American media empire ensures global antiblackness
Alex Webster,
Japan.
African American male English teacher abroad; lived in China, currently living in Japan.
Race does not exists, culture does
Cheri’ Chambers
China
Race is a classification system based on physical traits, such as skin color, made up in an attempt to claim superiority. We are all members of the same species whose genetic material is over 99% the same. Each group of us living in different parts of the world, exposed to different environmental conditions. This has led to unique gene pools causing the differences that were used to make up the idea of race…no more no less. Now considering the above thoughts doesn’t racism seem like the most ignorant all misconceptions in the world!
mutual communication and understanding dissolve everything
Shao Yixue
Wuhan, China
Why am I always somewhere inbetween?
Anna Catlin Baker,
Seattle, WA.
Collected from The Race Card Project, On Location: Seattle Community Colleges
I was adopted when I was 1 year(s) old from Southeastern China by a single Caucasian woman. I found out later in life that my birthparents are actually Vietnamese. I was raised “white”, American, but I look Asian. When I go out I feel that people expect certain things of me, such as, I should speak an Asian language, I should have an Asian name, I should have an accent. But I don’t speak an Asian language, I speak English; I have a very American name; I don’t have an accent. I don’t really fit into the category of ‘American’; people would say I am Asian American. But I don’t fit into the category of Asian completely either, I don’t have an Asian name, I don’t speak an Asian language, the two things connecting me to this category are my physical appearance and birth place. I am always ‘Somewhere In between’.
I adopted two girls from China!
Anonymous.
Omaha, NE
“Excuse me, what’s your nationality?”
“I’m from the U.S.”
“No,” he chuckled, “like, where are you originally from?”
“I was born and raised in the U.S.”
“You know what I mean!”
“You’re talking about ethnicity…” I offered.
“Yeah, whatever. Like, where are you really from?”
“I’m Chinese.”
“That’s what I thought!” I was looking at you and wondering if you were mixed or something.”
Silence.
“I adopted two girls from China!”
“Good for you.”
(Questions to not accost strangers with at the gym)
People in majority should experience minority.
Dennis
Searcy, AR
I know a man, a white man, who is upset lately about the possibility of the Redskins changing their name. He thinks it’s silly for Native Americans to complain about it, that they should feel honored, that he would feel honored if he were in their position. I tried explaining to him that he doesn’t understand being in their position because he never has to prove to anyone that his people aren’t a bunch of silly cartoon characters who say “-um” after every word. He responded with brief surprise at my admonition and then went on to talk to people he knew already agreed with him. Sadly, I feel this small example is representative of the state of the marketplace of ideas in our country.
I belong to the majority group in my community — I am a white Christian man in a Southern college town. My “people” have been the people in power for centuries. I have had little to no reason to feel that I was ever threatened because of my differences in color or culture, nor have I often felt that others “just don’t understand where I’m coming from” in those areas. People in the majority don’t know what it’s like to be surrounded by people who think they’re something they’re not, or who don’t want to take the trouble to learn anything beyond what they see superficially.
Two years is only a short time, but for two years I was a white man in central China, and non-Beijing, non-Shanghai China is not accustomed to diversity. Any visibly foreign person who goes to the country will be subject to staring and whispers of “waiguoren.” Sometimes I would walk down the street and young men would whistle at me and call me “beautiful young lady” because of my paleness (which is a female Chinese ideal). My Chinese coworkers thought of me at first glance as a “big shot” and snob, and some taxi drivers, seeing me and other foreigners coming, would get dollar signs in their eyes and overcharge us.
Being a white foreigner in China is still easier than being a non-white foreigner (or even a non-Chinese Asian), but the experience gave me some perspective: People living in the comfort of their own group don’t understand the complexity and value of another group’s experiences unless they invest some of their life into knowing that other group. We tend to make stupid caricatures of each other, especially when those caricatures make us feel better about ourselves. We can’t let those caricatures stand in for reality, but unfortunately most of American entertainment continues to reinforce them. Turn off the TV, get out of your own majority group (even if on a larger scale, you belong to a minority), and see for yourself how other people live, what they feel, and why they do what they do. It’s hard to do this without starting at a point where we think our ways are the best, but we’ve all got to try.
