I got called a f***ing chink yesterday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He doesn't think you're less than him. He's using a racially appropriate insult. Another person would be a honkey, spic, Jap, n*gg**, or btch.

Would you want to trade places with him? No. So what he says doesn't matter.

I'd be more concerned about the risk of violent.

He doesn't get a pass for hateful language just because he's in a rough place.

Have you ever reasoned with a schizophrenic? No? Me either, you can’t.

[Anonymous]

Try this site on street harassment in DC.

https://ohr.dc.gov/nostreetharassmentdc

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6290998/Share-Your-DC-Street-Harassment-Story

[Anonymous]

Clean the streets by locking them up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

[Anonymous]

This is going to get way worse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

I’ve been called names by mentally ill people all over the world. It’s worse here because most places hide them better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try this site on street harassment in DC.

https://ohr.dc.gov/nostreetharassmentdc

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6290998/Share-Your-DC-Street-Harassment-Story

It appears to be protecting the unhoused although they used a dirty word.

https://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/SHPA%20Ad_Homeless_FINAL.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

Not the PP, but I’ve experienced plenty of racism throughout my life in several countries. I’m not from anywhere so I’ve been a foreigner everywhere I’ve lived since birth. An incident as described by OP wouldn’t bother me at all, and I certainly wouldn’t bother posting about it online. I’ve been through far worse than verbal abuse from an unhinged homeless person. This isn’t ann experience exclusive to Asians either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

Not the PP, but I’ve experienced plenty of racism throughout my life in several countries. I’m not from anywhere so I’ve been a foreigner everywhere I’ve lived since birth. An incident as described by OP wouldn’t bother me at all, and I certainly wouldn’t bother posting about it online. I’ve been through far worse than verbal abuse from an unhinged homeless person. This isn’t ann experience exclusive to Asians either.

+1

What does OP want people to do or say? Her experience, while unfortunate, is not unique or special. Or, we could have school or workplace DEI discussions to address these matters...oh wait...no one like these anymore because "undeserving black people got jobs and college slots they should not have"

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone needs to go through one of those BS workplace DEI sessions to understand calling someone a "f***ing chink" is not OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

Not the PP, but I’ve experienced plenty of racism throughout my life in several countries. I’m not from anywhere so I’ve been a foreigner everywhere I’ve lived since birth. An incident as described by OP wouldn’t bother me at all, and I certainly wouldn’t bother posting about it online. I’ve been through far worse than verbal abuse from an unhinged homeless person. This isn’t ann experience exclusive to Asians either.

+1

What does OP want people to do or say? Her experience, while unfortunate, is not unique or special. Or, we could have school or workplace DEI discussions to address these matters...oh wait...no one like these anymore because "undeserving black people got jobs and college slots they should not have"

“I’m sorry to hear this” is generally a simple yet helpful response when you hear about an upsetting incident, regardless of how un-unique or un-special you think it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sticks & stones…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

Not the PP, but I’ve experienced plenty of racism throughout my life in several countries. I’m not from anywhere so I’ve been a foreigner everywhere I’ve lived since birth. An incident as described by OP wouldn’t bother me at all, and I certainly wouldn’t bother posting about it online. I’ve been through far worse than verbal abuse from an unhinged homeless person. This isn’t ann experience exclusive to Asians either.

+1

What does OP want people to do or say? Her experience, while unfortunate, is not unique or special. Or, we could have school or workplace DEI discussions to address these matters...oh wait...no one like these anymore because "undeserving black people got jobs and college slots they should not have"

“I’m sorry to hear this” is generally a simple yet helpful response when you hear about an upsetting incident, regardless of how un-unique or un-special you think it was.

Or, if you can’t say something helpful or kind, say nothing. Nothing is good too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:A man who was either homeless and/or has substance abuse issues/mental illness was walking towards me last night on a semi isolated street, in that unsteady halting way. I was trying to walk around him with my head bent down to stay out of his way when he snarled "stop staring at me, you f****ing chink".

I kept walking ahead. For a split second I thought he would turn around and start following me. There were other people ahead of me so I just started walking faster to catch up to them and then I was in an area where there were many more people.

I've been called "chink" by all sorts of people since I was a kid in elementary school. "Go back to your country". [My country? I was born here.]

So it surprises me how much it still stings when someone calls me a chink. It's even hard to write that. That a man who was probably homeless thinks I'm less than him because of my skin color. It shouldn't bother me, after all this time! Right?!

So I'm just trying to get this out of my system. Weirdly I feel ashamed and couldn't even tell anyone IRL that this happened.

Thanks for listening, strangers on an anonymous messaging board.

It is upsetting, but bring so so so surprised that these things happen is not going to serve you--Asian people are people just like everyone else and will be subject to human bias at times just like any other group of humans. And no, Asians are not going to be treated like white people in the United States, meaning bring seen as the default Americans. This is not good, but if you are unaware of this you are going to be shocked daily.

DP, and a little off-topic, but the weird thing for me was that in my high school / college / grad school / NYC bubbles, it was really rare to be automatically “othered” or feel like I was being treated differently from anyone else on the daily things. It was kind of a surprise to have to relearn that once I moved to Va.

Anyway OP I’m sorry that happened to you. It must have been especially jarring coming from (1) a man (2) walking towards you (vs seated) and (3) visibly “off,” because those things together alerted your self-protection instincts. And then he came up to you and yelled something that was clearly targeted at you specifically, of course you felt attacked in the moment. It’s also the realization that only he knew in the moment whether he was going to raise a hand to you—to be willing to yell a slur like that means he is already partially unbound by the rules of civility that we all abide by—and the feeling that your appearance, which you cannot change, somehow catalyzed this.

Ignore all the hopeless PPs who are too busy fixating on how your post could be edited for political correctness to offer you a word of compassion. They are using this post to pile on with their own anger, and most of us are seeing how that is very sad and not okay.

Feel better and cocoon yourself with good people if you can. Also talk to someone about it. Next time you’re out with your friends, just share that it happened. You can use a light tone while still mentioning that it hurt and was scary at the time.

Meaning not being seen as white and the default? Because we all are going to be seen as "something". We can't pick and and choose, only to be seen as "something" when it benefits us. Or we all can just decide to not talk about skin color, country of origin, culture at all. No talk about "well in my culture we are family oriented...ect". We are all the same from now on, right?

I’m sorry - our country was 90% white VERY recently, so “the default”. I’m sorry if that is hurtful. But that is not a moral failing, it was just true. And unless you are a descendant of African American slaves, native Americans or a small number of Tejanos, your family chose to come to a majority white country.

I'm not sure about the 90%, but the majority of this statement is true.
What's even truer is that most other countries treat their minorities MUCH worse than here. American PC culture is the exception, not the norm.

Definitely incredulous how people minimize the experiences of minorities here. Just because you have never personally experienced racism does not invalidate their feelings. How would you feel if you went to another country and people called you names?

I’ve been called names by mentally ill people all over the world. It’s worse here because most places hide them better.

How do you know they are mentally ill? Or are you just assuming they are?