Well, so much for fighting ignorance. :rolleyes:
Yup. It’s usually used among Asian Americans: “You’re such a fob!” means you are doing something “Asian” like, I dunno, eating kimchii. Or wearing certain clothes, or talking a certain way. There’s a certain tension between fobs and 2-3rd generation Asian Americans (bananas or twinkies is the term for them, I suppose).
You know, I was going to tell r4nd0mNumb3rs to lighten up, but he brings up a good point - in a thread about racism against African Americans, would anyone have said “nigger” even in jest? I tolerate a lot of mock-racist jokes from my friends, but I think someone calling me a chink might be the limits of my tolerance.