Anonymous wrote:It isn't "teasing' per se, but for a member of a majority group to point out or highlight the "otherness" of a minority for no reason other than simply to draw attention to the otherness of that person serves only to make the minority person feel very keenly the fact that he or she is somehow different. It is a very uncomfortable feeling to be on the receiving end. Also, it makes you feel that the speaker is not seeing you as an individual human, but as a stereotype -- that is, "we" people. by mere virtue of the fact that we all happen to come from the same enormous and very diverse continent, all share the same traits. This is not true. Cambodians or Hmong are not the same as Chinese or Koreans, and have not had the same experiences in this country. Indeed, you should take some time to educate yourself about the history of Asians in American and the myth of the model minority. I am Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American. My family has been here generations longer than my white husband's, whose still living grandfather immigrated here illegally from Sweden across the Canadian border when he was a child. Yet my husband is viewed as a "real" American with "real" American values, and I, because of the color of my skin and hair and the shape of my eyes, am regularly treated as some kind of a foreigner -- seen only as some kind of a caricature, if you will. To continually receive the message that "you people all are good at math, play violin, etc. etc. etc." is very frustrating and it makes me angry because it demonstrates to me time and again that people have no idea who I am and are wholly ignorant of the history of this country. Whether we came here in the 1850s to build the transcontinental railroad or immigrated last year, we are "real" Americans and should be treated as such, not mocked and called "them," as in "if you can't beat them, then join them." Like we are some alien species of being instead of regular everyday Americans.

If you want to remain stubbornly ignorant, be my guest, but you will be called out and judged, and deservedly so.

it means squat which country they're from; the point is if they all share the same values towards sports. to me, the answer is a resounding yes. and you can't deny it differs from that of white Americans.

19:21 makes some great points. I hope people will seriously consider them. As a non-Asian, I am troubled by so many of the other posts as well as the entire premise of this thread ('if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'). While troubling and annoying, maybe threads like this are useful in that they show us the mindset of some people and how far we have to go in terms of educating ourselves.

Goal 10 a day, sometimes it's actual workbook, question cards, or tracing book. We color too. 5 year old.

Not Asian, but two good friends are Chinese, and both their children do ice-skating, Kumon, Chinese school, and piano!

It isn't "teasing' per se, but for a member of a majority group to point out or highlight the "otherness" of a minority for no reason other than simply to draw attention to the otherness of that person serves only to make the minority person feel very keenly the fact that he or she is somehow different. It is a very uncomfortable feeling to be on the receiving end. Also, it makes you feel that the speaker is not seeing you as an individual human, but as a stereotype -- that is, "we" people. by mere virtue of the fact that we all happen to come from the same enormous and very diverse continent, all share the same traits. This is not true. Cambodians or Hmong are not the same as Chinese or Koreans, and have not had the same experiences in this country. Indeed, you should take some time to educate yourself about the history of Asians in American and the myth of the model minority. I am Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American. My family has been here generations longer than my white husband's, whose still living grandfather immigrated here illegally from Sweden across the Canadian border when he was a child. Yet my husband is viewed as a "real" American with "real" American values, and I, because of the color of my skin and hair and the shape of my eyes, am regularly treated as some kind of a foreigner -- seen only as some kind of a caricature, if you will. To continually receive the message that "you people all are good at math, play violin, etc. etc. etc." is very frustrating and it makes me angry because it demonstrates to me time and again that people have no idea who I am and are wholly ignorant of the history of this country. Whether we came here in the 1850s to build the transcontinental railroad or immigrated last year, we are "real" Americans and should be treated as such, not mocked and called "them," as in "if you can't beat them, then join them." Like we are some alien species of being instead of regular everyday Americans.

If you want to remain stubbornly ignorant, be my guest, but you will be called out and judged, and deservedly so.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and PP here, I am not 20:33 but had similar experiences as a child. Why do we need to "point out" anything. What does it matter? Do I go around "pointing out" that lots of white kids play soccer and lacrosse and that lots of white kids play the trumpet? Is that in any way remarkable or worthy of commenting on? Underlying all of this is a contempt that "those people" have certain values that you do not share. That those Asians are only sucessful because they are grinds. And that has ALL kinds of repercussions.

you're correct we share different values- whites spend more time and money than Asians on sports, especially team sports. but why is saying it teasing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there a lot of Asians in your community 21:49. I can tell you that our ice skating classes are full of Asians, noticeably so probably as high as 1/4 of the kids learning although the community is not 1/4 Asian. I'm not prejudice and would never call anyone from another group by a negative name so I empathize with you and hope that your child does not have the same experiences. I'm black and I can tell you I do not see many blacks in Hockey of the blacks that I see ice skating the majority are girls doing figure skating and they are totally underepresented in ice skating compared to the community.

