New to Seattle, love the place, some bad (Asian) Indian apples (Bellevue: apartments, motel)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by sogod

I doubt that. Racism is not a western, and not a recent, invention.

Originally Posted by Zippy7fo

Is this based on your gut feeling or actual facts?????????

Well, there's the Bible for starts. Lots of slavery issues. The Israelites were the slaves of the Egyptians, for ex.

[jpk]

To the original poster, I'm half Indian and can vouch for the city of Seattle. Don't confuse the attitudes of recent immigrants with the attitudes of Seattle natives. The people you are talking about aren't even American citizens in all liklihood, let alone Seattle natives. I'm not going to get into any anecdotes or stereotypes about "my people", but I certainly have some on this topic for another time and place.

My suggestion is if you really don't feel comfortable, just move. You will find every other place in the city to be tolerant and friendly. Don't let the attitudes of a foreign culture get you down, you're in your own country and surrounded by your own citizens. Do you sit around being paranoid about what people in Iran or Pakistan think of you and your wife? No, of course not. Trust me, no one native to Seattle has a problem with you and you're on free soil.

[VJP]

Like others posting here, I'm Indian. My 'family' is around 150 people, all legal immigrants, imagine that!

I assume you wife's parents are uber-open minded. My parents have been in this country for 35+ years, and I was born and raised in new york. I'm an eclectic Indian to say the least, and my parents are open minded and good people.

The people you are running into, as has been mentioned are perhaps new to the country - and societal norms/taboos/behavior are new to them. There are certainly very pleasant ways of greeting others in the Indian culture and its customs but it is not common to say hello to every person you walk down the street and see. The words please and thank you simply do not exist in the language I speak, and instead, the concept is inferred through enunciation in the request and comments you make to others.

Some people are bringing up the race thing. I won't lie. In my own family, the elders would flip two turds (i mean sh*), if they knew that my girl is half black and half Jamaican. My parents are quite accepting and that is that. Any of you people who have thought that perhaps south texas or the carolinas are racist, have not spoken with the elder members of the Indian community. There is an inherent dislike for black people, amongst much of the community, however not all. I won't paint with a broad brush, and plus, none of this has affected me.

You didn't mention what part of India you wife's family is from, that can affect how they view you as well, thought I'm sure by now you know all about that.

My advice? Make friends if you can, some of us cool Indians are around, many are recluses as well however. The way we are social and operate is a stark contrast to Indian culture and behavior.

Now, if these people are you are talking about are American, like myself, there is no excuse except that they are just turds. Race does not define people with bad attitudes, they are everywhere. Enjoy! Just forget about it.

-VJ

[TylerJAX]

Oh grow up. Have you ever given any thought that it might not be about race but about religon? WTH is with Black men ditching Black women the first chance they get anyway?

[caliexplorer]

Just to play the devils advocate, what would happen if an Asian or white or Mexican man were to date a black women in an all black neighborhood? Your telling me all the blacks would just smile and nod approvingly? I don't think so. A lot of black men date put of their race, and then criticize black women who date out as well.

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by TylerJAX

Oh grow up. Have you ever given any thought that it might not be about race but about religon? WTH is with Black men ditching Black women the first chance they get anyway?

Um. yeah. anger issues? anyone? sense some anger here? um? someone angry or something?

Brians novel Comedy Video on IMEEM Video

White. Seems sort of crazy doesn't it? to say White..vs. white. Maybe if i used all caps. It's an all caps world, now, ain't it? WHITE>

Asian.

Taiwanese

Japanese and Hispanic. Mmmm...Japanic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnD6pBhr8UU

"Blacktino..oh SNAP."

Oooh... here's a Black man in an elevator.

Black Man in an Elevator - Video

My best friend (who, incidently is black) sent me this. Freakin' hilarious. And oh, too true.

(Warning...some foul language.)

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by Zippy7fo

Is this based on your gut feeling or actual facts?????????

Indians traditionally were prejudiced against their own people, so how do you think many might react to other cultures?

The caste system was alive and healthy way before slavery in the US.

At one time a higher caste Indian would clean himself if even a shadow of a person of lower caste touched him. Even these days there are those who disdain of shaking hands with a 'lower' individual. Don't some Orthodox male Jews have a taboo of even being touched by any woman who is not their wife? What does that say about outsiders, I wonder?

