In general:
- Avoid: slurs, dialect and the words Asiatic, exotic.
- Use with caution: stereotypes, Asian images, ethnicity and the words All-American, Asia, Asian, Asian gangs, Caucasian, Chinese laundries, community, Hawaiian, illegal alien, immigrant, Indochina, inscrutable, Islamist, Mandarin, martial arts, minority, Oriental.
In particular:
American – not a synonym for white (pictured above).
Asia/Asian – Vague: most people are Asian. Note that Americans mainly think of East Asia as “Asia” while the British mainly think of South Asia.
Asian gangs – better to use ethnicity, like Vietnamese gangs, and only where ethnicity clearly matters to the story. After all, no one says “Italian American gangs”.
Asian images – The Taj Mahal; the Ganges River; the Great Wall of China; pagodas; the cheongsam (traditional Chinese dress); the conical hat worn in Vietnam and elsewhere; rice paddies; rickshaws; samurais; geishas; Kabuki characters; as well as classical art, such as Hokusai’s “Great Wave” are emblematic of Asia. Use only in context.
Asian religion – temples are often used for meditation, not worship, and meditation is not the same as prayer. Buddha is not a god. Confucianism and Taoism are more guides to living than religion in the Western sense.
community – use the names of the people and organizations in question rather than vague terms like “the Korean community”. After all, no one says “white community leaders”.
dialect – avoid. Better to state that a person’s English is limited and then paraphrase.
ethnicity – only use when it clearly matters to the story and where it can be known for sure.
exotic – avoid: it normalizes whiteness.
eye shape – all eyes are the same shape. Many Asians, but not all, have eyelids with an epicanthic fold. It is found in all races. Only bring it up if it clearly matters to the story, like in an article on eyelid surgery. Do not call it “slanted” or “slitty”.
illegal alien – acts are illegal, not people.
immigrant – like race and ethnicity, only bring it up if it clearly matters to the story. If so, date of entry might be helpful.
minority – not a synonym for people of colour. After 2042 everyone in America will be a minority. Be more specific.
model minority – at best a backhanded compliment, at worst, code for “lacking leadership potential”.
Muslim – not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslim.
Oriental – condescending, colonialist, vague.
polling – Note that Asian Americans are often left out due to their small sample size.
Sikh – follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion with elements of Hinduism and Islam.
slurs – Chinaman, ching-chong, chink, Flip, gook, illegals, Jap, Nip, Paki, slant, slope, Yellow Peril. Avoid.
stereotypes – Charlie Chan, China Doll, Dragon Lady (pictured right), Fu Manchu. Also, “geisha,” “delivery boy,” “manicurist” and “samurai” when used metaphorically are stereotypes.
Taiwanese – Useful to specify Taiwanese or Taiwanese American, as opposed to Chinese or Chinese American.
Third World – a Cold War term. Most experts today use “developing countries”, “emerging world”, etc.
turban – worn, not always with a religious or ethnic meaning.
untouchables – Dalit is more respectful and current.
yellow skin – a sign of disease.
Source: the “AAJA Handbook to Covering Asian America”, where you can find way more.
See also:
LOL…that’s a load to remember, especially if someone has been indoctrinated via the Western standard. You could also apply this to the so-called “Americas”, where, if one were to look without blinders (north, central, AND south), you’d see all sorts of stuff besides what’s seen in the States.
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Not a word about Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Turkey, Siberia?
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What ch555x said!
Latinos, Hispanic and other gross groupings of diverse people from Latin America should also be avoided.
“White” should also be avoided when talking about caucasians, and caucasians should not be grouped and referred to as a homogenous group, since they are not.
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Interesting that you
– did not include many of the items specifically associated with Asian-Americans (but, instead, with Asia)
– the reference source includes some more references to Asian America, but also many items that are specifically related only to Asia and not Asian America (eg, Tian An Men square, Taiping Rebellion, Uyghur). I am not sure what these have to do with writing about Asian America.
