White privilege?

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#1

I heard some discussion the other day on something that really made me think. I thought I’d post it here and get some comments.

Two things first.
(1) I am not African-American.
(2) This is NOT an election or politics thread. Though my examples use the idea of candidates, it’s because they are high-profile examples of society. This is NOT meant to be about the election or politics; please don’t turn it into that.

Recently I heard a discussion about the different forms of racism in the US. Of course there’s been huge progress made in the last 40 years, but there were three points that made me think (and I’m most interested in the third point).

(1) While we as a country are so much better with racism now than we were just 40 or 50 years ago, it was pointed out that while most Americans think lynchings in the South stopped by the 50s or 60s, that’s not the case. The last lynching (KKK) was in the 80s (1981), when Reagan was in office.

(2) Not really important, but just an aside: the different ways hyphenated names appear for various ethnic backgrounds. If your great-grandmother came from Italy, you can proudly tell someone you’re an “Italian-American” if you want. That’s being country specific. You never say “European American” unless you’re a scholar or academic. You never say it in everyday converstation. You’d say something like “Of course I like pizza, I’m Italian-American.” But for Africa, the entire continent has been lumped together, as if there are no separate countries, or they’re all “the same.” You would say (if you want), “I’m African-American.” How many times have you heard someone say “I’m Congolese-American” if only their great-grandparents came from there? No, it’s always just lumping together of the entire continent for everyday speech. For Asia, it works both ways. Both “Chinese-American” and “Asian-American” are considered normal for everyday speech. So for Europe, you can have country-specific hyphenated names, for Asia you can have both Continent-only and country-specific hyphenated names, but for Africa, only continent-specific hypenated names.
Again, this isn’t high on my “important” list, but it did make me think.

(3) What really got me thinking though, and what I’d like to hear others comment on, was the notion of a double standard of people’s impressions of the same situation, depending on the race of the people involved. Two examples: (once again, this is NOT an election thread. I’m using candidates as examples because they are high profile, and you can look at recent real-life events. But this is meant to look at soceity in general. Think of generic ones if you want).

Take a look at the two statements below and comment on them. I’m not asking you to comment on your own feelings necessarily, but on what you think our soceity’s (as a whole) reaaction is to these two scenarios:

#1

  • If you have a white candidate who likes to yell and scream a lot (there have been plenty), he will generally be seen by our society (our people in general, and the media) as a fiery, passionate politician, passionate about what he believes in.

  • If you have a black candidate who likes to yell and scream a lot, he will be seen by many as a black radical… and perhaps a little dangerous.

#2

  • If you have a high-profile black (or Latino) candidate and that candidate had a large family, and a pregnant, unmarried 17-yr old daughter by his side, it would be another example to many Americans, of the failure of “family” and traditional values in the African American (or Latino) community.

  • If you have a high-profile white candidate and that candidate had a large family, and a pregnant, unmarried 17yr-old daughter by his side, it’s an unfortunate thing, but we’ll forgive them, these things happen, and it’s obvious there’s love there in the family.

The notion that whites are often given a free pass or a lighter slap where if the same cicumstances happened to a minority, the public’s views are much harsher and more severe.

Don’t know about you, but this really made me think. It’s not something like overt racism, but as examples like these were brought up, it was hard to disagree with them. As much as I wanted to be able to, in my heart, I felt there was some truth to this. Hmm. Comments, anyone?

#2

Ridiculous.

#3

I think it’s true that, as a world, very generally, and America also, we seem to have progressed from racism in terms of how it used to be fifty or so years ago. But racism does still occur, very often in some places, and it does seem like one of those things that will be used against people perhaps even in a hundred or two hundred years from now. It’s as though it can’t be totally eliminated.

You talk about some interesting things and make some interesting points, joehisa. Though I think, when considering the whole ‘African-American’ versus ‘Italian-American’ thing, one of the main reasons for that is probably because, stereotypically, both the countries in Africa and Asia all seem quite similar to each other, especially to people that have never visited either continents, whilst in Europe, there’s a pretty big distinction between countries, for example, if you compared Italy with France. The languages and culture of the two places aren’t the same, whilst in Africa, it could be argued that the countries are ‘more similar’. I’m pretty sure they’re not all the same, but they’re less distinctive than the differences between most European countries.

