How Racism Works :: A Minneapolis Example
When my wife was in law school, she had a summer internship in Nevada. While waiting in a judge's chambers for another attorney, the judge made small talk by telling my wife all about his trips to China and how much he loved the country, at one point asking my wife, "Nihow. Do you know what that means?"
What are you supposed to do in that situation? According to my wife, he was an otherwise very nice, wizened old man. Also, the courthouse was named after him. Probably wise for a young law student to just smile and nod. A bit scary to think that he had the power to send people to federal prison.
Being non-confrontational to the point of autism, I'm always inclined to make lame quips and ignore. (Not to be confused with the other type of quip.)
Click through and read the whole thing. It's an excellent example of the sort of thing that white folks, especially older white folks, don't perceive as offensive. Even people who see it as offensive may dismiss it as merely ignorance, and not racism. In reply, three different commenters to the post said it better than I can:
WG: Ah, finally someone Asian. I was wondering why there were no Japanese here tonight.He doesn't stop.
Me: Excuse me. Do you think we all look the same?
WG: Well, no. You're Japanese, right? I know you are not Korean and you don't look Hmong. Maybe Chinese.
Me: Oh, so you are saying you know my ethnicity better than I do?!
WG: Well, no. But I try to learn how to tell the difference between Asians.
Me: You should really stop talking before you put your foot deeper and deeper into your mouth.
WG: No, no, I'm not trying to be rude. I find that my Asian friends and people I meet like it when people like me can tell the difference.
Me: Really, your foot just went deeper into your mouth.
WG: I mean to be friendly. I mean, people appreciate it when I ask.
Me: I don't appreciate it.
WG: Okay, maybe I said it wrong. I meant...
Me (interrupting): Just stop.
When my wife was in law school, she had a summer internship in Nevada. While waiting in a judge's chambers for another attorney, the judge made small talk by telling my wife all about his trips to China and how much he loved the country, at one point asking my wife, "Nihow. Do you know what that means?"
What are you supposed to do in that situation? According to my wife, he was an otherwise very nice, wizened old man. Also, the courthouse was named after him. Probably wise for a young law student to just smile and nod. A bit scary to think that he had the power to send people to federal prison.
Being non-confrontational to the point of autism, I'm always inclined to make lame quips and ignore. (Not to be confused with the other type of quip.)
Click through and read the whole thing. It's an excellent example of the sort of thing that white folks, especially older white folks, don't perceive as offensive. Even people who see it as offensive may dismiss it as merely ignorance, and not racism. In reply, three different commenters to the post said it better than I can:
We all deal with ignorant or downright offensive people every day. But what is really maddening is not their individual actions, it's the fact that those actions reveal deeper historical structures of injustice. For many members of our society, life would be more comfortable if these structures (and the pain they produce) stayed hidden.[via Racialicious]
[...]
I also think that by stratifying types of acts as being racist vs. being just "ignorant" or "uneducated" that we make it okay for people to continue saying and behaving in offensive ways. Yes there are degrees of racist behavior that falls on a continuum and should all be examined.
[...]
It's not the vitriolic racism that's the most insidious—that we can see and deal with more easily—it's the well-intentioned white people who can often have the most lethal racism.