– changed what the article said about using Taiwanese and Taiwanese American. It said that it might be useful to use those terms instead of Chinese and Chinese American. However, you said to specify Taiwanese and Taiwanese American, as opposed to Chinese or Chinese American. That is saying something completely different.
From an ethnic standpoint, it is certainly arguable (and likely widely accepted) that Taiwanese Americans are a subset of Chinese Americans — when indicating something relating to all Chinese Americans, it might not be useful to specify Taiwanese American as something completely separate. After all, most Taiwanese are descendants of migrants from the Mainland. However, when writing about something specifically related to being descendant of people with origins in Taiwan, then it certain could be useful to specify it. Finally, a small number of Taiwanese Americans might not be ethnically Chinese, so it is certainly useful in those circumstances.
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@ Jefe
You are right about the Taiwanese entry. I corrected it. Thank you.
Most, though not all, of the entries I chose do apply to Asian Americans: exotic, model minority, Sikh, ethnicity, slurs, etc.
If I wrote the equivalent post about Black Americans, I would certainly put in stuff about Africa, like maybe “Africa is not a country” and the Broken Africa stereotype. Because how Africa is covered certainly affects how Black Americans are seen.
The thing about racism is that everyone who belongs to a certain RACE is seen in pretty much the same way. Race OVERRIDES nationality. Black Americans are seen as black first, American second or third. The same for Asian Americans. Katrina and the Japanese American internment make that crystal clear.
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What the??? I wonder why that guy in the top pic is wearing a conical rice hat on the bus?
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Correction: I meant subway.
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abagond,
I agree that race overrides nationality. Case in point some people have a hard time believing that a Chinese person and a Japanese person are two different people. If you were to correct them, they would respond by saying “same thing.”
On that note, some people think that China and Japan are the only nations out there in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.
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In the photo, which I enlarged, the guy wearing the conical hat is surrounded by East Asians, but he himself appears to be white.
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When I was a young leigh204, my lola (it means grandmother) slapped me hard across the face once because I used that slur “Flip”. She said to me in her native tongue, “Don’t you dare use that word again! You hear me?! It was used to demean our people by whites during the war and there will be hell to pay if I catch you using that word again!” My grandmother didn’t specify which war if it was the Philippine-American War or WWII, but I didn’t dare question my grandmother. She knew what she was talking about. So when I hear other fellow Filipinos refer to themselves as “Flips”, I kind of shake my head. It seems only the young ones do this.
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@ brothawolf:
You don’t know how often I’ve received similar comments about Asian ethnicities being interchangeable. Uh, no. While we have some things in common such as eating rice, the histories are different and so are the cultural values.
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@brothawolf
Nationaliy determines race. A ‘high-coloured’ Jamaican who would be fawned over in his native country during the 60s gets called nigger iwhen he goes to England. A fair-skinned , green eyed black women isn’t even a browning in Jamamica, but is thought of as white, even in the tourist districts – I don’t mean to say that she is trying to ‘pass’. A Native American gets called ‘Mr Chin’ while trying to get directions in New Kingston, and so it goes.
Ths race is both an individual identity one confers upon oneself, and a social one as well.
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“I agree that race overrides nationality. Case in point some people have a hard time believing that a Chinese person and a Japanese person are two different people. If you were to correct them, they would respond by saying “same thing.”