In terms of blacks and whites being treated differently in the cases you used, you’ve also sort of got to look at it the other way as well. Sometimes, ethnic minorities are favoured over those who aren’t ethnic minorities, simply because of their race. It’s sort of like positive racism, and it has been occurring more and more recently. It seems as though some people aren’t able to judge whether a person is right for the job purely on their skills and suitability- it’s as though race has to influence it, one way or the other, which is a shame.

Anyway, with the cases you’ve used, the people who think those things are the ones that are letting race influence them. So, they’re biased, and therefore they might end up voting for someone that doesn’t portray what they’re looking for. The thing is, not everyone can not be biased, if you see what I mean. There are people that will always be influenced by race, even if they are slightly fewer nowadays. It’s just the way it is, but I think the fact that there is a black candidate running for president is a good example of how Americans have progressed.

#4

lizardgirl,
You bring up some good points too. Not to cut anyone off, but I really don’t want this turned into a political thread (affirmative action, other political topics) or specific candidates. Maybe I shouldn’t have used “candidates” except it just seemed a perfect example because such people are out in the limelight (I did say to use generic ones).

I’m more talking about subtler things about society as a whole. Like if you’re walking down a dark street at night in a big city, would you be more, less, or no change likely to walk on the other side of the street or hurry up if if there was a black or hispanic walking a bit behind you as opposed to a white guy doing the same thing. I’m really not trying to bring this up because of politics, or tie it to an election (it’s just probably because of the election that these things are now in the spotlight)… but the issues I was wondering about have nothing to do with elections or politics at their core (politics can come in and try to address a situation later, by making it better or worse depending on your point of view, but I was wondering about the situation itself, not the politics side of it).

So in a completely anonymous race (no names, doesn’t matter what office they’re running for or what party they’re in), does Candidate X, if he’s black, have to go out of his way and spend more time showing he’s just a “normal fellow” than Candidate Y (if he’s white) would?

Or maybe another example would be even the Cosby Show. I never watched it (not much into sitcoms in general) but apparently it really surprised a lot of people at the time it came out simply because it showed an African-American family as being no different than a white family (average, middle-class, typical normal family).

I guess what I was trying to get at was, there are laws that say you can’t discriminate against someone for their race, gender, etc. But does soceity here in the US (don’t know about the UK) really actually treat Person X the same as Person Y in the same situations if their races are different?

Not a light topic, I know.
But I heard a discussion that raised a lot of points, and it just got me thinking.

Again, this isn’t politics. It’s more like “How do you act” when no one’s looking?

#5

#1-It all depends on what your saying…the porblem with your analysis is that you compare reverand White with John McCain or someone who speaks very passionatly. What teh acdidates say is much more inmportant…but if they speak with passion people get around that person becuase they believe what they say. I don’t support Obama becuase he knows what he is running for and his principles…but he sure won’t let anyone else get near them. The idea athat white people have priority when it comes ot passion is insane. Martin Luther was passionite…Billy Graham was passionite. Both different but both trying to put their idea intop the spotlight. First talk about what they are saying then look at their passion. Never look at a person’s passion and say they are bad…

#2-I’d hold eiother accountable…I hold Sarah Palins DAUGHTER accountable…it was her choice and her decision. When you become a teenager your parentd can’t always be over you like a hawk and it seems like most people assume that parents spend all day protecting their children from harm. You know she does have a say in her life. Whether she gets pregnent or not that is her choice not her mom’s. And a wrapup on that story…they’re married. So…do you know someone who got pregnant and didn’t get married…did they get an abortion? Is that worse?

#3-You said that your not using politicalexample but these topics revolve around example anyway…also where did you get these ideas?

#6

Hate to rain on your parade, but there was a lynching in Texas in 1999. They just drug the man behind a truck instead of hanging from a tree.

Lynching is defined as two or more people gathering to inflict harm on one individual.

#7

I can’t fill one hand with the amount of white people I have met that are racist.

But yet I have heard countless comments about how white people are snobby, prissy, wimpy, evil… the list goes on and on.

Did you know that there is a law that if an ethnic person and a white person are up for the same job, the ethnic person, by law, must be hired first?

