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When it comes to politics here in Europe, you've got to understand how politics work in European countries. As far as I'm concerned, here in France, not many French people from foreign descent go into politics, because most of the politicians are from a certain "elite" schools like "Science P" or "l'ENA".

French from foreign descent rarely go into politics for that kind of reasons. Whereas in the US, it's easier for all kinds of ethnicities to go into politics, because the US hasn't got a history as the countries from the old continents have.
Could you even ever consider a non-Asian person be a prime Minister or have any important prolitical role in China, Japan, Corea or in any other Asian country?

Indeed, I would say that in business most of the European Asians aren't as successful as American Asians. I admit.

As for the stares, I personnaly think it's because when most of the Asians come to Europe, you look more like tourists with your cameras and the way you guys are dressed up (in a very American or very Asian fashion). I can tell you all this because when I go out with my friends, they sometimes tease me by saying "that my compatriotes are dressed up funny". This is mainly when you're in the Capitals of the European countries.
But when you go into the country side of most of all European countries, you're indeed more considered as curiosity, because Europeans in their country side rarely get any visit from any Asians.

I've been living in Europe for almost 9 years now. Have lived in England, Holland, Switzerland and now France, have visited Belgium, Hungary, Germany and Spain and have never noticed any particular unfriendly stare.

The only stares you get are from girls when you go clubbing at night :)
Asian World Citizen Thursday, May 16, 2002 at 18:11:44 (PDT)

"But my point is that while the principle of the school prides itself in being "the most tolerant school" in world, there are still some racist incidents."

What is the majority Chinese government doing about it? They are too busy keeping out other Chinese from the mainland rather than keeping out racist Brits from Britain or for that matter other racist whites. Seems like whites have more privileges and opportunities in Hong Kong than Mainland Chinese. If the Hong Kong Chinese (government) treat other Chinese (mainland citizens) like dirt, what do you expect the Brit attitude to be?

My brother was called a "chink" once (surprising in a place like HK) by a Brit boy. My parents went to see his homeroom teacher about it and got a "so what?" response from her."

Was the teacher a Brit, another white or Chinese?

"In my brother's grade, they were also assigning English places for next year and they ended up putting all the kids with Chinese last names into ESL groups even though most of them do alright in English. So there still seems to be a bit of British supremacy even in a place like HK."

May be if the Chinese government treated other Chinese with respect including the so-called "immigrants" from the Mainland, the Brits would treat us better. As it stands we degrade ourselves. No West German would treat an East German like the Hong Kong authorities treat our people from the Mainland. We are simply degrading ourselves.

Vancouver HK Chinese Thursday, May 16, 2002 at 15:05:49 (PDT)

To ka,

In general, Asians do very well in Britain, most of them are very well-respected professionals. In fact, the most well-off ethnic minority in the UK are the Chinese; the Jews are second.
The Duke of Edinburgh Thursday, May 16, 2002 at 12:54:47 (PDT)

maxdacat,

Oxford is not "cosmopolitan" in the strict sense of the word; however, because the town attracts so many people from all over the world, including visiting scholars and tourists alike, there is more of a racial mix there than in, say, the north of England or the midlands.

Did you expect the Brits to be progressive? This is interesting because when I left for England, I was expecting it to be deplorably racist and sexist, as one British professor in the States warned me: perhaps this is why I ended up happier than I anticipated.

But there IS indeed such a thing as a "Little Englander" mentality. Especially at their "football" games. In 1996, after England lost to Germany, some hooligans beat up a Russian because they thought he was German.

Yep, the midwest is kind of an "Asian desert" relative to the East (NYC) and West coasts (CA). I have never been to Minnesota so can't speak for it, but just be glad you're not going in the winter where it is supposed to be freezing.

AM islander,

I would imagine that the Brits in Hong Kong are probably the worst because
they have an inferiority complex to begin with. Generally speaking, only the white British "losers" get sent to Asian countries and these people take out their loss of pride and resentment on the locals. The children of these white British losers, if they grow up there, end up adopting all of their parents prejudices. At the same time, because many Chinese are taught to defer and be polite to "guests," these whites tend to assume that such behavior confirms their own superiority.

Have your parents and other Asians thought about getting together to protest your school's treatment of Asians? Even if it means expressing outright anger: sometimes this is the only means by which you can get Westerners to respond. I find that threatening with legal action or withdrawal of support usually does the trick.
Asian Dominatrix Thursday, May 16, 2002 at 12:24:14 (PDT)

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