Same with BP, at least in the UK. When I was growing up all BP were seen as coming from ‘Africa’. There really was no excuse for such thinking – most of my peers would have had living relatives that would have been aware of the mass migration of West Indians during the 50’s and 60’s
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In the West Indies ,Japanese and Koreans are sometimes called ‘Chinee’
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[…] "dialect – avoid. Better to state that a person’s English is limited and then paraphrase. ethnicity – only use when it clearly matters to the story and where it can be known for sure. exotic – avoid: it normalizes whiteness. illegal alien – acts are illegal, not people. immigrant – like race and ethnicity, only bring it up if it clearly matters to the story. If so, date of entry might be helpful. minority – not a synonym for people of colour. After 2042 everyone in America will be a minority. Be more specific. model minority – at best a backhanded compliment, at worst, code for “lacking leadership potential”." – click title for more – […]
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[…] on abagond.wordpress.com Rate this:Share this:TwitterFacebookPinterestTumblrMoreStumbleUponLinkedInRedditDiggEmailPrintLike […]
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@ leigh204
I guess he travelled to East Asia and thought it would be `funny’ if he wore that hat… Or, worse yet, thought it would show he `respects the culture’. *Rolls eyes*
Is this similar to the reclamation of the N-word? I’ve heard a few westerners of East Asian descent start to use slurs to address one another in the same way. On the one hand, I can see how it could be positive, yet on the other, you will get the same idiots who are White then asking why they are not allowed to call people those names… As well as people justifying the use of slurs since those people use it, therefore it is not racist.
I can never view the slurs that were used against me and my family as positive. When you were subject to violence while hearing those words, it is all the more difficult to detach from the negative meaning of it.
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Have you noticed how many people (and I remember hearing this when I used to live in NYC) tack on the ethnic label even when it is not related to the occupation or the business per se
– Chinese laundry
– Korean greengrocer (or grocery store)
– Greek Diner
(my mind is drawing a blank now (Italian bakery ?) – remember people using them all the time before
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[…] Pointers from original Scoop-it: -dialect: avoid. Better to state that a person’s English is limited and then paraphrase. -ethnicity: only use when it clearly matters to the story and where it can be known for sure. -exotic: avoid: atates whiteness is norm. -illegal alien: acts are illegal, not people. -immigrant: like race and ethnicity, only bring it up if it clearly matters to the story. If so, date of entry might be helpful. -minority: not a synonym for people of color. Be more specific. -model minority: at best backhanded compliment, at worst, code for “lacking leadership potential”." – click title for more My thought: […]
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@ Iris @ Leigh204 Only Leigh can tell us if she believes the “flip” word stings as much as the “N” word, but coming from someone who lived in San Francisco, Ca. for a looong time-what I can tell you is that a looot of my Philipino friends do use this word as a term of endearment towards each other. That being said, they would noT approve of someone White (specifically) using that term, as they feel it for their use (mainly).. On a side note, they often call each other “my nigga” sometimes, too-and sadly to say in Cali lots of people of Every shade (White included) think of it as a term of affection 4 their fellow friends/loved ones.
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‘Chink in the armor’ is one of those terrible expressions that always come up when describing people of East Asian descent. Remember Jeremy Lin and ESPN?
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Jefe,
I’ve lived in NYC nearly all my life, and you’re right — growing up, I heard “Chinese laundry” and also I remember people using “Puerto Rican store” for a small grocery store, or bodega, run by Latinos.
When I was very young, about 7 or 8, my great aunt used to send me to the “Jew store”, also a small grocery store, which, as I recall, was run by two older white men with accents.
I didn’t know anything about Jews at the time and simply thought “Jew” was the name of the store.
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[…] Pointers from original Scoop-it: -dialect: avoid. Better to state that a person’s English is limited and then paraphrase. -ethnicity: only use when it clearly matters to the story and where it can be known for sure. -exotic: avoid: atates whiteness is norm. -illegal alien: acts are illegal, not people. -immigrant: like race and ethnicity, only bring it up if it clearly matters to the story. If so, date of entry might be helpful. -minority: not a synonym for people of color. Be more specific. -model minority: at best backhanded compliment, at worst, code for “lacking leadership potential”." – click title for more My thought: […]
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@ Bulanik
There are huge differences among Asian Americans. There are four main groups:
1. Some are part of a brain drain, like (speaking in very general terms here) those from India, Korea and the Philippines. They do quite well since they have better educations than most whites, but not as well as whites are led to believe from cooked statistics. They still experience racism, like glass ceilings and higher rates of poverty.