Many collages, especially ones like Harvard, Standford, and Duke accept only a number of white people and the rest ethnic to make themselves look good, kicking off countless of more qualified whites because they would look to common?

My uncle watches stand up comedy a lot. If a white person went up and gave a skit on how stupid ethnic people are, they would be racist right? Then how come a black person can do a skit on how stupid white people are and never hear an ill word?

Truth is, “We should be equal” has gone to “A hundred years ago, they where treated badly, so we should treat them better then us now”. I am not saying all ethnic people are like this or there are no racist whites anymore, but that is the way it is. Yes, there are racist whites. Yes, they can do bad things. But why should we have to give up our jobs, collage educations, and dignity to make up for those couple of people?

#8

  1. I suppose the reasons why people in the US think the last lynching happened in the '80s is because of the amount of progress that has been made between now and then. I would like to think that for most Americans they would be absolutely disgusted by any lynchings of anyone, let alone minorities. Perhaps the upturn in that rate of acceptance (probably helped by African-Americans in the media which has helped to educate, as I’ll get to later) in the past 10 years alone of ethnic minorities, it’s made people think that it would have been an unfathomable thing to do and that we’ve gone way beyond that and given us a sense of it happened “long ago, because look how far we’ve come” kind of thing. I hope that makes sense.

  2. Like many things, I don’t think using African or Asian-American is used to trivialise the differences between the countries within those continents, but it’s just become an acceptable way of referring to yourself as a minority. The reason why you wouldn’t use Congolese-American is because people wouldn’t know where it is, I guess. It would also be dependant on how much other people generally know about that country. If the media focused on a certain country and people became more aware, than it would become more common and easier to use because there wouldn’t be the need for explanation that would come along with it about where that country is. In Australia, it’s common for the Sudanese-Australians to be called that way because we are a bit aware of the situation over there, than with other African countries. So I think it’s a matter of convenience as for the ethnic minority to not have to explain over and over which country they are from, and people are more familiar with continents in general than specific countries, so again it’s just an easier term to use for instant understandability.If someone wanted to use the country of their parents, rather than their continent, then the more they did so, the more common it would become and more people from the same area of the world would use it and so on and then what was once Continent-Country of Residence, would then become: Country-Country of Residence.

  3. If it’s a minority that is trying to get votes from people aged 60+ who may still be racist because of the way the minorities were portrayed and it was accepted and even encouraged to be racist back then, the minority candidate may have to work even harder to disprove that theory and that they’re just an American like you and that it’s “safe” for you to vote for them. Older people traditionally hold onto their beliefs because if they’ve had those beliefs all their life, they feel in control to hold onto them, especially with this ever-changing world, if they can hold onto their true values (even if they are racist values) then it makes them feel safe themselves. So that’s why it takes a while for prejudice to be erased - basically, all the old people have to die and the younger, more open-minded generation take their place.

But back to the point at hand, I suppose if a candidate has to try to get votes and please everyone, if they are a minority, they have to work harder to work against the negative stereotypes to prove that they’re ok to vote for. It also depends on the stereotype. Maybe some people would be more likely to vote for a “hard-working, intelligent” Asian than a “lazy” Mexican. So some stereotypes may even help a candidate win, while others may make things difficult. But even so-called positive stereotypes can be a pain, too.

If you aren’t talking about candidates and just talking about ethnic minorities interactions with people in every day life, I couldn’t answer that since I’m not in the ethnic minority. I like to think that I’d be willing to connect with anyone, no matter their race, and sometimes meeting someone from a different culture to yours or background is interesting because they have different experiences and traditions to share. The media would also help a great deal in busting these stereotypes, taking away the pressure from the minorities to do so. It would also depend on the generation and what prior experience and knowledge people have about that minority. I think the younger generation is becoming more accepting of people of different races because of the open dialogue of the issue and also the melting pot of different nationalities. I try to be open with whoever I meet and want to learn more about those of different nationalities and ethnicities so I can learn about people. I’m an equal opportunity employer. :stuck_out_tongue: Having said that, you eventually just focus on the person anyway because it’s the inside that counts (yeah, cheesy but true) and their origin becomes a redundant point.

