Reply to Need an African American to Explain this Behavior

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes, because all AA's display the exact same behaviors. [/quote]

OP here-- no, but when an individual of your ethnicity commits an outrageous act, do you not feel shame? We are all representatives of our identities to the larger world - ethnicity, nationality, etc. If this were not the case, concepts such as "White Guilt" or Germany's guilt over Nazis would not exist. I'm requesting an AA's explanation because before I add this to the "well, some AAs are just hostile towards me" category in my mind, I'd like to have someone at least defend their case.[/quote]

No, it doesn't work like that here. Maybe it does in your country, but not here. One AA is not representative of all, and no one can answer why he did it, except for him.[/quote]

OP here-- I agree that his action does not represent his whole peoples. However, [b]I'm trying my best not to generalize and stereotype the entire African American population based on this one incident[/b] and I'm beating myself up for not speaking out  (asking why he did it), but then again, after that hostile act towards me, I didn't want any more trouble. Is there just a general hostility between African Americans and Asian Americans around this area? (ex. I know it's a problem between, say, Koreans and African Americans in LA)[/quote]

That would have been foolish for you to confront him after he committed a hostile act, especially with your baby present.  As a 3rd generation American, I do not feel White Guilt.  My father's family is German and they do not feel Nazi Guilt.  We Americans like to think of ourselves as individuals in control of our own actions and lives, rather than as members of a cultural group.[/quote]

OP here-- PP, you shouldn't feel either of those concepts, but do you feel extra elation when an American wins a medal at the Olympics? How about a German athlete? We're quick to rally to positive events and allow ourselves to feel a sense of pride when a member of our identity (nationality, ethnicity) does something awesome and you hold that person up as a role model or representative, but, as an American, I think we're also too quick to disassociate ourselves when a member of our identity (nationality, ethnicity) does something wrong/atrocious etc.

When the VT shooter in 2007 turned out to be East Asian, I felt an extra dosage (on top of the sadness already from the event) of shame for sharing the same ethnicity as the shooter. When the crazy Chinese guy beheaded the poor Canadian in 2008 on the bus, I again felt an extra dosage of shame. [b]PP, you shouldn't feel white guilt nor should you feel Nazi guilt (nor should Japanese feel guilt over atrocities committed in WWII), but for an event that just occurred, with very little temporal distance, there should be at least a tiny blip on your shame radar, no?[/b] Like, does sharing similar identity traits as Wade Page make you feel more about that awful situation in Wisconsin?[/quote]

OP, I am proud of American accomplishments but do I feel shame if one American or a group of them commit commit an atrocity?  No, these people do not represent me.  One part of my family is native American and the other two parts immigrated generations ago.  Do I feel a blip of shame if one or a group of them behave badly? No, they are responsible for themselves, just as every member of my family has been responsible for their own actions.  Don't you think, OP, that Asians are probably more likely to feel this burden of shame?[/quote]

OP here-- PP, yeah, Asians are more likely to feel the burden of shame because of the cultural baggage. But is this completely nonexistent in other cultures? (not sarcasm or rhetoric.. I guess I'm completely clueless in this regard).[/quote]

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