Beijing Thugs
Out of context: Reply #75
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- kingjulien0
Dinky, I appreciate and respect your last response.
If you note, I didn't call you fresh off the boat, but the inference was clear. I'm not going to apologize because there was no racial animosity behind my words, just another attempt to aim for your achilles heel and get you to be quiet. As far as racism goes, I'm a lot more knowledgable than you'll ever give me credit for, but it really doesn't matter if you ever see that or not. Just know that the term "fresh off the boat" is a phrase used primarily by other asians, ones who have assimilated to the their respective cultures (generally american) and wish to assume a notch up on the hierarchy by belittling fellow asians. In fact, the most interesting aspect of racism to me is the artificial pecking order established amongst people of the same ethnicity (ie. blacks disliking recent african immigrants, japanse disliking chinese, who dislike vietnamese, who think laotians are ever lower, etc.)
I do think that your point about "brain dumps" is incredibly perceptive, and with my jokes and/or shit-talking, I hoped, would have been seen in that same lens. Obviously you didn't, and perhaps others who don't know me personally would feel the same way. I disagree with you but understand your points.
Myself, I try not to take things so seriously. I'm half-jewish, and people are always making little quips in my surroundings about picking up pennies or about running all of Hollywood. I generally make light of it because I don't think these comments are coming from a position of hatred. Sometimes they're ignorant, sometimes they're funny.
My brother is half black, half Jewish. The humorous possibilites of this background are enormous, as is the potential for racism. It's a fine line sometimes.
I've also been the one white guy at a Japanese dance or a Vietnamese wedding. I've been the one white guy on a basketball team of brothas. To think that shit wasn't talked to me would be silly, but the experience was still beautiful.
I just think words like homophobic and racist are tossed aside too hap-hazardly, and do, in the real world, serious damage to someone's career and/or reputation, and demonstrate a lack of understanding about humanity.
We're all different, and to pretend that there's this universal oneness is beautiful but an illusion. I think the differences between races/cultures are beautiful, sad, mysterious, funny, and sometimes tragic. It's what makes life interesting, and I think that's what should be celebrated, not an oversensitivity that leads to further miscommunication or hatred. In a weird way, i think son, despite the haziness, gets this, and I think that may have been his intent.
Anyway, I'm going to the park.