Just read this interesting article in the Advertising Age website by Bill Imada called, “Have Asian Americans Done Enough for the Black Community?”
It’s sad that I think the really obvious answer to this really is, no. Given the history of what I’ve seen, on how we treat black people as customers, as friends, as people to emulate and yet not really understand their histories and how they’ve paved the way for other minorities to fight for social and economic justice, and how Asians view blacks with so much hatred and fear because of how blacks have been portrayed in the media (like the infamous AsianWeek op-ed piece), I think that there should be more introspection into how we’ve been taught to fear and hate each other and learn how to respect each other and our histories and that we’re dealing with many of the same issues they are.
Yes, this is really painfully obvious, but sad that people need to write articles like Imada’s to make us see that we’ve got a long way to go…
(Flickr photo credit: yngrich)
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Lana wrote:
*sigh*
I’ve long stopped shopping in Asian owned stores, because of being followed, yelled at, called the n-word and/or just being plain rude. If I’m spending my GREEN money in your store, I should be treated with respect. That’s how I feel about any establishment.
It’s really strange as to how Asians borrow heavily from Blacks, but treat them like dirt. Actually, it’s fascinating….
If we learned how to talk to each other, that would be nice. I know, when I’ve approached Asian people, just a ‘hello’ or something, I just get a blank stare (and I KNOW they speak English) and get ignored…..
…but if a White person did the same, they’d greet them. I’ve noticed that Asians are more apt to communicate with Whites then Blacks…because we’re viewed as being ‘beneath them’ and Whites are viewed as status symbols. Hierarchy can be a pain in the rump, huh?!
It’d be nice if mindsets were to change on both sides, esp. since, if you think about it, we basically spend a lot of time together…..
*Disclaimer*….I’m not saying ALL Asians are like that…just what I’ve experienced/witnessed.
Posted on 24-Feb-08 at 9:40 pm | Permalink
Yargo222 wrote:
“I’ve noticed that Asians are more apt to communicate with Whites then Blacks”
“I’m not saying ALL Asians are like that”
What an easy opt out for making gross sweeping generalizations. “I’m saying asians are like that, but not ‘all’ asians are like that”. Contradiction much?
“because we’re viewed as being ‘beneath them’ and Whites are viewed as status symbols”
why don’t you show me this ‘hierarchy’? I’d like to see it.
Posted on 25-Feb-08 at 4:40 pm | Permalink
David wrote:
Lana,
I’m sorry but the street goes both ways. I’m a Korean American, and grew up in neighborhoods with large black populations (e.g., PG County in Maryland, Newark, NJ, Queens, NY). I’ve been called chink, gook, and every other racial slur you can think of by as many black people as I have been by white people.
It’s incumbent on us all to give up our prejudices and see how we can start seeing people as individuals.
Posted on 28-Feb-08 at 11:23 pm | Permalink
CalPerson wrote:
I agree with his comment by a korean american. It’s true that I’ve been called like that by black, latino and white everywhere. I was treat badly because of what happened with riots, wars, 9/11, sars incident and chinese recall product even aberombie and fitch store discrimination against asians for the job also black man sued asian couple for his stupid slack pant at dry cleaning store and he sued them for million dollars!. It’s been damage to the asian image everywhere. I’ve seen it happened for a long time. It made me felt uncomfortale when they talked about not liking asians or hating asians. I have to walk away and not good for the mental and health too. I don’t want to hear so much negative about hating asians or made a bad attitude toward asians. enough is enough. It’s too much!. I’ve seen it since I was 16 yrs old (Today, I’m 34). It’s awful!
Posted on 10-Mar-08 at 9:17 pm | Permalink