South Bay (or America) divided (Cupertino, Brea: rent, buying, theater)

[otterprods]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

I'm not defending white monoculture; white monoculture is unfair and bad. I'm not defending the Cupertino neighbors who say f'Asian this and that. But the Bay Area is moving towards having very little to offer non-Asians and non-Asiaphiles and it's not surprising that those people feel disenfranchised and act out.

I agree with you on some points, Naglee, but I think you're making to big a thing of it. My north Sunnyvale neighborhood had become predominantly Asian long before I moved there in 2001. I had to listen to my grandparents and parents and other relatives complain about it since the late 70's when it first began to go that way. And by the mid-90's, to hear them talk, you'd the the world was ending. I moved away in 2008. When I left, I listed the ethnic influences as both something I would miss and something I would not miss. I happen to love the food, especially sashimi, but all the other types as well. But I also miss being around people from a lot of different backgrounds. Where I live now is 90+% white and that's far from ideal either. I enjoy the ethnic influence whenever I go back (which is often, for work) but I don't miss the drawbacks such as different personal-space boundaries, driving habits and body odors when I come back home.

All I can say is that if you're really that worried about everything becoming Asian in in the South Bay, you're going to have to move. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what I did, although not primarily for that reason. Complaining about it to your neighbors (most of which are asian) won't change anything and it will make you seem Asia-phobic, even if you're really not.

[jbunniii]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

But the Bay Area is moving towards having very little to offer non-Asians and non-Asiaphiles and it's not surprising that those people feel disenfranchised and act out.

Seems to me that outside of a handful of cities in Silicon Valley, the Bay Area as a whole is not even close to the point you are describing. The vast majority of cities in the Bay Area are nowhere near 50% Asian, let alone dominated by Asian culture.

[nagleepark]

Originally Posted by otterprods

All I can say is that if you're really that worried about everything becoming Asian in in the South Bay, you're going to have to move. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what I did, although not primarily for that reason. Complaining about it to your neighbors (most of which are asian) won't change anything and it will make you seem Asia-phobic, even if you're really not.

My personal situation is much more complex. My family is racially mixed (Asian even) but reject and dislike lots of things about the Bay Area, some of them racial. I'm an engineer so Silicon Valley was fun for me, not quite as fun these days. I still have to work but I've done well enough that I don't have to care about job, housing, money, restaurants, comfort, retirement or children's educations. When I retire, I'll certainly sell and move: the Bay Area won't miss me and I won't miss it.

I have friends around here so no worries about knowing people. It's also easier than ever to "check out" of the Bay Area: watch movies in a home theater, talk and play games with distant friends using Internet and video conferencing, go directly from garage-work-garage, drive out of the area on weekends. I can be here physically but be somewhere else socially and mentally.

Sure, it'd be great if I could be a part of a local community. But, if that's just not in the cards, I can live without it.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

The Silicon Valley isn't there yet but it has the potential to turn into a place that is for Asians and Asiaphiles only. That's not diversity; that's monoculture.

Look: I get where you (all) are coming from. Some whites are Asiaphiles. Some whites dream of living in Asia. Some whites want to learn Mandarin. Some whites would love to live in San Francisco Chinatown. Some whites love Asian food. But not every white person is an Asiaphile. Believe it or not: IT IS POSSIBLE TO EAT CHINESE FOOD AND NOT LIKE THE TASTE.

I know, I know, because I'm not an Asiaphile, then I must be a racist. I must never have tasted sushi, chinese food, indian food or pho because, if I had, I would love it and now be an Asiaphile. I must never have patronized Ranch 99 or Lion because, if I had, I'd now be a regular customer. I think that it is perfectly reasonable that I'm unhappy about movie theaters switching from a format that caters directly to me to one that doesn't cater to me.

I'm not defending white monoculture; white monoculture is unfair and bad. I'm not defending the Cupertino neighbors who say f'Asian this and that. But the Bay Area is moving towards having very little to offer non-Asians and non-Asiaphiles and it's not surprising that those people feel disenfranchised and act out.

I really don't care whether you like Asian food or not - that's your own business.

As for cinemas, a more accurate reading of such a scenario involving subtitling is that they're catering to a wider or diverse audience - they are not excluding you per se. I just don't understand the phobia Americans have about subtitling when it's a pretty common situation in other countries.

However, I think your alarmist comments are way off base - the Bay Area as a whole isn't anywhere near going majority Asian or even dominated by Asian culture.

[nagleepark]

Originally Posted by silverkris

I really don't care whether you like Asian food or not - that's your own business.

As for cinemas, a more accurate reading of such a scenario involving subtitling is that they're catering to a wider or diverse audience - they are not excluding you per se. I just don't understand the phobia Americans have about subtitling when it's a pretty common situation in other countries.

However, I think your alarmist comments are way off base - the Bay Area as a whole isn't anywhere near going majority Asian or even dominated by Asian culture.

I guess that we'll have to agree to disagree.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

I guess that we'll have to agree to disagree.

Yep.

[spicydreamt]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

I guess that we'll have to agree to disagree.

once again...

[silverkris]

Not to belabor this further, but it isn't accurate to say there is an Asian "monoculture". In Asia there are many distinct and different cultures - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Indian, etc. Not different from Europe - which also has many distinct cultures, too. Not to mention the different linguistic or ethnic groups within these cultures, e.g. India has, I think, 11 official languages, for example.

[nagleepark]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Not to belabor this further, but it isn't accurate to say there is an Asian "monoculture". In Asia there are many distinct and different cultures - Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Indian, etc. Not different from Europe - which also has many distinct cultures, too. Not to mention the different linguistic or ethnic groups within these cultures, e.g. India has, I think, 11 official languages, for example.

I'm sure that's a distinction lost on the OP's neighbors.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by jbunniii

Seems to me that outside of a handful of cities in Silicon Valley, the Bay Area as a whole is not even close to the point you are describing. The vast majority of cities in the Bay Area are nowhere near 50% Asian, let alone dominated by Asian culture.

That is a good point. While some parts of the South Bay, the East Bay and The City seem quite overwhelmingly Asian, just a few miles away are areas that are much more broadly diverse, and some are even still overwhelmingly majority European ancestry.