Casual Racism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person of color here. Yes, it is relentless and exhausting. It's just part of life. Also agree with op than many on this board have the luxury of telling you you are the problem.

By "person of color" you probably mean not African American and not white, so yes, many people will assume you or your immediate ancestors came from another country. It's ok to acknowledge that some people groups have been here longer than others.

I'm Black, but thanks Karen.

[Anonymous]

So a white person attempted to pay respect to your heritage and culture by using your ancestral language so as to make you feel recognized and valued, and you see that as casual racism.


AYFKM? SMDH.

You are the problem here. You seek out and twist things to be offended by, rather than see them as the respect and flattery that they were.

You are a deeply flawed person. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person of color here. Yes, it is relentless and exhausting. It's just part of life. Also agree with op than many on this board have the luxury of telling you you are the problem.

By "person of color" you probably mean not African American and not white, so yes, many people will assume you or your immediate ancestors came from another country. It's ok to acknowledge that some people groups have been here longer than others.

I'm Black, but thanks Karen.

African or ADOS? I don't what "Black" is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person of color here. Yes, it is relentless and exhausting. It's just part of life. Also agree with op than many on this board have the luxury of telling you you are the problem.

By "person of color" you probably mean not African American and not white, so yes, many people will assume you or your immediate ancestors came from another country. It's ok to acknowledge that some people groups have been here longer than others.

I'm Black, but thanks Karen.

African or ADOS? I don't what "Black" is.

New poster here

Black is a racial construct. The whole premise of this thread is the appearance of a person causing casual racist comments And micro-aggression. We are not talking about ethnicity. And if we were, there’s more than “African” or “ADOS” That would be under the umbrella of Black.

[Anonymous]

I am a white Eastern European immigrant. I find that while some people can be mean, xenophobic, or racist, the majority, myself included, make silly mistakes and unintentional faux pas due to social anxiety, ignorance, etc. Maybe the guy who spoke Chinese to your kid is kicking himself at night. I totally would.

[Anonymous]

I’m South Asian and Muslim. I get tons of micro aggression too. From “you speak English so well” to “you’re so exotic” it doesn’t matter that I was born and raised in the Midwest, people just see other when they see Asians. It’s sad that now my kids are experiencing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just let me vent.
I live in NW DC. Most of our neighbors are white and we are one of a few Asian families. Most of the time we are happy here. But sometimes we encounter casual racists. They are not malicious, but ignorant at best.
A few days ago, my child helped a guy who lives nearby to pick up the things he dropped. He said "Xiexie" to my child and went away. I know it means "thank you" in Chinese, but we are NOT Chinese. My child only speaks English and doesn't know a single Chinese word. I wasn't very happy, but tried to forget about it.
Today I took an elevator in a nearby shop. It smelled awful as if someone spilled something nasty on the floor. A few minutes later, a white woman and her partner got in. And as they noticed the smell, I saw them exchange this look. I could feel that they thought it was me smelling nasty. Perhaps it wasn't a completely racist thing. But I can't help thinking that they might have looked elsewhere if I were white.
I don't know what I should have done. Perhaps I should have said something in both occasions. Or not. Perhaps we should move to Hawaii or somewhere else with major Asian population. Anyway, thank you for letting me vent.

I say Merci or gracias to people all the time. I even say “mercy buckets” when I am feeling silly. I am not assuming the person I am thanking is French or Spanish (although I might assume they are silly too, with the latter).

The smell thing is just all your internalization.

Your feelings aren’t valid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So a white person attempted to pay respect to your heritage and culture by using your ancestral language so as to make you feel recognized and valued, and you see that as casual racism.


AYFKM? SMDH.

You are the problem here. You seek out and twist things to be offended by, rather than see them as the respect and flattery that they were.

You are a deeply flawed person. Sad.

