The other day, my roommate and I were talking about Japan, and the reputation of a strict Japanese work ethic, when she uttered the offense
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wow, that was a really bold comment from your roommate. there are some things you just don't joke about. one of the doctors in our department is chinese, and people make fun of him behind his back all the time because he has a different approach to his job than most doctors normally would. i don't take that as a racial offense, but what really pissed me off was when they were making fun of his last name, pronouncing it "chink" instead of "qing". i don't know if it was intentional, but i was PISSED. he and i are the only chinese people in our department, so i didn't have the courage to stand up to everyone else and bitch them out.
anyway, enough of my ranting. good for you for standing up against your roommate and also for standing up for yourself.
Personally, I don't give them the benefit of the doubt. "Chink" is a typical slur for Asians. I would be very careful of not mispronouncing a name if it was so close to sounding like a slur.
What a bunch of assholes. Tee-hee- his name is all different and funny-sounding tee-hee! But of course, the tables are completely turned when if they travel to a place in which they are a minority and they feel uncomfortable at all the people giggling at them and their "funny" name.
But they do look all the same! I can:t tell who is my students and who are the teachers i work with! and oh all the sushi, it:s like people eat it for every meal!
gah... some people. when people say all asians look the same, i just say all white people look the same.
its actually kinda strange finally living in the minority role. people always notice me wherever i go, and they never expect me to be able to speak japanese (granted my skills are not as good as they could be) but alll i have to do is mumble out konichiwa and they freak out... it:s a different type of sterotyping... one in which the white person is too dumb to speak their crazy complacated language of doom....
sometimes people who make those kind of stupid comments just have never had the stero types thrown at them. oh well.
Somehow all I heard was: "But, but it happens to white people too! WAHHH! Just let me be ignorant because EVERYONE goes through it!
While I have gotten asked what ethnicity I am by tons of creepy dudes who think Italian women are "exotic", in my experience Italians these days rarely get negatively steriotyped, and not viewed as monolithic in the way that non-white minorities are. People who pull that it could happen to me because I'm Italian are full of shit in my opinion.
And really, how hard is it to apologize for racial insensitivity? Why do people have to justify it when called? Your roommate would look a lot less racist if she just apologized. White privilege makes it tough, I'll give her that, but feeling guilty and trying to justify it doesn't ratify the situation. Its really much bigger to admit that in our culture you have probably aquired some racist ideas and need to work through them.
That's what I heard too, but I didn't want to presume the Italian-American experience as I can only speak for myself.
Italians have a similar history to the Irish in this country, in that they were feared and chastised once upon a time for being all Catholic and stuff. Except the Italians tended to be a little darker, and we all know that the darker you are, the scarier you are! But eventually they got accepted into the "white" category and now enjoy the benefits of white privilege. (Not that you need to know, but I thought the link could be useful to readers in general.)
At least, this is what I know to be true with my friends of Italian heritage.
I get a little anxious about calling white people out on the whole racial sensitivity thing because I don't want to be thought of as the "angry minority"(although I would be justified) with "reverse racism" (*eyeroll*) and go through another Tara experience of misplaced white guilt.
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anyway, enough of my ranting. good for you for standing up against your roommate and also for standing up for yourself.
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What a bunch of assholes. Tee-hee- his name is all different and funny-sounding tee-hee! But of course, the tables are completely turned when if they travel to a place in which they are a minority and they feel uncomfortable at all the people giggling at them and their "funny" name.
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gah... some people. when people say all asians look the same, i just say all white people look the same.
its actually kinda strange finally living in the minority role. people always notice me wherever i go, and they never expect me to be able to speak japanese (granted my skills are not as good as they could be) but alll i have to do is mumble out konichiwa and they freak out... it:s a different type of sterotyping... one in which the white person is too dumb to speak their crazy complacated language of doom....
sometimes people who make those kind of stupid comments just have never had the stero types thrown at them. oh well.
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Exactly. They don't see their privilege until it's taken away from them.
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While I have gotten asked what ethnicity I am by tons of creepy dudes who think Italian women are "exotic", in my experience Italians these days rarely get negatively steriotyped, and not viewed as monolithic in the way that non-white minorities are. People who pull that it could happen to me because I'm Italian are full of shit in my opinion.
And really, how hard is it to apologize for racial insensitivity? Why do people have to justify it when called? Your roommate would look a lot less racist if she just apologized. White privilege makes it tough, I'll give her that, but feeling guilty and trying to justify it doesn't ratify the situation. Its really much bigger to admit that in our culture you have probably aquired some racist ideas and need to work through them.
Racial Sensitivity. Ur doin it wrong.
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Italians have a similar history to the Irish in this country, in that they were feared and chastised once upon a time for being all Catholic and stuff. Except the Italians tended to be a little darker, and we all know that the darker you are, the scarier you are! But eventually they got accepted into the "white" category and now enjoy the benefits of white privilege. (Not that you need to know, but I thought the link could be useful to readers in general.)
At least, this is what I know to be true with my friends of Italian heritage.
I get a little anxious about calling white people out on the whole racial sensitivity thing because I don't want to be thought of as the "angry minority"(although I would be justified) with "reverse racism" (*eyeroll*) and go through another Tara experience of misplaced white guilt.
Reply
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