I went out to a bar last night with my friend in Oxford, Ohio and I was talking to this guy next to me about how I miss going gay clubbing. I love my gays, they're SO much fun, and.. well, I miss them. So, he starts telling me how gross and disgusting gay people are. Typical Midwest, white guy thing to say. I decide to ask him, "Why do you say that? What's gross about them?" His response, "Cause.. they like to kiss guys and stuff.."
Wooooww.. great answer! I think a 10 year old could have thought of something more clever to say. I didn't want to ruin my night nor my buzz by getting into an argument with someone so ignorant so I just stopped talking to him.
Then, as my friend and I were walking back to her place, we end up behind these drunk girls. Two of them are white and the other one is black. The black one proceeds to do a horrible imitation of what is supposed to be an Asian accent while her friends laugh about it. Little does she know that the only Asian in this state is walking right behind her. As we pass by them, and I turn around to give them a dirty look, I debate in my mind whether or not I should say something. But with alcohol in my system, I decide against it, which has now led me to regret it. I feel such pity and anger that another person of minority would degrade herself to such a low level by making fun of another minority race in order to feel accepted by her friends. Trust me, I know tons of other people who have butchered the Asian accent for laughs, but there was always an Asian person there to laugh about it too. Why was I so bothered by it this time? Is it because Ohio is such a predominantly white state that I suddenly become protective of my Asian pride? If one of her friends were Asian, would I have let it go?
I can totally relate with your frustration (and anger!). I have some friends that are great to hang out with, but I'm the token asian in the group and they seem not to realize that those little racist jokes/comments they let slip are usually more hurtful than funny.
ReplyDelete-E
Lydie! This is Sam, so while in WA I have had some interesting experiences. This one guy I went out with wanted to know about CA. And he started talking about NorCal, Central CA, and when he got to SoCal he was like "that's where all the Mexicans are..." I was like uhh, I'm Mexican. And I've had to get used to actually being a minority, I honestly have never felt uncomfortable about being Mexican, until moving here, and it's not necessarily uncomfortable just more defensive about comments people make, or even how people look at me. It's for sure a culture shock, but a big learning experience.
ReplyDelete