OP is not Chinese. That person made an assumption, which is an annoying and stupid thing to do. You did not read the OP carefully before attacking. Another annoying and stupid thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just let me vent.
I live in NW DC. Most of our neighbors are white and we are one of a few Asian families. Most of the time we are happy here. But sometimes we encounter casual racists. They are not malicious, but ignorant at best.
A few days ago, my child helped a guy who lives nearby to pick up the things he dropped. He said "Xiexie" to my child and went away. I know it means "thank you" in Chinese, but we are NOT Chinese. My child only speaks English and doesn't know a single Chinese word. I wasn't very happy, but tried to forget about it.
Today I took an elevator in a nearby shop. It smelled awful as if someone spilled something nasty on the floor. A few minutes later, a white woman and her partner got in. And as they noticed the smell, I saw them exchange this look. I could feel that they thought it was me smelling nasty. Perhaps it wasn't a completely racist thing. But I can't help thinking that they might have looked elsewhere if I were white.
I don't know what I should have done. Perhaps I should have said something in both occasions. Or not. Perhaps we should move to Hawaii or somewhere else with major Asian population. Anyway, thank you for letting me vent.

I say Merci or gracias to people all the time. I even say “mercy buckets” when I am feeling silly. I am not assuming the person I am thanking is French or Spanish (although I might assume they are silly too, with the latter).

The smell thing is just all your internalization.

Your feelings aren’t valid.

Who are you to decide if their feelings aren't valid?

[Anonymous]

I would let this go. I'm ethnically ambiguous looking and often have people approach me speaking languages other than English. I even have people asking if I speak English which is my first language. If we are going to let small things like this bother us maybe we should all were name tags with our preferred pronouns and languages so we don't encounter this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Person of color here. Yes, it is relentless and exhausting. It's just part of life. Also agree with op than many on this board have the luxury of telling you you are the problem.

If you look for trouble you'll find it.

[Anonymous]

People say stupid stuff. I’m a blonde white woman and have had people make assumptions about me and said offensive things. I move on. You should too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just let me vent.
I live in NW DC. Most of our neighbors are white and we are one of a few Asian families. Most of the time we are happy here. But sometimes we encounter casual racists. They are not malicious, but ignorant at best.
A few days ago, my child helped a guy who lives nearby to pick up the things he dropped. He said "Xiexie" to my child and went away. I know it means "thank you" in Chinese, but we are NOT Chinese. My child only speaks English and doesn't know a single Chinese word. I wasn't very happy, but tried to forget about it.
Today I took an elevator in a nearby shop. It smelled awful as if someone spilled something nasty on the floor. A few minutes later, a white woman and her partner got in. And as they noticed the smell, I saw them exchange this look. I could feel that they thought it was me smelling nasty. Perhaps it wasn't a completely racist thing. But I can't help thinking that they might have looked elsewhere if I were white.
I don't know what I should have done. Perhaps I should have said something in both occasions. Or not. Perhaps we should move to Hawaii or somewhere else with major Asian population. Anyway, thank you for letting me vent.

I say Merci or gracias to people all the time. I even say “mercy buckets” when I am feeling silly. I am not assuming the person I am thanking is French or Spanish (although I might assume they are silly too, with the latter).

The smell thing is just all your internalization.

Your feelings aren’t valid.

Who are you to decide if their feelings aren't valid?

Someone who knows better than them. If they want to waste time and electricity with their stupid venting over such a silly, imagined slight, they get to hear my rejection of their feelings. Get over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Person of color here. Yes, it is relentless and exhausting. It's just part of life. Also agree with op than many on this board have the luxury of telling you you are the problem.

By "person of color" you probably mean not African American and not white, so yes, many people will assume you or your immediate ancestors came from another country. It's ok to acknowledge that some people groups have been here longer than others.

I'm Black, but thanks Karen.

African or ADOS? I don't what "Black" is.

New poster here

Black is a racial construct. The whole premise of this thread is the appearance of a person causing casual racist comments And micro-aggression. We are not talking about ethnicity. And if we were, there’s more than “African” or “ADOS” That would be under the umbrella of Black.

The umbrella of "Black" particularly with a capital B doesn't need to exist. If you are African, just say African. Black used to imply ADOS only but now meaning has been confused so it is best term is not used.

[Anonymous]

OP if this really irritates you and your kid, teach your kid to string together a bunch of Asian sounding mumbo jumbo that includes a phrase that almost sounds like FU.

Almost.