It would depend on if I was alone or not but the real decider for what I would do is whether they were male and if there was more than one male. Physically an adult male, and definitely more than one male would be able to overpower me and would have more of an ability to mug or assault me. It would also depend on the neighbourhood, too, and whether if it gave me a seedy vibe. Frankly, I’m so paranoid that if any male was walking a bit behind me, I’d be on guard. Is that sexist?

I think this is to make up for the minorities who in the past have not been hired for that job because of their race. So it’s a law that is there to address the imbalance of the past, or even in the present because that company has had a history of not hiring capable applicants because of their race. I heard this from my teacher, but treating everyone as equal is not the way to deal with in equality, but you have to bring minorities up to the level of non-minorities in order to give them, as us Aussies would call it, a “fair go”. I think the general use of “affirmaitve action”, which is what you were refering to, is if there are two candidates applying for a position somewhere that had a history of denying places to whatever minority, no matter how qualified they were, then the law is brought in to address that discrimination. So the place is given to the minority.

One aspect to think about with affirmative action are the representation of minorities in the media. Personally, I think it’s important for minorities to be represented because they serve as role models to younger minorities, but most importantly, show an acceptance of wider society of those minorities. It can also work in reverse, too, more minorities shown in the media can affect the outlook of those minorities by society, hopefully for the better, which in turn affects the media again and so on, until it becomes the norm and the over-representation of those minorities are not needed any more because it’s become normal and the minorities have become an accepted and supported part of society, and then the next minority comes along and the cycle continues of integration and eventually acceptance.

In regards to affirmative action, does it work the other way with model minorities? Should universities and corporations specifically not hire an Asian-American because that minority has a disproportionately high “success” rate in certain fields such as medicine? Or should affirmative action still be applied to Asian minorities to counter the discrimination and repression in the US in the past?

Anywho, a lot of those points I’m just throwing out there, sorry if it’s not tied together very well. But a really interesting topic, joehisa. :slight_smile:

#9

Great post, rachelcakes! I agree with many of your points.

1: As rachelcakes said, it seems that the general mindset has changed so much in the past 50 odd years that lynchings are now considered more as past horrors but are no longer a real concern. You can also take into account of how people reacted to lynchings in the past compared to now. People used to accept lynchings as a terrible but a not-uncommon aspect in life. Hate fueled the lynchings and fear kept people from speaking out against it. Today, news of a lynching will stir up an uproar.

2: I suppose the reason why people use the term “African-American” is because of the fact that many black American families have lived in America for generations since their first ancestors were brought over from Africa to become slaves. Many black Americans do not know much about their roots because of this and the only way for them to know is to do intense research and DNA testing or hire a service to research for them (which even then is approximate and varies from company to company.)

Meanwhile I’ve never really felt affronted at the whole continent grouping thing. It’s very draining to have to explain every specific detail about your background so I suspect it’s all for convenience really. I know some people with relatively complicated backgrounds whether they be of mixed ethnicities or parents of one ethnicity who moved to another country and lived there most of their life and had a child in another country and speak multiple languages, etc. etc. If people are curious then all that’s required is to simply ask. Most people are pretty comfortable talking about their ethnicity, I think.

3: For the first one, it mostly depends on the content for me but sometimes if the speaker is of a certain background, it may emphasize their point much more effectively than someone of a different background. For example, a speaker who is an immigrant will carry much more weight in his or her words when speaking about experiences as an immigrant living in America than someone whose family lived in America for several generations.

As for the second scenario, it does become a bit complex. I don’t think large families are really negative in the eyes of the public. But in terms of political candidates, I suppose it would depend on how the candidate’s family reacts to news of a pregnant, unmarried teenager in the family. Whether the candidate would support the girl who would want to marry or have an abortion would definitely affect how voter’s feel towards the candidate.

Then that is a very good thing :laughing: But still, the truth is being racist does not mean just being venomous and spiteful-- it can be very subtle. It’s no longer widely accepted to be openly racist, so I don’t think people would want to reveal that aspect of themselves in public. But still, everyone has prejudices and pre-conceived ideas about people of another race. Essentially, everyone is racist, to some degree. It really depends on how open a person is to accept a new culture and dispel false pretenses and whether or not that person tries to impose their ideas of what one race should be onto someone else.

