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I'm sorry that my paltry life only offers anecdotes from college cheating instead of multinational corporate espionage, please forgive me. /s But to make an acc

by dgzl 8y ago

I'm sorry that my paltry life only offers anecdotes from college cheating instead of multinational corporate espionage, please forgive me. /s But to make an accusation of racism based on sharing a true story is very naive. In fact, you calling me out and saying that I'm "less" is more bigoted than anything I've said. You're literally claiming superiority over me, and all I've done is told a true story.

ahelwer 8y ago
The choice of what to communicate in a public forum is, itself, a form of communication. This is obvious to everyone with a working social sense. People don't just tell random anecdotes apropos of nothing. Here, you're telling the anecdote because you wanted to establish that there is a culture of dishonesty among Chinese people, isn't that right?
- dgzl 8y ago
  Establishing the culture of dishonesty among the entire Chinese population isn't even remotely my job or prerogative, but if I have stories of systemic cheating within some of the Chinese culture at my University, then that seems reasonably apropos. I suppose you think I should just pretend like my experiences didn't happen, and not mention it to anyone? I never said the Chinese people as a whole are one way or another, and I'm taking offense to these unwarranted accusations.
  - ahelwer 8y ago
    You walking back the obvious implications of your anecdote makes it even worse. Now it's not even some wider Chinese cultural trait linking the students and the executive, just their ethnicity. Stop digging. Nobody is asking you to pretend your experiences didn't happen. However, people usually only include details in a story if they are relevant. Here, you're including (and emphasizing, by virtue of where you posted the story) the detail that the students are Chinese, which by implication is relevant to your story. It's fine to have these sorts of biases against other ethnicities early in your life. I did. Honestly, it would be a miracle if you didn't, because overwhelming messaging in media and society (by stories such as yours) tells us these biases are justified and important. Nobody is born with fully-developed political opinions. Just take this opportunity to recognize a bias in yourself and move beyond it.
  - jessaustin 8y ago
    You're easily offended, but not because anything unfair has been written about you. Your experience is important to you but not to this thread. If you had tried to enlighten a discussion of e.g. an African-American executive at a tech firm with a similarly bizarre anecdote, you would have gotten far more complaints. The excuse you've given here, "I just haven't known many black people!", wouldn't count for much either.

by dgzl 8y ago

ahelwer 8y ago

The choice of what to communicate in a public forum is, itself, a form of communication. This is obvious to everyone with a working social sense. People don't just tell random anecdotes apropos of nothing. Here, you're telling the anecdote because you wanted to establish that there is a culture of dishonesty among Chinese people, isn't that right?

dgzl 8y ago
Establishing the culture of dishonesty among the entire Chinese population isn't even remotely my job or prerogative, but if I have stories of systemic cheating within some of the Chinese culture at my University, then that seems reasonably apropos. I suppose you think I should just pretend like my experiences didn't happen, and not mention it to anyone? I never said the Chinese people as a whole are one way or another, and I'm taking offense to these unwarranted accusations.
- ahelwer 8y ago
  You walking back the obvious implications of your anecdote makes it even worse. Now it's not even some wider Chinese cultural trait linking the students and the executive, just their ethnicity. Stop digging. Nobody is asking you to pretend your experiences didn't happen. However, people usually only include details in a story if they are relevant. Here, you're including (and emphasizing, by virtue of where you posted the story) the detail that the students are Chinese, which by implication is relevant to your story. It's fine to have these sorts of biases against other ethnicities early in your life. I did. Honestly, it would be a miracle if you didn't, because overwhelming messaging in media and society (by stories such as yours) tells us these biases are justified and important. Nobody is born with fully-developed political opinions. Just take this opportunity to recognize a bias in yourself and move beyond it.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  You're easily offended, but not because anything unfair has been written about you. Your experience is important to you but not to this thread. If you had tried to enlighten a discussion of e.g. an African-American executive at a tech firm with a similarly bizarre anecdote, you would have gotten far more complaints. The excuse you've given here, "I just haven't known many black people!", wouldn't count for much either.