When you think of it, shaking hands is a poor way of greeting people, spreading germs - when there are so many esoteric germs that we are encountering these days. Maybe the Japanese bow is more sensible.

Sure, there are many yahoos in the US who know nothing of other peoples and will shun any outsider or anyone who has ideas that seem odd to them.

Some groups in this country, who obviously prefer to only socialize among themselves, point to the fact that they have been ostracized by others through history and so have developed this exclusive habit.

Sometimes, though, it is because they come from cultures that have not encouraged upward movement through their social strata and the idea does not come naturally to them to mix with others.

Others wish to preserve their culture or religion and the only sure way to prevent their children from intermarrying into other religions and cultures is to not welcome friendships among these groups.

People come to the US often for money, nothing else. They do not like our culture. We are a very open and welcoming people, naive in some ways, for in other countries people are discouraged by the legal system from starting businesses, making money here and sending it back to the mother country or storing it away and returning back to their country of origin to retire as relatively wealthy people.

Often, if people have migrated to the US from other countries and choose to stay here, this attitude disappears in future generations.

It is usually the religious divisions that will pass this exclusivity on from generation to generation. People have commented on this problem in predominantly Mormon communities.

There is no problem in mixed marriages, but as a previous poster said, you both should have discussed this matter up front, before the marriage. You should also scope out the neighborhood before you move, if you can, so you are prepared ahead of time.

[ArthursChoice]

its amazing how people can make such an assumption about someone they don't even know!

Originally Posted by TylerJAX

Oh grow up. Have you ever given any thought that it might not be about race but about religon? WTH is with Black men ditching Black women the first chance they get anyway?

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by Zippy7fo

Is this based on your gut feeling or actual facts?????????

Indians traditionally were prejudiced against their own people, so how do you think many might react to other cultures?

The caste system was alive and healthy way before slavery in the US.

At one time a higher caste Indian would clean himself if even a shadow of a person of lower caste touched him. Even these days there are those who disdain of shaking hands with a 'lower' individual. Don't some Orthodox male Jews have a taboo of even being touched by any woman who is not their wife? What does that say about outsiders, I wonder?

When you think of it, shaking hands is a poor way of greeting people, spreading germs - when there are so many esoteric germs that we are encountering these days. Maybe the Japanese bow is more sensible.

Sure, there are many yahoos in the US who know nothing of other peoples and will shun any outsider or anyone who has ideas that seem odd to them.

Some groups in this country, who obviously prefer to only socialize among themselves, point to the fact that they have been ostracized by others through history and so have developed this exclusive habit.

Sometimes, though, it is because they come from cultures that have not encouraged upward movement through their social strata and the idea does not come naturally to them to mix with others.

Others wish to preserve their culture or religion and the only sure way to prevent their children from intermarrying into other religions and cultures is to not welcome friendships among these groups.

People come to the US often for money, nothing else. They do not like our culture. We are a very open and welcoming people, naive in some ways, for in other countries people are discouraged by the legal system from starting businesses, making money here and sending it back to the mother country or storing it away and returning back to their country of origin to retire as relatively wealthy people.

Often, if people have migrated to the US from other countries and choose to stay here, this attitude disappears in future generations.

It is usually the religious divisions that will pass this exclusivity on from generation to generation. People have commented on this problem in predominantly Mormon communities.

There is no problem in mixed marriages, but as a previous poster said, you both should have discussed these issues up front, before the marriage, so there are fewer surprised later on. You should also scope out the neighborhood before you move, if you can, so you are prepared ahead of time. I know, its hard to do.

[seakid]

goldengrains, what sort of crap are you stirring up?

The caste was alive and healthy? That's right it was and not to such stupid extents as you point out. Guess what? Caste system in America still "is"! It's not caste, but color, religion, etc. etc. The fact that you're making such generalizations about Indians makes it even more apparent that you're just lighting fire to the fact that Americans are dumb/rude/etc.

Please please refrain.

And as caliexplorer said, a black chic with a chinese guy in a black nieghborhood? That'll look different and will attract attention. Everybody looks @ unusual things.

People come to the US for money --- true, and is there anything wrong in it? Your forefathers probably came to the US for a similar reason.

Let's tackle puget sound issues and not immigration and human psyche of people you don't know