Racism against Asian-Americans (Chicago, Manhattan: house, top school, live in)

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by classof2015

In six years of living in NYC, I only heard one such comment directed at me. I'm not saying that NYC doesn't have racist idiots. Just pointing out that I'm very shocked at how many comments I've heard in such a short period of time in Chicago.

I think if you have read the comments on here, at least the first few pages, that even the people of Asian descent in this thread who have lived here for 10+ years are shocked by what you have experienced too. I am as well based on what my friends have told me and how they've experience little to no bigotry in this city geared towards them.

The areas you were going out in, for nightlife, are inhabited by people from smaller towns usually and a few of those areas (like Wrigleyville and Division Street) feature many tourists (especially Wrigleyville for the Cubs games). Most people really don't care, but it takes just one comment to ruin everything.

Luckily there are many more nightlife areas, and other areas to do things in, than just those areas you experienced that in. And on average, nobody cares in those areas. I have probably around 10 Asian friends who live in Lincoln Park and Lakeview and they have never complained to me about this type of thing there. Then again, they probably weren't going to the same nightlife you were going to.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by probablyimnotsure

I have experienced it too, it doesn't feel good I understand. But what can you do about it? Really. Racists and bullies have always existed and will likely continue to exist. The best thing a person can do is just take the insult and get over it, or stand your ground and let the person know you're not a person to be messed with.

Be the better person and just continue with your day.

I agree - that is where I'm at today. However, if you experience it for the first time, maybe for a few times, it really takes you by surprise. Today, someone could say a lot of things about me and I wouldn't care. 15 years ago - completely different story and it would bother me for days. Lucky enough that in Chicago it has only happened once (waiting for the guesses as to who did it...) though.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by probablyimnotsure

I knew about the Japanese camps but did not know about the Chinese Exclusion act; I read about it and found it very interesting.

Luckily we're far removed from that, for the most part. That was a messed up thing back in the day. As far as the major non-white races go in the US, I think Asians are the most accepted nowadays. The most common stereotype I've heard is the "good at math" one. While it's not cool to be stereotyped, this is a relatively harmless one compared to the others one looming out there.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by classof2015

. I don't think I'm ever going to be up near wrigley field again.

I made that decision 5 years ago for nightlife - it's a great decision. However, you should check out Lakeview East area. It's a lot more cosmopolitan than Wrigleyville. Not like downtown, but noticeably different. Boystown is pretty different from it too. So while I agree with you about nightlife, you would be missing out by not checking out Lakeview East and other areas north of there like Lincoln Square, Argyle ("New Chinatown" - half Vietnamese, half Chinese section), Devon (Little India), etc.

Wrigleyville is, for the most part, full of drunk idiots, bros, and people from small town Indiana catching a baseball game. There are good areas surrounding it that are sometimes different from it though. It's the last place I'd go to for a semi cosmopolitan and open minded type of atmosphere. Wrigleyville is basically like a smaller version of Hoboken. I hope you've never been out in Hoboken, but if you have you'll understand what I'm talking about.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by classof2015

Lol. Fair point. My b-schools classmates and NYC friends were shocked and even appalled when I decided to move to Chicago. Some of them said I was "wasting my talent and resume" by moving to a second-tier city in the midwest. I think the joke is on them when I look at my apartment, cost of living, and quality of life.

Revenge by living well.Absolutely.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have tired of NYC, and have left, in any given time period. As you get older, you'll appreciate the extra space Chicago provides you, as a little sanctuary from the rat race.

[NCN]

I think a lot of people do not know the difference between prejudice and racism. Prejudice is when you don't like something and racism is when you think you are superior to them.

Since we are all made by the same God, racism should not exist. No one has the right to think they are better than anyone else. You can think your morals, way of life, etc. are better but otherwise we are all equal. What we do after that equality is up to us.

Calling people racist is wrong and needs to stop.

