Annoyances of Asian American Life | Asian American Poll

ANNOYANCES OF
ASIAN AMERICAN LIFE
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:25:52 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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Angry- could you at least allow the smallest possibility that you might not have been right for the job? and that maybe you jumped to conclusions? Maybe you're right, maybe they are racist and don't want you to get ahead. maybe not.
? Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 11:20:38 (PDT)

Angry,

When you mean hostile remarks within your earshot, do you mean racial slurs, something derogatory about Asians, or something about your personally?

BTW, you're right about the haters. It's not cool these days to be too open about hating "chinks" and "gooks": a lot of these folks are cowardly pussies who act "politically correct" not so much as to be polite to minorities but to other whites so that they have to make up a plausible excuse and say that the minority person(s)' work is inadequate or not up to par, etc. Remember, too, no one wants to be sued for discrimination.

You can sense this at academic conferences: one Asian woman gave a very good and challenging paper on British women's perceptions of the East. The next one was a white woman who gave the crappiest paper I had EVER heard, mostly descriptive rubbish about what rich whites brought with them when travelling: the white woman got most of the questions (especially from other white women), needless to say. However, I tried to reverse things a bit by asking the Asian woman questions and then she got about 2 or 3. (I do this whenever someone's being unfairly ignored.)

Then there was another time when an Asian man was chairing a panel and one of his panelists--a white woman--went on to say how she thought the idea of his panel was so ridiculous but she thought she would do it anyway as a favour. And no, she wasn't joking. I had never heard anyone be so cutting to a chair, but I guess she figured he was only a chink, so she could be as discourteous as you please.

In my own personal experiences, white American men are generally much less rude than their female counterparts, but that's partly because as men, they are taught to defer somewhat to women, even minority ones.

But the behavior I most dislike is white women not just looking at me, but staring at me from HEAD TO TOE: I've never seen Asian, black or hispanic women do this face-to-face. (When white men look, they at least have the courtesy to smile.) I used to wonder weren't these women ever taught that staring is rude?
This behavior was finally elucidated to me by two of my white friends on separate occasions. As they see it, it's a "subtle" assertion of power over a minority: a white can stare because he/she is "superior." The other day, for instance, I was wearing a navy blue wool blazer, white shirt, pearls, jeans--in other words, nothing out of the ordinary----and one stupid blond cow stared at me up and down. So I looked disdainfully at her and turned up my nose as I passed by. (Same thing happened when I was wearing a more formal, well-fitting Agnes B pantsuit.)

BTW, I'm not trying to say that all whites are like this. There are many, many others who were brought up and raised very properly. However, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the ones who do act rude to Asians are almost inevitably--meaning 99 3/4% of the time--white.
Asian Dominatrix Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 09:39:19 (PDT)

rare stuff:

It's just as bad, because I don't want to be prejudged either way.

It's silly to me when people try to indirectly find out what ethnicity I am, by asking me the (in)direct question: "Where are you from originally?"

A. Monday, June 03, 2002 at 22:02:41 (PDT)

Most of the hostility expressed to me has been in the form of hostile remarks within my earshot, spreading malicious gossip, and excluding from a conversation or event. However, the hostility has never been pointedly racial, but has occured when the department was seeking someone to fulfill a management position within the ranks. The haters don't want someone of Asian descent in a position over them so they always make something up. This hostility is much more difficult to fight.
Angry Sunday, June 02, 2002 at 17:23:46 (PDT)

A.,

I don't believe that being stared at is that annoying if you're together in a group with other Asians.
rare stuff Sunday, June 02, 2002 at 04:57:26 (PDT)

Some people seem really surprised that an AA can speak English well.

I don't mind too much if it's from some NA old person since it's almost expected (unfortunately), but I do sometimes take offense if it's from a younger person since I feel they should know better.

Addtionally, I don't like it when people stare at me and then try to guess what ethnicity I am. They're wrong most of the time. :-P

A. Thursday, May 30, 2002 at 13:03:19 (PDT)

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