[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
Dude, high schoolers, as a demographic, are the biggest pains in the balls’ to deal with EVER.
Except for, you know, them blacks.*
*obvious racicist joke is a JOKE.
[/quote]
RACIST!
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Fellow Dot Indian here. My parents definitely believe in certain racial stereotypes and they have always preferred me to have Indian friends. I just find it funny when they make the odd backwards comment.
But high schoolers are idiots (no offense). When you go off to university, even though there are still idiots they are fewer in number and you meet quality people. In a year things will be different[/quote]
Hey Raj
My son just graduated high school. He told me that for the previous 3 years, there’s a group of 6 or 7 Hindu kids there that hang together. They’ve dubbed themselves “The Brown Squad” and make Indian jokes, as well as do spot-on impressions of their relatives in mock accents, much to everyone’s amusement. I wondered why they’d do such a thing. But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Yeah I pretty much did that in High School too. That’s exactly what it is, a preemptive defense.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Racism was quite apparent in the school system when I grew up in Australia (1990s). I felt pretty bad about till I realised that this is the attitude that many kids take to other races, that it’s nothing to do with my race but just the fact that others were different from the majority that they’d use it to make fun. Is it racist? Yes, but it wasn’t malicious either. I faced this in high school, but not in university, university brought together people of every imaginable country and race and it’s very easy to become friends with anyone.
Can you believe I even faced it in the workplace too? Nothing vile, just an off hand comment on customs, traditions etc. The only mechanism I’ve used to counter it is to laugh it off and make aspects of my background funny. I don’t think it’s the best way to deal with it, but humour does disarm people pretty quickly. I’m very happy with the work of Sanjeev Bhaskar and co and Russell Peters for making this all so funny.
I’ve worked with colleagues of my race before, very traditional, can’t stand their beliefs and customs ridiculed but in the same breath can feel justified in vindicating and being condescending on other countries within the same sub-continent. I was a head hunter for a considerable period of time and have had my colleague tell me she wouldn’t shake the hand of a candidate because he was of that race. I was pissed at that comment. How the fuck do you expect others to treat you with respect when you equally look down on other races?
.
.
.
Oh Dot or Feathers? I’m a mofo Motorcycle bitches…lol
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Fellow Dot Indian here. My parents definitely believe in certain racial stereotypes and they have always preferred me to have Indian friends. I just find it funny when they make the odd backwards comment.
But high schoolers are idiots (no offense). When you go off to university, even though there are still idiots they are fewer in number and you meet quality people. In a year things will be different[/quote]
Hey Raj
My son just graduated high school. He told me that for the previous 3 years, there’s a group of 6 or 7 Hindu kids there that hang together. They’ve dubbed themselves “The Brown Squad” and make Indian jokes, as well as do spot-on impressions of their relatives in mock accents, much to everyone’s amusement. I wondered why they’d do such a thing. But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
I obviously haven’t been around these kids and do not know the lengths to which they mock their elders.
However, I really do not consider mimicking the Indian accent itself all that disrespectful. But mocking Indian culture is a different story.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Fellow Dot Indian here. My parents definitely believe in certain racial stereotypes and they have always preferred me to have Indian friends. I just find it funny when they make the odd backwards comment.
But high schoolers are idiots (no offense). When you go off to university, even though there are still idiots they are fewer in number and you meet quality people. In a year things will be different[/quote]
Hey Raj
My son just graduated high school. He told me that for the previous 3 years, there’s a group of 6 or 7 Hindu kids there that hang together. They’ve dubbed themselves “The Brown Squad” and make Indian jokes, as well as do spot-on impressions of their relatives in mock accents, much to everyone’s amusement. I wondered why they’d do such a thing. But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Yeah I pretty much did that in High School too. That’s exactly what it is, a preemptive defense.[/quote]
You’re Indian?
But it probably was a way to deflect criticism. I wouldn’t know personally, the high school I went to was something ridiculous like 50-60% immigrants. Didn’t really have to worry about that.
Half the white people had thick Eastern European accents heh.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]Makavali wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Fellow Dot Indian here. My parents definitely believe in certain racial stereotypes and they have always preferred me to have Indian friends. I just find it funny when they make the odd backwards comment.
But high schoolers are idiots (no offense). When you go off to university, even though there are still idiots they are fewer in number and you meet quality people. In a year things will be different[/quote]
Hey Raj
My son just graduated high school. He told me that for the previous 3 years, there’s a group of 6 or 7 Hindu kids there that hang together. They’ve dubbed themselves “The Brown Squad” and make Indian jokes, as well as do spot-on impressions of their relatives in mock accents, much to everyone’s amusement. I wondered why they’d do such a thing. But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Yeah I pretty much did that in High School too. That’s exactly what it is, a preemptive defense.[/quote]
You’re Indian?[/quote]
Sri Lankan.
