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hello it's me the OP! just logged in for a quick lunch break during my second work day. haha...
thanks to those who understood what i'm saying. for those who don't, well, hopefully one day you will get it. I haven't read all 12 pages of this but just wanted to respond to one person who was asking if I have an accent. No, I don't. Born and raised in the US. And to those who keep persisting in calling me "oversensitive" you obviously just don't get it and you're the type to say something as rude as this lady did. So I don't consider it my job to educate you as it's like beating a dead horse so I am personally done w/ this thread. whoever wants to continue, feel free to carry on!
Let me get this straight: We are a diverse culture, yet we don't want to be different. We are diverse, but don't you dare make mention of said diversity because I want to be the same. We all want to look the same, speak the same, but be diverse and get upset when someone assumes you know a different language based on your looks. OK, got it. If someone assumes you're different than a white male with a typical english accent, 6ft tall, in great shape, they are racist.
What part of the country do you live in, where all Asians on the street are new immigrants? If you had spent enough time in a diverse workplace you should've encountered many examples where faces and accents don't match.
I don't think anyone is disputing that our differences can be discussed under the right time and circumstances, but the person OP complained about clearly failed to do so. At the end of the day, people from any background just want to be treated the same. If you don't normally question a Caucasian or black person who speaks English without a foreign accent about his or her first language then you shouldn't do that to an Asian person.
This has nothing to do with racism. That word has been so bastardized.
I'm not surprised to discover that you're a linguist as well as a sociologist, but where I come from, making assumptions about someone based on their looks is pretty much the dictionary definition of racism.
I'm not surprised to discover that you're a linguist as well as a sociologist, but where I come from, making assumptions about someone based on their looks is pretty much the dictionary definition of racism.
Let's help you out here:
Quote:
noun
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
So... what in the OP made the other person think they were superior or he was inferior?
I'm not surprised to discover that you're a linguist as well as a sociologist, but where I come from, making assumptions about someone based on their looks is pretty much the dictionary definition of racism.
Then your definition of racism is not the type that is a problem. Racism when it leads to discrimination and prejudice is what causes a problem. Actions based on those assumptions are a problem.
Everyone makes assumptions. The problem comes when you judge people based on those and act against them.
Had the woman in the OP's post somehow used the assumption that the OP knew another language beyond the conversation, that would be racism in a way that probably would have gotten her fired. But the definition you use is perfectly acceptable behavior.
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