[vision33r]

Racism or prejudice against Asians is pretty common in suburbs. I was walking on the sidewalk one time in NJ and somebody would drive next to me and say to me something racist and drive off. It's not one particular race, I've gotten racist remarks from other minorities too. However, when I was living in Toronto, Canada for 3 months I've never gotten any racist slurs or prejudice behavior towards me there. Granted that Toronto does have an Asian population. In general Canada doesn't have the deep economic inequalities we have in the US.

[crouching_tiger]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Revenge by living well.Absolutely.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have tired of NYC, and have left, in any given time period. As you get older, you'll appreciate the extra space Chicago provides you, as a little sanctuary from the rat race.

NYC may be a rat race but you have far more career opportunities in NYC vs Chicago. In addition the public transport is far superior in the NY metro area,more cultural and nightlife opportunities, NYC is way more international, more multicultural and less provincial, and winters are much more brutal in Chicago. In return for that you get less housing space in NY. For some, that trade off in living space is worth it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by crouching_tiger

NYC may be a rat race but you have far more career opportunities in NYC vs Chicago. In addition the public transport is far superior in the NY metro area,more cultural and nightlife opportunities, NYC is way more international, more multicultural and less provincial, and winters are much more brutal in Chicago. In return for that you get less housing space in NY. For some, that trade off in living space is worth it.

Not really. They're more brutal in Chicago but not by as much as most people are lead to believe. Winters in NYC are still not warm. It's not like we're talking about even comparing to Nashville. It's a 7-10 degrees difference, and the last two winters in NYC were brutal. I fully experienced this last winter in NYC (versus only a little bit the winter before) and it was colder than an average Chicago winter (but Chicago's winter was even colder). It's not normal, but 7-10 degrees difference is not like we're talking about Miami. It's the difference between 30 degrees and 37 or 40 degrees.

NYC's subway system is far ahead of anyone else's in the US in terms of extensiveness, but many of the stations are still extremely dirty and in the summer they're very hot. The MTA should be spending money to deal with these things in some way, even by just adding fans to stations where there are no fans. Even the damn PATH stops in Manhattan have fans blasting from above.

[classof2015]

Originally Posted by crouching_tiger

NYC may be a rat race but you have far more career opportunities in NYC vs Chicago. In addition the public transport is far superior in the NY metro area,more cultural and nightlife opportunities, NYC is way more international, more multicultural and less provincial, and winters are much more brutal in Chicago. In return for that you get less housing space in NY. For some, that trade off in living space is worth it.

Yes, there are more career opportunities in NYC, especially in finance. Not gonna argue with that. I think NYC is great for ambitious smart college grads who want to get their careers started. Having a big NYC company on your resume does wonders for your professional career, as I can attest to.

I honestly don't think NYC nightlife is THAT much superior to Chicago. It's more diverse in terms of crowds you see, but the venues are more or less the same. NYC does have a plethora of easily accessible ethnic food, which is one thing I miss a lot. I live in river north and have to go pretty far to get quality korean, indian, or thai food for instance. And Chicago doesn't have as many delivery options for food. In NYC I basically lived off of seamless, which does NOT charge a delivery fee (you just pay tip).

I do like NYC's diversity and multiculturalism, but to be honest that never really had a substantive impact on the quality of my life. Some people value it immensely; I never did.

I haven't experienced Chicago winters yet, but I'm sure it's brutal. NYC winters weren't that great either, so I think I can survive fine.

MTA is indeed much more extensive than CTA. But I HATE the underground subway stations in Manhattan. It feels utterly suffocating when you're there, especially when it's warm outside. And don't get me started on how dirty it is.

The older I get, the more I care about taxes, quality of life, cost of living, saving money, and having space. When I was younger I went out every night after work, so NYC was great, and I didn't care about living in a tiny apartment. Now I'm older, don't go out as much, and want to come home to a big luxury apartment after a hard day at work. Your priorities change as you get older, and as such, I felt that Chicago made sense for me.