How I love our PC-Society

At the risk of people telling me to change my blog name to "Deranged Ramblings of a Hypersensitive-to-Racial-Stereotyping Asian," I make this new entry...I am going to joke around a bit, but hopefully there is a point to be made. The catalyst that got me thinking about this was, once again, a question from a friend (I believe it was Jay): "Have you ever experienced racism before?"

Not that any of you need background, but I’m half-Japanese…and, despite occasional instances of embarassment on behalf of those I lovingly refer to as “my people” (to illustrate my point: Instance of Embarassment #1), I am proud of my heritage. As a kid, I stood out a little growing up, but I had friends whom I like to think came over for reasons other than thinking that I had a Nintendo at my house, because, much to my chagrin, I did not. I’ve never had a racial slur thrown at me, nor have I ever really felt discriminated against. So to Jay’s question I would answer “no” but tag a “…I have felt, every once in a while, stereotypes of Asian-Americans being projected onto me.” Let me explain, because I believe there is a distinction between stereotyping and racism…and I’ll try to do so by using two anecdotes. I’m afraid a lot of you have heard these stories before, so my apologies in advance if you have.

*****

When I was working at BYU Independent Study (IS) one Friday afternoon last year, I was in charge of our in-house testing center, where IS proctors exams for its correspondence students. A middle-aged woman came out after finishing a math exam and handed me her scantron sheet:

“Can I get my grade back right away? I think I did awful,” she asked.
“Normally you could ma’am, but I’m afraid our scantron machine is broken. We will run the test through as soon as it is fixed, but your score probably won’t be posted online until Monday. I am sorry for the inconvenience,” I said.
“Really? I was really wanting to know my score.”
“Yes, I’m sorry again, ma’am.”
There was a pause.
“…Well, could you grade it by hand for me? You look like you’re good at math…” she said.

*****

It was honestly one of the few times in my life that I was completely speechless. I didn’t so much view what she said as racist, really, nor was I offended--I suppose if you want to view me changing all of her answers after she left as "being offended", then that's your prerogative*-- I guess it just took me by surprise that she said it in complete seriousness to a person she didn’t know.

But let’s be honest. We all carry certain biases and prejudices; whether we admit it or not so that we can face them is a completely different story. I was in a Harassment Prevention meeting for work a few months back and the person presenting said something along the lines of “Let’s face it. We all have, through experiences and our environment, some preconceived notions or ideas about groups of people, whether it’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or whatever.” One girl in the class, knowing the PC-world that we live in and interpreting his words to be something along the lines of “You’re all bigoted racists”, piped up: “No, no. We are past those days. Not everyone thinks that way.” The instructor replied: “Yes, we do, whether we like it or not. The important thing is to be cognizant of it so we can identify when it is unfair or unwarranted and has the potential to be a problem.” Well said. It is the sheer blindness of racism and that hate behind it that is so offensive to us.

So I guess there’s a fine distinction between the two. Admittedly, I joke with friends about my supposed proficiency at math thanks to being Japanese or other such things, but we do it in jest because I think we recognize the ridiculousness of people who actually propagate and act on such beliefs.

Therefore I have, in light of some misconceptions, taken it upon myself to speak for the entire Asian population and make you aware of some stereotypes about us that may need some clarification. Feel free to print this off--stick it in your wallet, or on a lanyard--for quick reference in case you run into an Asian-situation that you don’t know how to deal with:

1. Unfortunately, I do not tote an abacus (pl. abaci, I believe) around with me all of the time. They aren’t incredibly portable and they don’t have a memory function. It can be very frustrating.

2. No, my mom doesn’t know karate or kung-fu, although 2^nd grade mentality leads me to reason that, despite her lack of formal training, Shigeko could still beat up your mom.

3. Contrary to popular belief, checking that “Asian-American” box did not get me an extra 250 points on the SAT.

4. Although I do own a Honda Civic, it is not lowered, has no exhaust / intake, and it has shotty rims. I still occasionally refer to it as my "rice rocket" every once in a while.

5. This may be a shocker for a lot of people: There is no universal, Pan-Asian language (I checked Wikipedia), although I will raise it at the next big meeting as a talking point. I am open to suggestions on what to name the new conglomerate language.

6. We are not all the same.

7. No, I don’t have a repository of Confucius sayings for all situations at my immediate disposal. The only one I’ve actually heard is, and my apologies for the visual: “Confucius say: ‘Never play leapfrog with unicorn.’ ” (I honestly have doubts about this one’s authenticity, however. I mean, it’s ridiculous to say that leapfrog even existed back in the 5^th and 6^th centuries BC)

8. Not all Asians are bad drivers. (I originally had this because I thought it was a sweeping generalization that was incorrect, but after further thought I am going to rescind that and say that all Asians, every single one of them, is a horrible driver)

9. Don't feel the need to hook me up with every Asian girl that you know. I had a girl I home taught who thought this was a good reason to hook me up with her friend.

Hope this was interesting and not confusing.

*NOTE: I didn't actually