Annoyances of Asian American Life | Asian American Poll

ANNOYANCES OF
ASIAN AMERICAN LIFE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:25:53 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Which of the following is the most annoying occurrence to which Asian Americans are routinely subjected?
Being told you speak English well | 21%
Being asked where you're from, originally | 28%
Having (non-Asian) strangers address you with phrases in Asian languages | 23%
Being subjected to offensive media portrayals of Asians | 28%

Which of the following is the most common way in which racial hostility has been expressed toward you?
Hostile words spoken to your face | 9%
Hostile remarks to others within earshot | 41%
Slurs or taunts shouted from a distance | 17%
Spreading of malicious gossip about you | 6%
Pointedly excluding you from a conversation or event | 27%

In your experience what types of persons are most likely to show hostility toward Asians?
People with low educational levels | 24%
People from social backwaters | 17%
People insecure about their own places in society | 28%
People envious of Asian success | 11%
People with little contact with other ethnicities | 19%

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WHAT YOU SAY

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krasavitsa,

Most of the Russian immigrants in the USA are Russian Jews. Culturally their vastly different from the Russian mainstream populace.
AC Dropout Friday, May 10, 2002 at 05:24:08 (PDT)

What's all this talk about the Russians?
WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK? Russians don't have such great reputations anywhere. Heard of "Brighton Beach" in NYC? All these recent Russian jews are shady, low life, scam artists, they are junior mafia trash taking orders from the Italian mafia. Even most American jews consider them shady characters.
Now, Russians in Russia are backward shmucks who want desperately to modernize begging for Asian and European investment. Bunch of drunks who can't hold their liquor or women. Look at all these Russian women wanting to escape Russia.
Too much vodka? Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 19:50:41 (PDT)

Krasavitsa, don't misunderstand me! I am aware that russkies are racist also toward Germans, turkish,French and etc.not to mention the Japanese!! (cuz of their little invasion back then) so I just thought I'd point that out. I know them well enough to almost be able to distinguish Russians from Russian Jews who by the way don't like each other either. I will concede however the fact that Russian babes are quite fine so that goes to show you that I'm not the racist ogre that you thought I was.
TOY SUNNER Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 15:46:44 (PDT)

sweet thang, toy sunner, the chick with a Russian bf,

It's true. Russians that I've met in America ARE racist. Most Russians, even russian-Americans, are LARGELY 1st or 2nd generation. The large majority are Euro-FOBs, hence they bring their old-country mentalities with them. Keep in mind that they come from a cold, miserable place where NO migrants would even DREAM of settling down, unless they were forcibly placed there. Hence, there is little diversity or exposure to other cultures there. I used to be neighbors with a Belarussian guy in college, and he was a very intelligent guy, but was in a sense, a complete ignoramus. He was virulently anti-semitic, but in his words, "graciously" decided to 'tolerate' us (Asians) b/c we are smart. According to him, he thought people had things to learn from us because we are all scientists and make cool electronic devices. All this, coming from a German and Bio major from an Ivy League University. It's an absolute disgrace that people like this exist. All I could do was just be civil to him, and just pity him. Besides, he was skinny as HELL, and probably knew not to overstep his bounds with me, since I could have easily slapped him silly.
Russians in America can be FOOLS... but what can you do? Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 15:30:14 (PDT)

My girlfriend is Russian and I have traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg 3 times. It's true many Russians are racist.... but then again, many are not. When I was in Moscow, I was often gawked at in the streets and night clubs but that's understandable, being the ONLY nonwhite face in a sea of Russians. How confident are you? Try walking into a Moscow nightclub and having 1000 pairs of eyes lock onto your entrance, just because you're not white! *smile* But Russians often forget that because of 200 years of Mongol invasion, many Russians have some or a lot of Asian blood in them. And because of the Mongol influence, a lot of Russian cultural values are very Asian: respect to elders, emphasis on higher education, trust in family and love of children. Personally, I feel very comfortable in a Russian environment; if you take some time to absorb some Russian history, you'd be more inclined to think Asians have more in common with Russians than with Anglo-Saxon culture!

NJ_CornellGuy james193a@yahoo.com Thursday, May 09, 2002 at 14:38:26 (PDT)

krasavitsa:
Individual Russians you meet are almost sure to be nice (people who associate with you are self-selected for lack of racism, otherwise, they'd avoid you). However, modern Russian politics are highly xenophobic. Putin has the dubious distinction of being the first European leader since Hitler who came to power by legitimate means and then used illegitimate police harassment to compel enormous numbers of high-profile Jews to give up leadership positions in banking and media organizations - a move he made with a decent base of popular support. Though to his credit, he is exiling them rather than executing them. Putin's also responsible for a lot of "yellow peril" propaganda about Chinese and Korean merchants taking over Siberia (mostly from Russians who never wanted to be there in the first place, and who consequently get drunk a lot and don't get married or have many kids). A xenophobic political atmosphere is likely to produce a higher than normal portion of xenophobic and racist people, which is going to persist over here among immigrants in the US.
T.H. Lien Wednesday, May 08, 2002 at 11:26:41 (PDT)

HEY! No stereotyping of Russians! I'm Asian (of Chinese origin) and my boyfriend is Russian. We've been together two and a half years and he's sweet, caring, intelligent and gorgeous. His family is really nice to me too. I have several Russian friends.

TOY SUNNER, what you wrote is so racist. What is racism, if not negative stereotyping of an ethnic group? I'm amazed you don't see the irony of your posting.

krasavitsa Thursday, May 02, 2002 at 19:16:02 (PDT)

Pursuing the "american dream" most often means forgetting who they are and where they came from.
man of many winters Thursday, May 02, 2002 at 08:50:36 (PDT)

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