He Assumed I Spoke "Asian" Because Of My Race! (person, sister)
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Yesterday I held the door for this white man and he said "Xie Xie" (Chinese for thank you) and then when I had no response and no reaction, he said "Arigato" (Japanese)
Now I don't speak either language, I was aware of those greetings as many people who don't speak the language do, as others understand "Bonjour" etc. But just because I was Asian, he ASSUMED that I spoke the language. I am Chinese-American but that does not necessarily mean I speak Chinese or any other languages, just based on my race.
THEN, when I had no reaction again, he said "Are you Filipino"?!
I said "No I am not and you have been wrong!"
This is almost an opposite situation from the recent run ins I've had where I felt race was a trigger for encounters with rude strangers, in that this man "meant well" but "Thanks" would've sufficed, this is California 2018 after all. But the assumption about language ability and THEN ethnicity (with multiple failed attempts) just screamed ignorance.
It's not cute that just because you know 1 greeting in language X you use it on someone who you THINK comes from that country X.
Oh and this is not the 1st time something like this has happened
He was being a jerk, but you have to get over it. You have to be a little bit tougher than this. All this nonsense nowadays about being "triggered" is just out of control.
I worked for a large TV assembler in Vancouver, WA in 2000-2006 and we had some of their engineers from Japan come and they met one of our QC workers who is of Japanese descent. Well, they started chattering and he smiled and said "English Please"....
They apologized and spoke in english.... It's not uncommon. I worked for Fender Amps and we had the usual Vietnamese and Cambodian workers and one day this white gal came in, well, I happened to stop and say "Hi, glad to see you here" She looked at me and said "No spek engrish, Russian" She was a white Russian! Damn it...
Well, when thinking this over a bit more, we all know dealing with people of other races/cultures, etc. isn't really all that natural of a thing as we try pretending it to be.
There is a large Hispanic population in the small part of California where I live. When I speak to someone whom I assume is Hispanic, I usually do not greet them in Spanish (unless of course they greet me that way first). I will say "Hello," "Good-morning," or "Thank you," if necessary. I have no way of knowing what language they speak, and so I use my native language (which admittedly I am not all that great at either) with them first, or if I do happen to veer slightly into a bilingual conversation, I will explain, "Hablo muy poco español." Suppose I'd rather be careful than get into trouble. They may or may not return the greeting, maybe because they don't understand, or maybe even that I am black (it is more common than people realize for other non-whites to dislike blacks). Still, I have no way of knowing their intent, and they would have no way of knowing my intent if I attempt saying "hello" or "thank you" in their language. That can get things off to a rough start no matter what race you are.
There is a large Hispanic population in the small part of California where I live. When I speak to someone whom I assume is Hispanic, I usually do not greet them in Spanish (unless of course they greet me that way first). I will say "Hello," "Good-morning," or "Thank you," if necessary. I have no way of knowing what language they speak, and so I use my native language (which admittedly I am not all that great at either) with them first, or if I do happen to veer slightly into a bilingual conversation, I will explain, "Hablo muy poco español." Suppose I'd rather be careful than get into trouble. They may or may not return the greeting, maybe because they don't understand, or maybe even that I am black (it is more common than people realize for other non-whites to dislike blacks). Still, I have no way of knowing their intent, and they would have no way of knowing my intent if I attempt saying "hello" or "thank you" in their language. That can get things off to a rough start no matter what race you are.
Yes so in the US just say "Hello" or "Thanks" whether the person is white, black, brown, Asian, gray, blue or purple
Myself, being an average-looking, short, medium-brown, black female living for a large part of my life in mostly white communities, I get a lot of suspicious looks just about everywhere I show up. Department store employees and cameras follow me around. People on the street seem to react to my meagerly presence as if I am about to either yell at them, rob them, or ask for a date - and this is not just white people.
That seems like Racial profiling. Make sure you have cell phone evidence ready and call these people out, that is just wrong. You should not have to feel eyes are peering over you when you mean no harm, just because of your race.
Don't refer to yourself as "meager". Appreciate your sharing of your experiences as a fellow person of color.
They apologized and spoke in english.... It's not uncommon. I worked for Fender Amps and we had the usual Vietnamese and Cambodian workers and one day this white gal came in, well, I happened to stop and say "Hi, glad to see you here" She looked at me and said "No spek engrish, Russian" She was a white Russian! Damn it...
That's awful! It's almost like he wanted to honor your heritage when expressing thanks for your kind gesture. What is the world coming to when people try to, gasp, communicate with others.
On the bright side, that terrible, "racist" white man provided yet another opportunity to take offense where it is very likely none was offered or intended.
Seriously, what is gained by assuming the worst and becoming outraged over something that was probably meant to be a friendly gesture?
You look different so I'm gonna go ahead and assume a bunch of stuff about you.
That is racist.
The intent does not have to be mean for it to be racist.
And for all those who would ask to let this one incident go...it's like one mosquito bite. By itself, irritating, but you get on with your life. By the time you hit 100 or 1000, they really bug thd living **** out of you.
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