2. Some are refugees, like those from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Many of those live in poverty.
3. Others have been racialized as “Muslims” (some of whom are in fact Sikhs and Arab American Christians), especially since 9/11.
4. Some have been in America since the 1800s, like most of those from Japan and MANY from China. Until the 1960s they accounted for most Asian Americans. They were NOT stereotyped by whites as intelligent but rather as “inscrutable”.
Some Asian Americans are well-to-do, others live in poverty. The Asian American poverty rate is higher than for whites. Because Asian households have more people working than white households, whites like to quote HOUSEHOLD income rather than, say, personal income weighted by education because it falls in line better with their model minority stereotype.
The civil rights of all are at the mercy of white authorities, especially when said authorities feel threatened by a foreign Asian power. You saw that with the Japanese American internment in the 1940s and you see it now with civil rights abuses against “Muslims”. A good example of how race overrides nationality. And of the perpetual foreigner stereotype.
The model minority stereotype: Whites LOVE to point to the success of the Asian brain drain to bash blacks, Latinos and Native Americans and to prove how wonderfully post-racial America is. But if you take into account things like education and parents’s education, most Asian Americans are not a particularly good example of the Bootstrap Myth. Middle-class blacks are a far better example, but whites feel threatened by black success – and, because of housing segregation, are more familiar with middle-class Asians than middle-class blacks.
“Asian American” as a term comes out of the 1980s – before then most saw themselves in ethnic terms (Japanese American, etc). The murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 was a wake-up call: it showed that “playing by the rules” was not enough, something blacks in America have known for a long time (Tulsa 1921, etc).
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@Abagond
Kudos for the great reply. It seems like you have done some research.
I can tell you some things — in 1977, when I was applying to universities, only “Oriental” appeared — Asian was not a box to tick. I worked at the census bureau as a summer job in 1979 and 1980 and remember the forms — it was the last census in which “Oriental” was used as a box to tick. In the 1970s Asian-Americans began to engage in activism, partially motivated by the Black activism in the 1960s and 1970s, and by the late 1970s, they had already began to use the term “Asian-American” to describe themselves.
The main issues then were
– Reparations for Japanese-American internment (which I believe did not come into effect until the 1990s)
– Exotic inscrutable cunning stereotypes like Charlie Chan, Fu Man Chu, Dragon Lady, etc. most of which were invented by white people and portrayed by white people. Even Mickey Rooney played a Japanese in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
– Yellow face in the media and entertainment (eg, Caucasians were used to play Asians — Bruce Lee (3/4 Chinese, 1/4 German) was TOO “oriental” to play an Asian (even under a mask in the Green Hornet). His character in Kung Fu was played by David Carradine in the 1970s.
– Other stereotypes and prejudice that prevented people of Asian descent from getting a job, getting a promotion, getting housing, etc.
– Police brutality (or at least police indifference) in Asian neighborhoods
– Immigration quotas and university entrance quotas.
– establishing some parallel recognition for Asian-Americans that was perhaps modeled after some of the ones created for Blacks (eg, “Asian American History Month”)
Apology for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the subsequent ramifications did not occur until last year (I believe), decades after those directly affected were already dead.
“Asian-American” as a term started in the 1970s, but the term “oriental” was the common term used by non-Asians, while Asians tended to refer to themselves by ethnicity, ie, Japanese-American, Chinese-American, Filipino-American, etc. I equate the use of the term “oriental” to the term “coloured” – It was the common term in the USA for the first 60 years of the 20th century.
But, Vincent Chin (1982) was like the Emmett Till moment for Asian Americans – it was one of the main catalysts to spur Asian-Americans into action (woke them up, as it were). Like Emmett Till, a man was brutally beaten to death (not unlike being lynched) for racial hatred and the perpetrators did not have to serve any jail time, much less be charged with murder. “Oriental”, a term already rejected by the 1970s Asian American Activists spread to a term used across a wide community by the early 1980s.
I remember the Vincent Chin incident indeed.
But actually, Asian-Americans have been lynched back to the 1800s, particularly in the late 1800s and early 1900s, perhaps their total numbers in the USA were never as large as Blacks and therefore not recorded as much or as widespread across the country.
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Also, “model minority” did not start appearing until the 1980s. And even then, people knew that white people were trying to play PoC against each other.
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Abagond:
I have cited Asian “brain drain” on occasion, not to bash anyone but to demonstrate what is achievable.
Imagine you take 100 black kindergarten students. One half is persistently exposed to “bootstrapping” messages from the likes of Condoleeza Rice and Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the other is persistently exposed to victimology messages from the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Follow up 20 years later. Do you think you will see a difference in outcomes between the two groups?
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Sorry, forgot.
You are spot on when you mention about Asians used as an example of the bootstrap myth.
They talked about the poor “coolies” who came in the 1800s and agricultural workers in the early 1900s. Then they talked about the highly educated Asian-Americans in the late 20th century.
Sorry, but this is comparing Apples to Oranges. Most of those highly educated Asians came to the USA specifically to study at graduate school, and then stayed behind. They came to the USA to get their PhD, MD, or some other higher degree — of course they are highly educated. They are talking about them or their children. These are not the same people who operated laundries prior to 1970 because there was no other occupational choice open to them.
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@ Randy
I was referring to Abagond’s comment. As I mentioned, the bootstrap myth as applied to Asian-Americans is comparing apples to oranges and is inherently spurious.
It would be like pointing to slave descendant Black Americans about the high educational achievement of post 1970 immigrants from Africa who came to the USA specifically for post graduate education. They did not grow up going to ghetto schools.
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I think Asian-American was initially (in the 1970s) embraced as a term to counter the negative stereotypes associated with “Oriental” – inscrutable, sneaky, cunning, even evil. It picked up steam after the Vincent Chin incident. Even though it was a term adopted by persons of ethnic Asian backgrounds, it was in response to the tendency of whites to lump them all together (and thus commit crimes like beating a Chinese-American to death because they had grievances against Japanese auto makers).
I took an Asian American history course in 1980-1981, so I know this term was already used before the Vincent Chin incident.
“Model Minority” was invented purely by white people to be used by white people to play PoC against each other in the 1980s. I don’t think an Asian-American would think about referring to themselves as a model minority, so, by and large, will reject this term.
But . . . this stereotype has enabled certain highly educated Asian Americans to move into well-to-do white neighborhoods.
The greater Washington, DC metro area (a place I used to live in) is almost 26-28% Black and maybe 9-10% Asian, but there are some communities (like North Potomac,MD), which is reversed. In 2010, it was about 34% Asian and 5% Black.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Potomac,_Maryland
Yet, just a few miles away are communities (eg, around Chevy Chase) which look more like sundown towns — 92-96% white and Asians are mostly kept out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Chevy_Chase,_Maryland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Chase_Section_Three,_Maryland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Chase_Section_Five,_Maryland
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I should have read this before making an earlier comment in another post 😀
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@ Iris:
Well, I can only speak of my experiences, but there are younger Filipinos who think using that particular slur is fine. The thing is, many of the younger Filipinos are unaware of the history of the slur used on Filipinos. However, when some of them found out the meaning, they still used it because they claimed they were taking back a word used to demean and degrade Filipinos. From the moment my grandmother slapped me across the face and explained why the slur for Filipinos is horrible and wrong, I’ve never uttered the word since.
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@ Jefe
The “model minority” goes back further than the 1980s.
The term “model minority” was first used in print in the New York Times Magazine (January 6, 1960) in “Success Story: Japanese American Style” by sociologist William Peterson. He argued that Japanese culture with its family values and strong work ethnic saved Japanese Americans from becoming a “problem minority.” A similar article using Chinese Americans appeared in U.S. News and World Report (December 26, 1960). The “Model Minority” thesis was used to discredit the Civil Rights movement. White Americans pitted one minority against another using the mechanisms of “racist hate” and “racist love.”
In the 1970s U.S. took an “L” in the Vietnam War. Southeast Asian refugees took over many American jobs. The Japanese auto industry muscled out Detroit. Articles on model minorities had sidebars expressing the White resentment of Asian American success. The “Model Minority” thesis was used to accuse White Americans of becoming soft. Whites were/are afraid of economic competition with Asia.
The 1980s brought in Reagonomics and the “Winter of Civil Rights.” Articles of model minorities such as Newsweek’s “The Drive to Excel” (April 1984) and Times’s “The New Whiz Kids” (August 1987) started to focus on Asian American success in school. All Asians were lumped together – American born, older immigrants, 1.5 generation immigrants, and refugees displaced by social chaos. The “Model Minority” thesis (in the 1980s) was used to attack Affirmative Action programs for minorities, particularly African Americans, and other advances of the Civil Rights period. Also, the “Model Minority” thesis was used to justify fiscal cutbacks.
As Abagond said, the “model minority” is a backhanded compliment to Asian Americans. Whites use the stereotype to polarize Asian and Africans Americans. In the business world, the “model minority” group is seen as a threat to White people in general and White capitalists in particular.
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Reblogged this on Project ENGAGE.
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I’m so tired of no body saying hello to me or introducing themselves to me because I’m Asian American. The people I work with are all white or Spanish. The Spanish are all kitchen workers or phone girls. It feels like even though I’m always smiling and pretending to fit in I’m always left alone in a room with usually a young white girl and they always ignore me until I have to break the ice and introduce myself. When I used to work with African Americans they would say things like where are you from? The answer is my grandmother was born here in America and so was my father. I’m more American then most of the people who ask me. The truth is I grew up in a majority white community where I constantly had to prove myself. Dating was hard until the very end of school. I dealt with being a good chink chang chink ching Chong charlie chang whatever you can think of then forgiving these people just I can have friends. Just the other day a woman I thought was nice asked if the driver who came in was old, or was her oriental looking. I pride myself on how I look butvibguesscyo everyone else I’m just oriental looking. I’m a little tired of feeling alone. To be honest I do understand other asians have given me a bad reputation. They didn’t try to assimilate as hard I have or stick up to the bullies like I did, then again I’m 6 ‘1 200 and pretty built, and I have an attitude. I’ve had black dude call me nigga and and when one said chink I said don’t say that to me, he said it’s ok for your to say my nigga? I said I never have said that. These young kids millenials anyone born after 1992, stop using racial slams towards each other! I do wish I could have at least been a doctor or something that many asians become. I guess I was so interested in trying to fit in that I didn’t take studies seriously enough. I was watching Shameless the most liberal show I can think of and I literally, think I heard V say Gook Recipe’s. I rewinded it 4 times to make sure. Now I hate that show just like I hate the Hangover movies. I’ve been with the same white girl for 8 years now and I sometimes feel lucky other times I think I’m hot why am I the lucky one? I would love to go out and try to date some other girls but being 35 it’s not easy meeting single women my age. Why are there no asian shows on TV or no real Asian American celebrities or athletes to look up to. Jeremy Lin was the biggest thing until Carmelo literally had him thrown off the team. But he was the first Asian American athlete I could think of or was proud of, all of his 6 month of fame. LEIGH24 have you ever really been hurt for being asian. I know Asian guys have a hard time especially with other colors but asian girls seem to get a huge pass. White guys want you Blackguys love you, and nobody is really going up to you saying you look like a catfish face chink so why are you complaining because your dumb friends say flip. I know it’s an Asian forum bit have something real to compare.
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Leigh24 I do apologize I read another post you wrote and I can see you have some valid points about whites and why they want to say whatever they want. But I truly wish I could read some posts from guys like me who fought their way through life. I literally fought a 250 (LB) Spanish kid from Queens just because he didn’t like that I was talking a Latina girl.
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@ Matthew Leong
I moderate racial slurs:
That is why your comments did not appear right away. I deleted your last comment as being largely the same as your first.
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