Sorry, I didn’t read the thread, but you’d probably like this book OP
I feel like talking about cricket in this same thread…but I will talk about ethnic racism (ethnicism?).
Here where I live, being an ex-Soviet republic, there’s a large population of Russians. Their relationship with the locals is not very good and it comes from home, but also the environment. The main issue is the USSR occupation and how both sides just give their own version…although the Russian one is ridiculous, but it’s the one being taught. “Estonia needed us to rebuild the country, so we went there to help and then they wanted us out”.
So the result is a calm tension between both ethnics and Russians cry racism quite often. So if you are taught that you went there to help and then Estonians, those ungrateful bastards, wanted to kick you out, you’ll go with that attitude in life. Also, many Russians don’t speak Estonian, which makes communication between communities hard and makes this “racism” issue worse.
Estonians learn that the Russians invaded the country, imposed their laws and didn’t want to leave. So they grow up with some bitterness towards Russia.
So, it’s normal that when you go to a place and there’s mixed ethnics, there’s always two groups, Estonians by one side, Russians by the other.
However, and this is very interesting, language is very, very important. While it was a barrier that made communication even harder, now it’s a tool to bring them closer. For what I’ve seen, young people, Russiand and Estonians, can mix just fine if both can speak Estonian.
I’m supposed to be neutral on this issue, but I really like Estonia and it boils my blood hearing a Russian talk about the wonders of the Soviet Union and how Estonia was not occupied, just helped because they couldn’t help themselves. Or things like “I’m a paying client, I want to be able to do everything in Russian”. If this happens to me, I can’t imagine how it must feel for an Estonian.
Russians, with Estonian passport, going to the pitch to watch the Estonia-Serbia football match to support Serbia is just…
If you look at the history of the US, it has always been a racially divided country. Originally, citizenship was only for free white men and then later it was given to blacks and also included women. It wasn’t until the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 that anyone other than a white or a black could be a citizen.
European immigrants to the US before 1952 always argued that they were “white” and thus were given citizenship privileges. The other races (those not white or black, such as Indian, latino, etc) were considered alien and are a relatively new addition to the US community. So the racial divide that you see in your school is just reflective of how the country’s citizenship was established along with the racial stereotypes that the “new” communities bring with them.
[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Racism was quite apparent in the school system when I grew up in Australia (1990s). I felt pretty bad about till I realised that this is the attitude that many kids take to other races, that it’s nothing to do with my race but just the fact that others were different from the majority that they’d use it to make fun. Is it racist? Yes, but it wasn’t malicious either. I faced this in high school, but not in university, university brought together people of every imaginable country and race and it’s very easy to become friends with anyone.
Can you believe I even faced it in the workplace too? Nothing vile, just an off hand comment on customs, traditions etc. The only mechanism I’ve used to counter it is to laugh it off and make aspects of my background funny. I don’t think it’s the best way to deal with it, but humour does disarm people pretty quickly. I’m very happy with the work of Sanjeev Bhaskar and co and Russell Peters for making this all so funny.
I’ve worked with colleagues of my race before, very traditional, can’t stand their beliefs and customs ridiculed but in the same breath can feel justified in vindicating and being condescending on other countries within the same sub-continent. I was a head hunter for a considerable period of time and have had my colleague tell me she wouldn’t shake the hand of a candidate because he was of that race. I was pissed at that comment. How the fuck do you expect others to treat you with respect when you equally look down on other races?
.
.
.
Oh Dot or Feathers? I’m a mofo Motorcycle bitches…lol[/quote]
Xander, I didn’t know you were Indian!
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
But I believe now it was a way of intercepting being goofed on by the white kids, and it seems to have worked. They owned and controlled it to he point that criticism never came their way.
[/quote]
Racism was quite apparent in the school system when I grew up in Australia (1990s). I felt pretty bad about till I realised that this is the attitude that many kids take to other races, that it’s nothing to do with my race but just the fact that others were different from the majority that they’d use it to make fun. Is it racist? Yes, but it wasn’t malicious either. I faced this in high school, but not in university, university brought together people of every imaginable country and race and it’s very easy to become friends with anyone.
Can you believe I even faced it in the workplace too? Nothing vile, just an off hand comment on customs, traditions etc. The only mechanism I’ve used to counter it is to laugh it off and make aspects of my background funny. I don’t think it’s the best way to deal with it, but humour does disarm people pretty quickly. I’m very happy with the work of Sanjeev Bhaskar and co and Russell Peters for making this all so funny.
