Racism -- Not Just for Whitey Anymore

21 January, 2003 || 22:31

Ok, this frustrates me, for for once in my life (yes, that's two "for"s) I have no one to talk to about it. I already know the one group of people that might actually be interested won't care, so... you get to hear it.

I have for the first time in my life truly experienced racism... on the receiving end. I'm white (Eastern European descent) and though I've made it a point, recently in particular, to remove any sort of bigotry from my life, I've actually experienced some. It wasn't anything major... one of those things he "didn't mean anything by". He didn't use that expression, I don't think, but that is kind of the attitude. I'm not really offended... but I still wanted to backhand him. So it got me thinking: this wasn't anything truly horrifying he said. I can't imagine what it must've been like for all those years for American blacks under the Jim Crow laws, and then the non-federally enforced segregation and racism afterwards that still persists, albeit to a much lesser extent, today. But I'm rambling now.

When I was in Houston, I made it my project to educate non-Asians that the supposed wall of separation between "us" and "them" was completely imagined. That it was just a stereotype that made it easier for culturally unaware non-Asians (mostly whites) to forgive themselves for not bothering to understand cultures that were foreign to them. I based that off my own experiences in the Asian(-American) community. I found that Asians in Houston, both those who were from America and those who were not, were just as friendly and well-meaning as those who were not. They had the same trials in life, and the same joys. They did the same taxes, paid the same bills, and bought the same cars. "They", I said, were just the same as "us". Sometimes they had some customs that were unusual to Americans, but who cares? Just because something's different doesn't make it bad, I told them. I tried to help them open their minds.

Then I got to Austin. And, here at UT, I found that there were many Asians who were not only content to maintain the appearance of the wall separating "us" and "them" but actively tried to make sure it never came down. Well, crap. So much for THAT idea, huh? Boy do I feel disillusioned. Oh, make no mistake, I'm going to continue that work. I just now have to do it on both sides.

As a postscript, let me add one thing, in nice big capital letters: I DO NOT HAVE AN ASIAN FETISH. I understand how one could get that impression, but I don't. I have been attracted to Asian women, yes, but also to white women, black women, and women of various other ethnicities, as well as biracial women. Interest and fetich are two different things, thank you very much.