Job Discussion Forums

Chairman Roberto · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 150 Location: Taibei, Taiwan

Aw jeez, let's trot out this badly decomposed horse for yet another pummeling...

I'm an American, Hispanic. Grew up in surburban L.A., but ended up in Atlanta. From time to time, people mistook me for...I don't know, "white," so they felt comfortable saying racist remarks against African-Americans around me. Fabulous.

I just wish people would realize how flippin' inbred they appear when they make these remarks. It's as if they walked into the office wearing no pants.

Anyway, obviously NO American...I can't speak for the egalatarian, love-filled paradises of England, Canada or Australia...but NO AMERICAN should have a nanosecond of COMPLETE AND UTTER GALL to b*tch and moan about racism in Taiwan. Quit barking like the Chinese have some monopoly on racism, or that they somehow came up with it. Physician, heal thyself.

My feeling is this...China/Taiwan NEEDS Black people, now more than ever. I take my hat off to any Black American or African (or whatever swarthy ethnic group) that is nutty and thick-skinned enough to brave East Asia. Whatever the case may be, Chinese people just aren't used to Blacks...they're freaked out by them. They don't know how to act around them. They haven't encountered the basic humanity of a Black person. The same could be said of any foreigner, to a lesser degree. One of our jobs, in my opinion, to help Chinese simply get used to us. It'll be a long and painful process, and it won't happen in our generation, or even the next. But it'll happen. Hopefully.

And are we not going through the same process?...getting ourselves used to the basic humanity of the Asian...to realize they aren't this quasi-mystical race full of "ancient Chinese secrets", ready to do kung fu at the drop of a hat? God, if you just took ten seconds to look at the mind boggling number of racist stereotypes of Asians in American movies & TV, starting with Charlie Chan, well, who's the real barbarian on the block?

No, man, this isn't some Pollyanna plea of "Can't we all just get along." I'm just saying keep the faith, keep pushin' on, and never, ever let the b*stards grind you down. There's too many cool people out there to embrace misanthropy. My only council is when a group of drunks are coming your way, regardless of where they came from or what their deal is, just get the hell out of their way. This habit has kept me alive these past 33 years in 8 different countries.

Easy for me to say, since I ain't Black, I admit.

The Chairman

blackguy-n-Asia · Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 201

Very nice post Very Happy

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

MTurton · Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 107

Xenophobe · Joined: 11 Nov 2003 Posts: 163

Here's an intersting situation. A younger cousin of mine has just graduated from UBC, with an MA, and is heading to Taiwan next month. He is worried that his physical appearance may cause some problems. He is 6'7" has long red hair and a Grizzly Adams beard of the same colour(I suggested that he take the weed whacker to it before going). He also happens to be about 320 lbs., very little being winter reserves. Actually he looks alot like the wrestler, the Undertaker sans the tatoos and greasy hair. He has some fears that his size and colouring may intimidate some employers. He's just looking to see some of Asia for a year or two and make some money before he goes back for his Ph.D. I said that since he wasn't looking to deal with small children(3-8 yrs.) that he would have no problems. Anyone out there, working in colleges or highschools think his appearance would much be a detriment to his employability?

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

Rice Paddy Daddy · Joined: 11 Jul 2004 Posts: 425 Location: Japan

Yeah, aren't those Queenslanders in Australia a bunch of white, red-necky folks? LOL!! Kinda like the Southern States.

Lots of ethnocentrism and xenophobia in Queensland.

Let's face it, whether poeple here have noticed or not, Asians are some of the most racist folks, and open about it, that I've ever met.

Even back in Canada the Asians express intolerance towards other immigrants.

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

Mrs. Fortigurn · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 7

Taylor · Joined: 24 Oct 2003 Posts: 384 Location: Texas/Taiwan

Dear Readers,

I think everyone needs to recall the 80/20 Principle. 80% of the racist comments will come from 20% of the people. It doesn't matter what country you are in. Most people feel that their own race is better! Shall we discuss China, Japan, Korea and even Thailand.

QUIT 'PICKING ON' TAIWAN. Something about Taiwan causes people to constantly find faults with the people, the culture, the government, Blah, Blah, Blah!!! I guess I should remember the 80/20 rule myself! 80% of the B*tching and Moaning comes from 20% of the people!

Racism is everywhere. Screw the Racists!!! I only feel sorry for people who never realize how interesting other cultures really are!!!

Taylor
Texas/Taiwan

Fortigurn · Joined: 29 Oct 2003 Posts: 390

Polina · Joined: 04 Dec 2003 Posts: 71

About the redhead: he would be PERFECT for dealing with the kids here. Very Happy

They are disgustingly spoilt. Their parents teach them the most absurdly racist ideas about foreigners - ABSURD. The only way to deal with them is to TERRIFY them. If you don't have to try to, then you will be less likely to be gotten rid of for it.

Chairman Roberto · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 150 Location: Taibei, Taiwan

MTurton--

You've made some excellent points, most of which I agree with. But when I say "utter gall," I'm talking about this American self-righteousness when they experience the inevitable racism of Asian culture.

What I find amusing is when white folks here cry indignation and outrage when they get treated like second class citizens. Buddy, as far as I know, that is precisely what a Black American has to deal with on a semi-daily basis in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Now things have definitely improved since the 1964 Civil Rights Act...Black Americans don't have to fear a lynching if they sit in the front of the bus or drink at the wrong drinking fountain. Yes, there is a robust debate about racism in America, and our society has recognized it as a problem. But forty years after the Civil Rights Act, a good chunk of our people still despise each other. Whites hating blacks, vice versa, blacks hating Koreans and Jews, vice versa, and on and on and on. Any Black man in the States can tell you how many times they get trailed by security guards while shopping, or little old ladies clutching their handbags each time they walk by, or trying to get a taxi. And then the irony of ironies, the internal Black racism, ala the "paper bag test" where Black Americans have established their own internal racist heirarchy. We had a full-fledged race riot in our second largest city only 10 years ago, and we're probably due for another one.

So here we come to Taiwan to make some cash and maybe inject a little common sense into English instruction. Fine, we're all mercenaries, and it's a more or less honorable profession. But to come here and get all steamed up because some ignornant jerk thinks all waiguo ren are sex maniacs, or the management doesn't take us seriously, or whatever inevitable nuisances come up in a foreign country, I mean, c'mon. What were you expecting? The Haight-Ashbury Summer of Love? Taiwan is just surfacing from a brutal dictatorship that rivaled the dictatorship across the pond. I would say all things considered, Taiwanese are pretty tolerant of these over-paid, non-Chinese-speaking interlopers taking their woman and getting drunk on the streets. Yes, some gangsters and what not like to pick fights with the foreigners, but I think it's a fair assumption your typical Taiwanese isn't "mobbed up."

And for those people who do feel racially superior, wherever their live...it's their loss. They can live their petty, unexamined lives, and have a brutish and short existence. Who cares. I stopped caring about them a long time ago. Now I just concentrate on the people I care about. And I've met plenty of broad-minded Chinese, on both sides of the Straits, to keep me busy on that front. I avoid, as best I can, people who have such a glaring inferiority complex that they have to resort to racism to feel superior. Unfortuantely, wherever in the world you go, be it China, America, or Antarctica, you're going to run into those yo-yo's. That's life, like bad weather and catching a cold.

In this regard, Taiwan isn't all that different from the States. I've heard enough animosity against Blacks, Latinos, and Asians from my fellow Americans to sit here in Taiwan and call the kettle black.

Chairman Roberto