4 ms·

Segregation is often self-imposed. As an Asian-American, I often can't relate with white people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This star

Segregation is often self-imposed. As an Asian-American, I often can't relate with white people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This started from a young age (what is allowance? what is getting grounded? hobbies?) and although I have many close white friends, on a whole they are the minority in my friend groups. The only way this segregation has to do with race is that stereotypes are exactly that, true for a distribution. Another way to say this is that people I end up relating well with tend to come from the same experiences (namely that of growing up Asian-American). In addition, I'm often super surprised at these comments. The US is many orders of magnitude less accepting of racism than Europe. Europeans on the whole speak freely of their negative opinions of Muslims and gypsies. In the US, any comment mentioning race carries immediately with it a negative connotation. This is exactly why it is the breadstuff of comedians. There is no humor in something that is simply accepted as "truth" as much of European racism is. I hate speaking anecdotally, but just as a credit to my experience with racism in Europe as an Asian-American, my time there was filled with experiences ranging from ignorance to aggressive defensiveness. Most of this can be explained away as just inexperience due to Europe's immense racial homogeneity. Often they would treat me as a fob which was an acceptable assumption. But this just goes to show how behind Europe is in the racial conversation (they don't even have racial experiences!)

random_32467 11y ago
>I often can't relate with white people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This started from a young age (what is allowance? what is getting grounded? hobbies?) and although I have many close white friends, on a whole they are the minority in my friend groups. Interesting. Do you personally think that if a white person were to express similar sentiments, he would be guilty of racism?
- aznpwnzor 11y ago
  I'm trying to construct the similar sentiments you are asking me to. Let me know if this is correct. > I often can't relate with asian people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This started from a young age (why is there chinese school on saturday? what is discipline by disappointment? no privacy?) and although I have many close asian friends, on a whole they are the minority in my friend groups. I'm not sure why I would think that is racist.
  - eric-hu 11y ago
    Those strike me as understandable sentiments, but I do think they are racist. Are they bigoted? No. Racist? Yes. Such sentiments try to extrapolate information on a group of people based off of a non-random sampling. There's bias introduced by the geography of one's life, if nothing else.
    - aznpwnzor 11y ago
      Racism by definition requires some generalization, however the generality of statements or beliefs do not racism make.
  - random_32467 11y ago
    Yes, you've captured the sentiment.
    - aznpwnzor 11y ago
      In which case, I don't think it's racist, though I can see how a white person would be sensitive and worried that it is racist.
  - klipt 11y ago
    > I'm not sure why I would think that is racist. Well educated white people tend to be more sensitive to things seeming racist, because they really don't want to seem racist. Hence the idea of political correctness (PC). I get the impression that Asians in Asia don't care as much about being PC as white people in America. But that difference - like the differences you mention - isn't racial, it's cultural. The culture just happens to correlate with the race. > why is there chinese school on saturday? There are plenty of white minorities that would identify with this. E.g. Jews have Hebrew school, Greeks have Greek school. Have you seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding?
    - aznpwnzor 11y ago
      > But that difference - like the differences you mention - isn't racial, it's cultural. The culture just happens to correlate with the race. That was exactly my point. But because they correlate with race, they get imposed upon you and associated with you even beyond what culture brings. > There are plenty of white minorities that would identify with this. Part of this must take into account how Jews and Greeks were not considered 'white' for centuries. Furthermore, it also speaks to how I don't even know exactly why the average white person implicitly doesn't understand me.
chiaro 11y ago
It's strange. I'd echo the sentiments expressed in the parent about the UK when it comes to Australia, too. Seems like people identify with their race before their nationality in the US. We don't have "African-Australians" or "Asian-Australians" here. Everyone is just Australian.
- deleted 11y ago
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random_32467 11y ago

>I often can't relate with white people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This started from a young age (what is allowance? what is getting grounded? hobbies?) and although I have many close white friends, on a whole they are the minority in my friend groups. Interesting. Do you personally think that if a white person were to express similar sentiments, he would be guilty of racism?

aznpwnzor 11y ago
I'm trying to construct the similar sentiments you are asking me to. Let me know if this is correct. > I often can't relate with asian people. What they worry about and enjoy do nothing for me. This started from a young age (why is there chinese school on saturday? what is discipline by disappointment? no privacy?) and although I have many close asian friends, on a whole they are the minority in my friend groups. I'm not sure why I would think that is racist.
- eric-hu 11y ago
  Those strike me as understandable sentiments, but I do think they are racist. Are they bigoted? No. Racist? Yes. Such sentiments try to extrapolate information on a group of people based off of a non-random sampling. There's bias introduced by the geography of one's life, if nothing else.
  - aznpwnzor 11y ago
    Racism by definition requires some generalization, however the generality of statements or beliefs do not racism make.
- random_32467 11y ago
  Yes, you've captured the sentiment.
  - aznpwnzor 11y ago
    In which case, I don't think it's racist, though I can see how a white person would be sensitive and worried that it is racist.
- klipt 11y ago
  > I'm not sure why I would think that is racist. Well educated white people tend to be more sensitive to things seeming racist, because they really don't want to seem racist. Hence the idea of political correctness (PC). I get the impression that Asians in Asia don't care as much about being PC as white people in America. But that difference - like the differences you mention - isn't racial, it's cultural. The culture just happens to correlate with the race. > why is there chinese school on saturday? There are plenty of white minorities that would identify with this. E.g. Jews have Hebrew school, Greeks have Greek school. Have you seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding?
  - aznpwnzor 11y ago
    > But that difference - like the differences you mention - isn't racial, it's cultural. The culture just happens to correlate with the race. That was exactly my point. But because they correlate with race, they get imposed upon you and associated with you even beyond what culture brings. > There are plenty of white minorities that would identify with this. Part of this must take into account how Jews and Greeks were not considered 'white' for centuries. Furthermore, it also speaks to how I don't even know exactly why the average white person implicitly doesn't understand me.

chiaro 11y ago

It's strange. I'd echo the sentiments expressed in the parent about the UK when it comes to Australia, too. Seems like people identify with their race before their nationality in the US. We don't have "African-Australians" or "Asian-Australians" here. Everyone is just Australian.

deleted 11y ago
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