It’s a way of laughing at the pain while still addressing it in satire. If it were a white comedian derogating another ethnicity, it would only communicate that person’s belief that whites can still step all over everyone else like it were still the Imperial Age.

I think you’re exaggerating when you say that whites give up so much for minorities. It just seems like that because whites have gotten the upper hand over minorities for so long. There was never truly any social “equality” in this country. If you look back in history, you will find a frighteningly long trail of hypocrisy and greed (usually to the benefit of wealthy white men.) It was only in the last few decades that minorities finally have more chances and opportunities to work and gain more for themselves. I’d say that sounds more like equality to me

#10

I’m not against equality at all. I don’t think anyone should be separated, killed, ridiculed, rejected, or deprived of rights because of their race. But equality doesn’t mean that one person should get ahead because of their race.

Of course I know that. Some of the racist people I know are within my extended family. They don’t do lynchings, don’t turn people away, don’t spit at them or anything else, but they don’t like African-Americans as much as they like white people. I know, it’s very wrong, and I don’t like it at all. But they do. And I understand that. But there still isn’t that many of them. However, there is an African American boy in my class who constantly calls his own race the n word. He’s all into “black power,” though. Those who went through the major years of discrimination would feel ashamed to hear him call black people the n word. But he does. He uses that extremely offensive term, and then he accusses the slightest thing to be racist. He obviously doesn’t really take racism seriously. (PS. I know not all African Americans are like this!!! This is an example!!!)

However, there is a man in my church who I have never even heard say racist. He has also never said the n word (which, by the way, in my family is worse then a curse word). He is very nice and is very polite, and unlike the boy, doesn’t act like I should hail him in the halls for be African American (and then uses a derogitary term to discribe the same people he’s defending). I’m sorry, but I respect the man a lot more.

My sister watches an Indian comedian who makes fun of ALL races. White, black, Asian, Latin, all. Why can he do this? 'Cause he’s Indian, so he isn’t seen as racist. According to her, he’s hilarious. Obviously a white person couldn’t do this. Now, I understand what your getting at. But I highly doubt they make fun of white people because they’re “making satire of the pain.” They do it because it’s funny XD. Now, don’t get me wrong, jokes about white people can be really hysterical. Actually, my family makes fun of white people all the time. White people are pretty darn fun (and easy) to make fun of. :smiley:

And yes, white people did some very bad things. And other ethinicities were treated very badly. But the idea that affirmitive action is “getting even” makes NO SENSE. It would make sense if we were going back in time, getting those who were discriminated against, and bringing them back here to get something for all the torment. But we’re not. I didn’t whip or segregate those people. Why am I supossed to feel ashamed to be white? That’s like saying since Charles Manson was white too, I should pay for his crimes. That doesn’t make sense, either. The boy in my class never expirienced the racism he often complains about. Yes, his ancestors may have, but he’s not his ancestors. He isn’t even the slightest bit poor. If someone today was truly expiriencing racism, which I know very well happens and I’m very upset about, then by all means, they should get something from the community.

I’m gonna get off this board before everyone starts hating me ):

#11

Ah, the “n” word. What a can of worms that is.

Well, you have a lot of different views on this, even within the African-American community. “Nigger” is a shortened term of “negro” and was used against African-Americans as a derogatory term, as I’m sure is common knowledge. What you will usually find is that older African-Americans don’t like anyone using that term because it reminds them of when it was said to them when they were repressed - an ethnic slur. But younger African-Americans like to use that word amongst their fellow African-American friends as a way of “taking the word back”. If they can use it amongst themselves but you can’t, then they have power over that word again and the tables have turned. Other minority groups do the same thing, like in the LGBT community a gay man can call another gay guy a “fag” or “fairy” because it’s in jest and they’re taking the word back from people who used it against them in the past.

But if someone outside that minority said that, unless you were close friends with them (which can even be a way of bonding because you feel close enough to say it to them even though you’re not black yourself, as a way of making fun of racism itself) you would get quite a negative reaction because it may hit too close to home if they don’t know what your intentions are. The assumption is unless there’s an exception such as you know someone very well or are of that same minority AND you know it’s cool to say it, then the assumption would be that you are saying it as a put-down or are being culturally insensitive which is why you should tread carefully.

