From: mark@cs.UAlberta.CA (Mark Green)
Subject: Re: Discourse on Race in Modern China
Organization: University of Alberta
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:58:54 GMT

In article <1992Oct15.191659.11988@beaver.cs.washington.edu> paulko@wolf.cs.washington.edu (Paul Ko) writes:
>Mark Green (mark@cs.UAlberta.CA) wrote:
>: In article <Bw4zuK.A7F@acsu.buffalo.edu> dtwei@acsu.buffalo.edu (Danielle T Wei) writes:
>: >In article <1992Oct14.152915.25211@unocal.com> stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>: >>Have you lived in China?  I have and was a racial minority there and felt
>: >>the sting of prejudice.  Many people assumed I was a dumb tourist
>: >>and wouldn't understand what they were saying behind my back.
>: >
>: >Sure I've lived in China.. I was born there and I've lived there long enough
>: >to speak the language fluently.. As for racism, I didn't see a thing, and
>: >I lived in MANCHURIA-a region that was traditionally never fully under
>: >Han control.. As a matter of fact, I'm partly Manchu myself
>: >
>: 
>: Of course you didn't see any racism, you're chinese.  There is no
>: racism against chinese in China, but this is definitely not the case for
>: non-chinese people.  Your statement about no racism in China is the
>: same as a white person in North America saying there is no racism in
>: North America, you are just not in a position to experience it.  
>
>Ok, I agree with this much.
>
>: A member of the majority race is very rarely in a position to experience racism
>: in their own country, so they often think it doesn't exist.
>
>Really? Is Edmonton really that racially homogenous?
>
>I live in Seattle and I experience racism on a regular basis. Whether it's an African
>American lady who gives me the "don't want anything to do with white people" look or
>an angry Asian American who gives me the "white people don't have any right to speak
>Asian languages" look, I think that this is racism.
>
>In North American there this general attitude that racism can only be something that
>extends from "white" people to "non-white" people. This is garbage. Racism comes in
>all colors, and affects all people.
>
>Nonetheless, racial minorities in America, being minorities, feel the sting of racism
>a lot more, and it has much more impact on their lives. However, to say that there is no
>racism against "white" people in America is ignorance. Furthermore, to say that racism
>is something inherent only to "white" people is in itself racism. 
>
>
>(Read my message twice before flaming. You might not get it the first time.)
>
>
>Paul Ko.
>


Okay, I see your point.  But, remember the context of my reply.  China is
largely racially homogeneous.  I was making my comments in terms of
countries that have a large racial majority, which isn't the case
with both Canada and United States.  I have experienced the same things
that you mentioned in your article (and have previously posted about
them in this news group).  I agree that racism is a two way street, but
as the majority race (in North America) I can avoid it much easier than
a minority race.  If I want to be in essentially a pure white community,
I only need to drive for a few hours to some of the smaller towns outside
of Edmonton.  This is definitely not the case for a minority person.  They
have nowhere to go.  If I don't want to run into racial problems in
Edmonton, I only need to avoid the parts of the city where the problems
occur, they are few are far between, so its not a problem.  I can ignore
the problem and it really doesn't effect me that much.  But, someone in
a minority race cannot ignore the problem that easily.  That's why I
say the majority race is usually not as aware of racism.