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I'm Asian American, and Political Volunteers Don't Talk to Me
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Anonymous
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We live in Chevy Chase, DC, a hotbed for the whole Fenty/Gray election, and I noticed that the volunteers on both sides don''t bother to try to engage me when I walk by the community center. They do talk to my white husband, however.
Is this racist? Do the volunteers think that I might not speak English? It is a very white neighborhood, but still, this has happened often enough in the past week (since early voting began) that I've taken notice. I think that in this town, if you are not white or black, you are viewed as non-English speaking and probably not "American." |
Anonymous
| My guess (and it's only a guess) is that it they might not think you are a DC resident. I think the Asian population in DC is only 3% or so? I'm not excusing it, just trying to figure it out. |
Anonymous
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Another possibility is that they assume the two of you are voting the same way.
My DH and I frequently vote the same way. It's not that I need to validate his decisions or he mine, but we have pretty similar long term interests and world views. Not surprisingly we tend to care about the same issues, frequently in the same way. Doesn't explain why they ask him *instead* of you though. |
Anonymous
| OP, do you make eye contact with the volunteers? Does your DH? |
Anonymous
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I'm white and don't get stopped. But I don't look at them and give off vibes that I'm not interested, so it could just be that.
Still, it must be annoying. |
Anonymous
| I am also Asian American (actually, only half. . .) but in general, people tend to address my very white husband over me where ever we are anyway-restaurants, coffee shops, stores, etc. The only time I don't feel invisible is if we're shopping at Value Village but that's only because I am often mistaken for being Hispanic and lots of brown people shop/work there. |
Anonymous
| Bad breath? |
Anonymous
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I'm white and I am an undecided voter in DC. I live one block from a Grey HQ and walk by it every day on my way to work. I've never been stopped by them. I work two blocks from one of the Fenty buildings and have never been stopped by them. My DH and I make it kind of a joke - we make eye contact, we talk loudly "Hmmm, who are we going to vote for" but no one every approachs us.
Not sure if it's our race or because of the location people assume that we don't live in DC. |
Anonymous
| People should stop forcing racism into every issue. Yo have a mouth and if you want information from either campaigh, ask. |
Anonymous
Have you ever been a person of color? Been the only woman in a room full of men? Been the only man in a room full of women? If you are treated differently than the vast majority of people around you, you start to wonder why. |
Anonymous
| OP, there is a slight chance that it is about race to the extent that MAYBE they don't see Asians as being as involved politically? I might be wrong, but is there less involvement in the Asian community? |
Anonymous
How on earth would OP know what is going on with all Asians? Is she an Asian American ambassador or something? They are all different people you know. |
Anonymous
Yes, to some of your questions and no, I don't wonder why because I am not a professional victim. |
Anonymous
| You don't need to be a "professional victim" to realize that race still matters--in a lot of settings. |
Anonymous
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My Asian American spouse talked to a campaigner the other morning on Conn. Ave in CC and a few weeks ago he had a 20 minute conversation with Mayor Fenty on our front lawn.
Unfortunately, I didn't realize until our voter registration cards came in the mail this week that he's not affiliated with a party so he can't even vote in the primary. |