You know I somewhat agree with this. For years the Australian government would NOT say “sorry” to the Aboriginal Australians for the horrific treatment of taking away their children in the '60s so they could grow up with white Australians, as well as you know, arriving on this land and murdering thousands of Aboriginals and stealing it. When I was in primary school my teachers didn’t make the distinction between the students (me) saying sorry and the reasoning behind that. I felt like I should have been saying sorry on behalf of myself because I am white and, I guess, represent white Australians. But now I understand that you can still say sorry and be empathetic without taking responsibility for something you had no control over.

No-one should ever be ashamed for the way they are born, or made to feel ashamed. You should be proud of who you are, but that doesn’t meant that other people can’t be proud of who they are too.

Another point I’d love to hear opinions on, is “black pride” ok, but “white pride” is not? I think it depends on the context and who says it. “Black pride”, “gay pride”, “Asian pride” etc etc is a name given to being proud of being a minority, because they were repressed within the US, but “white pride” has associations with the KKK and may give the impression of superiority over other minority races, which I guess is why it’s uncool to use that phrase. Having said that, I’m “proud” to be white, but I think other people should be proud of whatever race they are too because there’s no shame in the way you were born.

#12

Yeah it would be wonderful if it were true but discrimination is still quite abundant in society. There are programs and laws that try to compromise but most of the time people end up having to deal with it.

I think you’re talking about Russell Peters. He’s pretty famous and is deservedly famous because he does so much research with people of different races and cultures and background. The accents he imitates are so spot on you can’t help but laugh, especially if you are familiar with the foreign accents. And some of the scenarios he brings up do reflect on some issues and stereotypes that people of that background face everyday, so he connects with people even though he is not the same race. I think a white comedian would still be able to pull of jokes concerning race and culture so long as he or she does the research and performs with heart.

You shouldn’t. There are a lot of pent up feelings from people of every race and some people do feel a need to cast blame on others. There is no culture on earth that does not have something in its past to be ashamed of, but it shouldn’t stop people from being proud of where they came from and how they grew up.

#13

I didn’t mean African Americans should not take pride in who they are. They should.

For example, the boy in my class claims anyone to be racist that isn’t treating the African Americans better then white people. He told me that because Bush didn’t go to extra lengths to help the black people after Katrina, he was racist. I told him

“Why should he help the black people MORE? They all went through the same catastrophe. When he tried to help people, sure he may not have helped as much as he could, but not because of race.”

His comeback?

“RACIST!”

It’s people like that who really irk me.

And I’m proud to be white. Not because I think I’m superior, but my family is from a lot of different countries with a lot of different cultures to explore. I like who I am. I don’t like the KKK (anyone who does has tissues!) but I’m proud of my heritage.

#14

Ooh, this has become the proverbial minefield, but you guys are handling it well. I hope I don’t step on any ‘live’ ones…

Anyway, it’s fun reading through your walls of texts. Here’s my two cents:

  • Ethnic minorities can get away with making fun of their own race and others because they can be ‘forgiven’ since they’re not the dominant one. For some reason, this phenomenon seems to be the reverse in Asian countries, where the minority is often the butt of racial jokes. I know this for a fact because in Singapore and Malaysia, Indians and Caucasians are often made fun of, the former in particular is the butt of many racial jokes in good jest, but it does get old. As for the latter, they’re often referred to as ‘ang mohs’ which is colloquialism of ‘hong mao’ meaning ‘redhead’ (although ironically, the majority of Caucasians are either blonde or black-haired). This term could be seen as an affectionate term of endearment for the Western expatriate, but it could also be interpreted as a marginalising nickname for the ‘Others’.