Voice your concern with stereotypes but make sure you voice it when people say that positive and negative comments, not just negative.

There're blacks in hockey...lol, but not many, look at Ward from the Captials. I'm AA and play hockey and so do my kids. And yes, I wish more of us would skate more, but ice is expensive and very time Consuming.

I know there are some just not many. My daughter loves the cold and has pursued skating. Yes, it is an expensive sport! Yikes, plus ice time is often at inconvenient times. There never seem to be enough rink time to go around. I was hoping that my son would try it because I thought he would like Hockey but I can not get him to even try skating. Perhaps we will start with roller skating first and then move to ice hockey.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and PP here, I am not 20:33 but had similar experiences as a child. Why do we need to "point out" anything. What does it matter? Do I go around "pointing out" that lots of white kids play soccer and lacrosse and that lots of white kids play the trumpet? Is that in any way remarkable or worthy of commenting on? Underlying all of this is a contempt that "those people" have certain values that you do not share. That those Asians are only sucessful because they are grinds. And that has ALL kinds of repercussions.

I completely agree.

Oh, and PP here, I am not 20:33 but had similar experiences as a child. Why do we need to "point out" anything. What does it matter? Do I go around "pointing out" that lots of white kids play soccer and lacrosse and that lots of white kids play the trumpet? Is that in any way remarkable or worthy of commenting on? Underlying all of this is a contempt that "those people" have certain values that you do not share. That those Asians are only sucessful because they are grinds. And that has ALL kinds of repercussions.

Yes "positive" stereotyping is harmful. Apparently it is still ok to make fun of Asians, the "model minority." You know what, it isn't ok. Cut it out. Just stop. Please. I am so so so sick of it and do not want my kids to grow up with this. I am not "exotic." We are not all good at math, we aren't all tiger moms, no I can't play the fucking violin, me not so horny sailor don't buy me a goddamn fucking drink.

Anonymous wrote:I see plenty of other races in my son's gymnastics and ice skating class. As a matter of fact, in the 2 years that he has been in gymnastics, he's the only asian in his classes. Likewise with ice-skating, he's the only asian in the classes he's been in for the past year. FWIW, we started ice-skating because he wants to play ice hockey (yes, a contact sport!), and we would be fine with him doing this. He also plays soccer and if/when he gets bored of it we intend to introduce him to karate as I hear it helps with confidence building. We also do worksheets because he actually likes it, and it's not so bad to learn a few things from paperwork!

I see my son as innocent and sweet and I hate to see him face a world where other children are taught prejudice from their parents. I grew up in an environment where I was teased because I am asian (kids making slanted eyes, or doing karate kid kicks as I walked by). I grew thick skin and managed to ignore it but it was a dreadful experience when one is only 7 years old.

pointing out that Asian kids do swimming, ice skating, golf, tennis, tae kwon do, and gymnastics is not teasing.

Anonymous wrote:Are there a lot of Asians in your community 21:49. I can tell you that our ice skating classes are full of Asians, noticeably so probably as high as 1/4 of the kids learning although the community is not 1/4 Asian. I'm not prejudice and would never call anyone from another group by a negative name so I empathize with you and hope that your child does not have the same experiences. I'm black and I can tell you I do not see many blacks in Hockey of the blacks that I see ice skating the majority are girls doing figure skating and they are totally underepresented in ice skating compared to the community.

Voice your concern with stereotypes but make sure you voice it when people say that positive and negative comments, not just negative.

There're blacks in hockey...lol, but not many, look at Ward from the Captials. I'm AA and play hockey and so do my kids. And yes, I wish more of us would skate more, but ice is expensive and very time Consuming.

A worksheet a day keeps the F away.

Hey, some prefer pencil to lacrosse sticks. To each their own.

When is Jeff going to start deleting racist posts???