Wow, that was racist

[bisonbison]

KC - if N. Korea launches a nuke, I will actually drive above the speed limit to get to Canada as quickly as possible.

Stopping every 2 hours for an impromptu nuclear dog barbecue.

Thank god you packed the kimchee!

[fmxda]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So racism against Asian-Americans isn't as bad because they haven't endured as much discrimination and prejudice as other ethnic groups?

Are the historical examples of
Japanese internment
the Chinese Exclusion Act
popular newspapers writing about the "yellow peril"
racially inspired murders of and riots against Asian-American immigrants throughout the 150 year-plus history of their immigration
the Immigration Act of 1924
the Los Angeles Massacre
and countless other events not racist enough?

Applying the standards set forth in this thread, if you weren't familiar with all of these, maybe you're too ignorant to be commenting on whether something is racist towards Asian-Americans?

[/ QUOTE ]


Who is saying this? I think you are completely missing the point.

[/ QUOTE ]
Here are some quotes which do not seem to recognize the discrimination and racism that Asians have faced in America:
[ QUOTE ]
I think it's because they get to shelter under the large umbrella of American whiteness. Most of the time, they are not singled out on sight for belonging to a separate ethnicity in the US. Ask an Irishman in the UK how he feels about Irish drinking and potato famine jokes. I bet you get a different response.

edit: in other words. i think cultural context and history and recent assimilation vs older assimilation makes a huge difference.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

As an aside, I think a lot of racist undertones are let slide when they're directed at asians.

[/ QUOTE ]

what about the irish. why don't they get pissed when people make drunk jokes or make light of the potato famine? i think it's because they don't have anyone telling them they should be offended. is it because irish isn't a race? if so, why isn't it? race sucks

[/ QUOTE ]


Bingo. Races/cultures that arent discriminated against in a broad sense in teh US (irish, asians, italians, polish) bitch abotu a lot of stupid stuff. Some people are REALLY discrinated against, some people just have to deal with stupid people bowing to them, or in teh pollacks case a few screw in the lightbulb jokes, but there is a difference, one group has a legitamte gripe, one group looks uptight.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I read a pretty solid piece involving race recently (specifically it was about language and focused on the word "niggardly"), and in it the author stated (paraphrasing here): "When it comes to minorities, there's black, then there's everyone else." Sure it's a broad stroke, but it's true. Yes, there are some gross large scale incidents in our country's past and daily snide, ignorant remarks, but they don't hold a candle to slavery and segregation. And as far as immigrants go, Asian populations have faired pretty well.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't think it's very much of a secret that in America, white/black discrimination is the biggest deal in terms of public perception and history. I'm sure we could find numerous types of discrimination that go on worldwide that, without the appropriate cultural context, wouldn't make a goddamn lick of sense. (EDIT: In other words, depending on where you are, not all flavors of racism are going to provoke the same reaction.)

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I still dong get this. Ive never met anyone racist against asians, I mean wtf, other than maybe some old guys who hate the japanese because of WW2, Ive never heard anyone who is a blatant racist against asians. I view being "racist" against asians on par with being racist against italians, or the irish...its like it doesnt even matter.

[/ QUOTE ]

[guids]

The only thing I got out of those quotes, is that IN PRESENT DAY AMERICA, you cant compare racism towards asians w/ that of other minorities such as blacks. What happened historically, I dont think is really the point of anyones argument, or has too much to do with the discussion. Maybe before you call people ignorant, you need to re-read some of the posts. I can list about 10 times more oppressions that have befallen the Italians in America, but it has NO BEARING ON WHAT IS HAPPENEING IN 2007.

[fmxda]

So racism comes out of nowhere in a vacuum? I think the context of why Asian-Americans feel discriminated against is pretty relevant to the discussion.

I am largely ignorant of Italian-American history so I wouldn't consider my opinion an informed commentary on the degree of racism against them. All I probably could do is make some generalization from my own limited experiences, which is what most of the people in this thread are doing.

No one would take anyone talking about racism against blacks seriously at all if they talked about just their personal experiences and were ignorant of the important events in racism against African-Americans... I don't see the difference here.

I'm not trying to belittle the discrimination experienced by other groups by any means, I just feel like familiarity of a group's history is a hugely important factor about racism in 2007, because you'd never take slavery out of the discussion if you were talking about current racism against blacks.

[kidcolin]

fmxda's left apple is racist.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
So racism comes out of nowhere in a vacuum? I think the context of why Asian-Americans feel discriminated against is pretty relevant to the discussion.

I am largely ignorant of Italian-American history so I wouldn't consider my opinion an informed commentary on the degree of racism against them. All I probably could do is make some generalization from my own limited experiences, which is what most of the people in this thread are doing.

No one would take anyone talking about racism against blacks seriously at all if they talked about just their personal experiences and were ignorant of the important events in racism against African-Americans... I don't see the difference here.

I'm not trying to belittle the discrimination experienced by other groups by any means, I just feel like familiarity of a group's history is a hugely important factor about racism in 2007, because you'd never take slavery out of the discussion if you were talking about current racism against blacks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya, I think it really has nothing to do with the discussion.
Id wager that 99.99999% of any racism against asians is solely becuase they look different, and is all "ching chongy" stuff as you guys put it, and not becuase of teh Immigration Act of 1924, basically people who are too stupid to even know the history and just see someone that looks different. Its fairly similar w/ blacks imo, but there is probably a higher percentage of racists that are "the south will rise again", etc.

[2/325Falcon]

Why do the apples have to be green? Racist against the Irish, obv.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]

I'm not trying to belittle the discrimination experienced by other groups by any means, I just feel like familiarity of a group's history is a hugely important factor about racism in 2007, because you'd never take slavery out of the discussion if you were talking about current racism against blacks.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of discussions of racism are precisely about whether history matters, so insisting it does as a precondition to further discussion is basically bowing out of the discussion before it has even begun. It might feel good or righteous, but it brings nothing to the table and is no accomplishment.

And by the time one has refused to participate, it is too late to set the terms upon which others can be allowed to join the discussion.

[A_C_Slater]

Damn I wish I had come across this thread sooner, but you should have challenged her to a game of Starcraft. There, haha, hope no one thought of that one yet.

[Silent A]

[ QUOTE ]
Silent,

I'm actually from where much of the oppression began: south eastern MA. My hometown was where King Philip's War started. But you're right, there isn't much of a native population, if any.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is pretty much what I expected given your avatar (Red Sox).

[ QUOTE ]
First of all, it's not a national scale issue. Secondly, when you see corporate ads laced with diversity, you don't tend to see Native Americans represented. You see blacks, whites, asians, latinos, etc, in various combinations of gender. The Native American issue is just different entirely. ... But when race and diversity is talked about on a large scale in the US, seldom are Native Americans included in the debate.

[/ QUOTE ]

You realize that this is 100% consistent with massive racism, right? Not of the in your face variety, but the more subtle behind-the-scenes/structural variety that results in natives having by far the lowest quality of life of any North American population. Makes the modern black experience look tame in comparison.

But debating about who suffers more is silly. I just want to point out that the Native population is really hard done by.