  • Although much has progressed in terms of racial equality, this has given rise to what some people call ‘racial tokenism’. I’m actually interested in this phenomenon, as I’m starting to notice an increasing number of Asian representation in the American media (like TV shows and movies). This is pretty much like the stereotypical Black side-character or sidekick of the 80s and 90s, before they started becoming leading men and women. These characters would have little to no bearing on the plot, and are tacked on just to give a face to Asian minorities. While I’m all for a more realistic portrayal of today’s modern cosmopolitan societies, I can’t help but view this goodwill act with an air of cynicism. When’s the last time an Asian man or woman was the lead protagonist of a Western film or TV show? I can probably count the number on my left hand: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Fann Wong (S’porean), Michelle Yeoh (M’sian), Lucy Liu, John Cho, Chow Yun Fatt… how many? 6 so far (Okay, so that’s one more than expected). The same goes for Latino actors and actresses (Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Robert Rodriguez… and I’m stuck). Granted, this is much better progress than their Asian film and TV counterparts (who seem to only portray Caucasians as the ‘bad guys’ most of the time), but the Western world has to take the lead and show a better example to the world with regards to race representation.

  • Sorry to idealists everywhere, but workplace discrimination still exists. This is a very sensitive topic in Malaysia, but I’m gonna stick my neck out and say it anyway under the anonymity of the Internet, and also because it’s a longstanding issue of contention in our government’s policies. This might be the example of affirmative action working against model minorities that Rachel’s looking for.

Before Independence, the Brit colonialists pretty much ruled over everyone, but one good thing they enforced and left us with was the ideal of meritocracy. If you’re the best person for the job, you get it, whether you’re Indian, Indonesian, a woman, or all three. After we gained our freedom, the Malays, being the predominant race, were the majority of the ruling government, represented by the political party UMNO. Somewhere along the way, they enacted a series of pro-Bumiputra laws (Bumiputra meaning ‘Son of the Earth’, a term to the refer to the indigenous Malay population) collectively called the New Economic Policy (or NEP for short), which gave preferential treatment to Malays. Under this system, they were entitled to certain privileges and rights, whether it be for university admissions, workplace quotas (you have to have 50% of workers in your company be Malay, as an example) and fastracked project approvals. The head honchos say this is to ‘redistribute the wealth’ and ‘reduce ethnic conflict’, but most of us know that this is just a cover-up to compensate for their lack of education and economic success in recent years in comparison to other races.

This has resulted in a ‘brain drain’ of disenchanted Chinese and Indians, who emigrate to places like Singapore, US, and Australia rather than face an uphill battle against a ‘rigged’ government system. Now I have nothing against the Malays, in fact, I’m friends with some of them. Some even side with us, saying that the government is actually causing complacency among their people. Having grown up a life reliant on entitlements and benefits, they would face difficulties should they ever move to other countries like Singapore or the U.S. which practices a more meritocratic policy. I’ll never know how bad the situation is until I actually start to find a job in Malaysia, I suppose. But my parents are very unhappy with this, and they advise me to work in other countries. Which is sad really, because as much as I love my homeland, this preferential and unfair system is really making it hard for me to make a living there. :frowning:

As for Australia, I read a report on how Sydney is the worst with regards to employment discrimination, hiring the least proportion for Asians and Middle Easterns with comparison to Aboriginals and Anglo-Saxons, based on their names in the resumes. The investigating team sent out resumes with different names but the same qualifications or something, and Melbourne and Brisbane fared better than Sydney. Which is ironic, because Sydney is the most multicultural of the lot. :confused: Maybe it’s because the Asian proportion is less in the smaller towns, so the employers feel less ‘threatened’ or something.

  • There’s a certain type of behavioural aspect with regards to discrimination that just cheeses me off. As Rac_Rules has pointed out, it’s the ‘Me Against The Man’ self-defeatist attitude. While it’s okay to point out government bureaucracies or discriminatory policies, you’re not going to change anything by sittting on your butt and whining. I have an Indian friend who acts like a Black guy (ironic, I know) and keeps on going about how he is being discriminated against, when actually he has a lot of Chinese friends. Even weirder, he has a penchant for Asian chicks, but he whinges that they don’t like him. When I advised him to just “ask them out”, he said “they already don’t like me for being Indian already”. Which is stupid. Yes, they could turn him down, but he’d never know till he tries, won’t he? If you want to get an Asian girlfriend, you gotta try. Even that itself is ridiculous, because how would you know an Asian would be the best bet for a lady friend? She could be white, black, or green for that matter. Love doesn’t have to be confined to one race. I think he should widen his ‘pond’ a little more. But that’s his decision.

That got a lot off my chest. I hope you got an insight into my views on race and culture. Jeez, where did the last half hour went? :stuck_out_tongue: