Current Events > Is it racist or just ignorant to make assumptions that because somebody is Asian

(+) Yeah! (+)

that they must come from a certain country?

My girlfriend is Vietnamese, but a number of people either refer to her as being Chinese or even a couple have made shorty comments about Thai brides.

Would you say this is racist? Just culturally insensitive? Just ignorant?

Whats your take on it?

Depends on their intentions. If they purposely mislabel the ethnicity, then racist. If not, then just ignorance. A single correction should be all it takes to find out which.

nocturnal_traveler posted...

Depends on their intentions. If they purposely mislabel the ethnicity, then racist. If not, then just ignorance. A single correction should be all it takes to find out which.

That seems fair.

I was less bothered by the assumption that she was Chinese than the Thai bride comments, but I wasnt sure if that was me being offended by the assertion that Id need that or if its actually worse.

The thai bride comment has me wondering if there's some racism there, but I agree that its just ignorance if you aren't doing it intentionally.

Ignorance can be severe enough to be racism.

BurmesePenguin posted...

Ignorance can be severe enough to be racism.

So you feel that in some instances (maybe not all. Not tying to put words in your mouth) intent doesnt really matter?

People who assume every Asian is Chinese are probably at least slightly racist, I would say.

Casual racism.

Seems racist. Not the overt kind but the casual kind where they harbor prejudices they may or may not know they have.

Racist imo, or at the least insensitive. The Thai bride thing is definitely racist

Snakethief posted...

This Asian cab driver gave me five dollars off my cab trip earlier because he liked my shirt.

You got flirted with hard

Oh god, I did some variant of that once, and it was embarrassing for everyone involved.

I was in Tokyo on vaccation, and there was some drinking pub brawling event for tourists.

So, I was talking to a group of 3 asian girls, and since the party was international with people from all over the world (India, Netherlands, US, Australia, Germany and many other), the most common question to start some smalltalk was "Where are you from?"

Asian girl 1: "I'm from Tokyo, I'm a local here" - "Cool!"
Asian girl 2: "I'm from Thailand" -"Nice!"
Asian girl 3: "I'm from Cannada" - <insert me having a bluescreen and visible thinking progress>

Yeah, we were all already a bit tipsy, but the answer got me so off guard that my reaction time didn't make me look very smart, and the delay didn't went unnoticed.

This was 7 years ago, and I still remember my poor reaction to that. Even if it was only for a drunk split second, my mind literally went "How can this asian girl come from Canada?"

And it seems like she had this exact reaction multiple times that day.

Karovorak posted...

Oh god, I did some variant of that once, and it was embarrassing for everyone involved.

I was in Tokyo on vaccation, and there was some drinking pub brawling event for tourists.

So, I was talking to a group of 3 asian girls, and since the party was international with people from all over the world (India, Netherlands, US, Australia, Germany and many other), the most common question to start some smalltalk was "Where are you from?"

Asian girl 1: "I'm from Tokyo, I'm a local here" - "Cool!"
Asian girl 2: "I'm from Thailand" -"Nice!"
Asian girl 3: "I'm from Cannada" - <insert me having a bluescreen and visible thinking progress>

Yeah, we were all already a bit tipsy, but the answer got me so off guard that my reaction time didn't make me look very smart, and the delay didn't went unnoticed.

This was 7 years ago, and I still remember my poor reaction to that. Even if it was only for a drunk split second, my mind literally went "How can this asian girl come from Canada?"

And it seems like she had this exact reaction multiple times that day.

It honestly sounds like a prank from her and her friends. They set up an expectation that the 3rd girl is also from an Asian country but then subverted it.

Karovorak posted...

Oh god, I did some variant of that once, and it was embarrassing for everyone involved.

I was in Tokyo on vaccation, and there was some drinking pub brawling event for tourists.

So, I was talking to a group of 3 asian girls, and since the party was international with people from all over the world (India, Netherlands, US, Australia, Germany and many other), the most common question to start some smalltalk was "Where are you from?"

Asian girl 1: "I'm from Tokyo, I'm a local here" - "Cool!"
Asian girl 2: "I'm from Thailand" -"Nice!"
Asian girl 3: "I'm from Cannada" - <insert me having a bluescreen and visible thinking progress>

Yeah, we were all already a bit tipsy, but the answer got me so off guard that my reaction time didn't make me look very smart, and the delay didn't went unnoticed.

This was 7 years ago, and I still remember my poor reaction to that. Even if it was only for a drunk split second, my mind literally went "How can this asian girl come from Canada?"

And it seems like she had this exact reaction multiple times that day.

The main thing is that you dont follow up with, Okay, but where are you really from?

One of my friends used to get that all the time and it really pissed him off. While he had Indian heritage, he had never stepped foot in India and neither had the last 3 generations of his family. He felt very strongly that he was English (which he was) and so it always got to him when people implied that he couldnt be.

Ricemills posted...

It honestly sounds like a prank from her and her friends. They set up an expectation that the 3rd girl is also from an Asian country but then subverted it.

I don't think so.

I think the 3 girls also met for the first time that day (even if I'm not sure), and I think she was really "annoyed" about that. Not so bad that she could not laugh about it, but still.

Glob posted...

The main thing is that you dont follow up with, Okay, but where are you really from?

Eh, you could argue that my reaction was somewhat implying that. But yes, saying that out loud would be definitly much worse.

I mean it's definitely rude.

Karovorak posted...

Eh, you could argue that my reaction was somewhat implying that. But yes, saying that out loud would be definitly much worse.

I sometimes have people assume from my accent that I live in the UK. Its not a big deal because its a logical thing thing to assume. She may have felt similarly if all that happened was you being caught off guard by her being Canadian, especially as you werent in Canada at the time.

Pics of happy couple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_CaZ4EAexQ

Joke aside, I think 99% of the time it's just ignorance.
I mean, we're talking about a nation where a good portion can't even identify the US on the globe.
Geography is not our strong point.