From: ikeda@vxcrna.cern.ch (IKEDA,M./EP)
Subject: Re: Perceptions, Realities, Perceptions
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 17:11:00 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.123933.26538@nynexst.com>, clare@nynexst.com (Clare Chu) writes...
>In article <23448@alice.att.com> jj@alice.UUCP (jj, clueless old white boy) writes:
>>In article <SHAW.92Aug13001642@whopper.lcs.mit.edu> shaw@whopper.lcs.mit.edu (Andy Shaw) writes:
>>>Absolutely correct.  But as you know and stated, almost _all_ of the ruling
>>>elite is white, and entering that elite is practically impossible for a
>>>member of a minority group.
>>It's about as impossible for me as you, despite any racial issues.
>>Now, yes, before you faint with rage, your race makes it harder,
>>I do agree with that, BUT it's no more possible for me than you.
>>I'm not born into it, and I'll never be part of it. Not now,
>>not ever.  In a very real sense, I'm no more white than you are.
> 
>  But JJ, you have a greater chance of marrying into it, than any
>  of us.  You're still white (remember or ozone-layer-challenged
>  conversation?)  And if you marry into the elite, your kids will
>  be elite.  You can still dress up in a Brooks Brother tweed
>  suit, impersonate a London accent and get accepted to the smoking
>  clubs there, if you want.  As for us, they'd spot us a mile
>  away and ask us for our passports or green cards.
>>
>  But I heard that Marcus Allen (running back for the L.A.
>  Raiders) gets stopped by cops in his fancy sports car because
>  they think he's a drug dealer.  No matter how rich, famous,
>  and accomplished he is, all the cops see is a black man in
>  a Porsche, must be a drug dealer.  I bet they won't stop
>  you if you were to tool around town in a Bimmer.  So admit
>  it JJ, it is slightly easier for you to get into the elite
>  because you can "pass".  It's harder for us to "pass".
>  When Aussie and Irish holders of student visas can cross
>  the Canadian-U.S. border easier than native-born Asian
>  Americans (who must carry passport or birth certificate,
>  whereas the Aussie carries a Cornell I.D. because she
>  "forgot" her passport, but hey, no problem, we love your
>  accent anyway), then JJ, it is still easier for you to "pass".

I have a similiar anecdote.  Twice I went to Tijuana to do some
shopping, have a nice meal, pick up a bottle of Kahlua, etc.  And
as usual in the evening there is an incredible pedestrian and car
traffic jam to get back across the border.  Everyone is waved on
through, except me.  I get asked by the border guards if I am a
citizen both times.  This has happened with other JA friends when
they visited Tijuana.  Gee, as if there were a huge number of
potential illegal aliens flowing in from Japan.

Still, one really cannot blame this on a "white elite" or "whites"
in general.  Some of the border guards were black or hispanic.  And
not all whites think the same way as these border guards.

-- Makoto
From: joanne@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Joanne Petersen)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 23:11:15 GMT
Subject: Re: Surviving in a White Man's world
Organization: Hewlett-Packard PAITC Data Center