You have a cute English accent.
Angel Liu
Los Angeles, CA
I’m an international student studying in America. Since I was born and raised in China, I have an obvious accent when I speak English. People can easily guess where I come from and my ethical background is very simple. I identify who I am very clearly, but when living such a diverse ethnic nation, I’m learning to embrace other people’s multicultural identity.
No, where are you REALLY from?
Mike Chen
Chicago, IL
My wife and I were both born and raised in New York. Our parents immigrated from Asia in the 70s, and are all naturalized citizens. We speak fluent English without an accent. We have always identified ourselves as Americans.
This question comes up disappointingly often, typically asked in a few variations sequentially until it is clear how the asker wants us to respond – allowing them to categorize appropriately. Having many friends with different cultural backgrounds, I understand that this question is typically out of curiosity rather than spite, and I try my best not to conclude ignorance too quickly. However, when asked by complete strangers the translation is typically “you are foreign”.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were on the bus going to a restaurant for dinner. A white woman sat a few seats in front of us, glancing back at us and smiling. Eventually, she made her way back to us, beginning with “Ok, I have to ask you…” We knew what was coming next. “Where are you from?” she asked, like countless had asked before. I responded quickly, “New York”. She shook her head unsatisfied, “Where are you REALLY from?” My wife repeated my answer, “New York”. The woman tried again, “No, where were you born?” Getting annoyed “we were both born in New York.” And then a third try, “Ok, where were your parents born?” At this point my wife and I were in different moods on how to continue this exchange. My wife gets this question more often, even within her workplace, and responded curtly “why do you want to know?” Simultaneously, my interest was in ending this conversation as quickly as possible and gave in to what I knew the woman wanted to hear “China”. The woman’s eyes grew bright, “China!” she beamed “I’ve seen a documentary about Shanghai. It is beautiful.” This is where it should have ended… but it did not.
The woman continued to speak at us for several stops about how exotic Shanghai seemed, and how her son had taken on the noble task of traveling there to teach English (anyone who has lived abroad in Asia among English teaching expatriates will understand the humor I found in that). Finally, she asked “what’s it like over there?” My wife responded, “I don’t know – I’ve never been… You know, your questions can be taken as quite offensive. Even though we may look different than you, we are American.”
The woman responded very clearly, “No you’re not”.
Painful regret about an assumption made.
Anonymous
Ann Arbor, MI
The year was 1997. I was part of a small committee selecting MBAs for highly sought-after internships in China. I wasn’t prepared to be tested on my passionate belief that skin color doesn’t matter. But I am white. And when another white colleague said, “this candidate is African American, he might have a hard time with the racist views in China” I assumed my colleague was right. I agreed with my silence. While I no longer remember exactly, I believe the African American MBA candidate was offered an internship opportunity in a different country, like Poland. It was only a few weeks later that my passive acquiescence to a totally racist decision hit me in the face. Certainly an African-American MBA student at the University of Michigan had successfully handled racism in a wide variety of situations his entire life. Who were we, as whites sitting isolated in our meeting, to decide whether he could handle what China would dish out? Most likely, he would have been brilliant, thus helping a few Chinese people to also lose some of their racism. Instead, I was part of allowing the problem to persist. It’s a shameful memory. The only bright spot is that there is a painful scar, that now reminds me to be more watchful and outspoken against whites deciding “what’s best” for people of color. You can think it no longer happens where you live, until you do it yourself.
Yet another way to make generalizations
Carol Sacks,
Santa Barbara, CA.
My nine-year-old daughter, who is adopted from China, is reading a biography of Muhammad Ali for a book club project. Last night, she asked me what the word r-a-c-i-s-m meant. Her question, this birther nonsense, are reminders that race continues to be part of our national conversation.