I’ve worked with colleagues of my race before, very traditional, can’t stand their beliefs and customs ridiculed but in the same breath can feel justified in vindicating and being condescending on other countries within the same sub-continent. I was a head hunter for a considerable period of time and have had my colleague tell me she wouldn’t shake the hand of a candidate because he was of that race. I was pissed at that comment. How the fuck do you expect others to treat you with respect when you equally look down on other races?
.
.
.
Oh Dot or Feathers? I’m a mofo Motorcycle bitches…lol[/quote]
Xander, I didn’t know you were Indian!
[/quote]
Hell Greg thought I was a 40 year old black man till I changed my Avi.
Always amazing how on a forum like this when you cant “pre-judge” people because you cant see them and how you interact with them. 
I’m not sure what you describe is entirely racism. People gravitating to their own happens even as adults in where they choose to live and even the workplace. People just tend to gravitate to where they are comfortable culturally. You can see it in any large corporate lunch room - whether it’s by race (it happens) or position (where people in the same department, or department groups tend to have lunch together). In many instances, it’s an act of comfort, not exclusion in my opinion.
Now, in high school, they are exhibiting the same dynamics, but are at a point in their lives where there is much social confusion, a need to belong, and let’s face it, teenagers are fucking stupid - so they say stupid things. There IS an element of racism though to what you describe and much of it is socially ingrained, including from their parents. But as others have stated, it gets a little better as you get older. But I’d also say these are YOUNG ADULTS - people don’t change that much, racism does and will exist as you get older. You’re not merely “a bunch of kids”.
The dynamic I do not understand though, and that I VERY MUCH disagree with, is your tolerance to racist statements from your “white friends” toward other Indians. If you want to be the “token” Indian, fine. But don’t go kidding yourself that someone is your friend if they are so insensitive to call Indians “dirty” and such, but with the disingenuous disclaimer that “oh, but you’re not”. Explain why you tolerate that?
[quote]zahmad wrote:
If you look at the history of the US, it has always been a racially divided country. Originally, citizenship was only for free white men and then later it was given to blacks and also included women. It wasn’t until the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 that anyone other than a white or a black could be a citizen.
European immigrants to the US before 1952 always argued that they were “white” and thus were given citizenship privileges. The other races (those not white or black, such as Indian, latino, etc) were considered alien and are a relatively new addition to the US community. So the racial divide that you see in your school is just reflective of how the country’s citizenship was established along with the racial stereotypes that the “new” communities bring with them.[/quote]
Latino is not a race it is a culture.
Where I grew up it was 99.99% white. There were a couple dot and a couple feather indians, and one black guy who went to the high school i went to. The indians were treated like everyone else, but when it came to the black guy most of the people were always ‘Yo, dog, what’s happening?’ and bullshit like that, when they never talked like that any other time.
I even listened to and was enthralled with the hip-hop culture when I was kid (still am), but was never one of those ‘wiggers’. Why? Because I didn’t grow up in that community. I liked what they were saying and how it was done, but to emulate it would be fake for me. I’ve always treated everyone as a human being, I think that’s why the lone black guy came to talk to me every once in a while (different grades) cause he was just human…like everyone else.
I even had a black guy say to me one time he liked hanging out cause “I get it”.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
The dynamic I do not understand though, and that I VERY MUCH disagree with, is your tolerance to racist statements from your “white friends” toward other Indians. If you want to be the “token” Indian, fine. But don’t go kidding yourself that someone is your friend if they are so insensitive to call Indians “dirty” and such, but with the disingenuous disclaimer that “oh, but you’re not”. Explain why you tolerate that? [/quote]
He’s in high school. He wants to fit in so he’s not going to put himself in a position to get “ousted” by the white kids. First generation American kids of immigrant parents have a tough battle to find where they fit in. The social customs of home vs outside are totally different. Even after growing up, and after college, it’s still confusing on where you belong, because they are still not white, and they are still not as culturally tied as their parents and new immigrants. Just like this kid, they find themselves being considered a “foreigner” by both groups and strive to be excepted by both groups. The group that this kid can most relate too are the ones like him, the more “Americanized” Indians, if there are any around.
Thank goodness for this thread. Now I know who the Indians on this site are so I can avoid them.
*JOKING, NOT SRS
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Half the white people had thick Eastern European accents heh.[/quote]
Sounds sexy as fuck.
Anyway,I went to highschool in Texas as part of the smallest minority population,Laotian. Along with that,im Mixed. I always felt like I didnt belong to a certain race group,whether that be Vietnamese,Laotian,or Asians in general. I always hung around everybody and I guess that caused further friction between me and people from my ethnicity. Its stupid that kids segregate themselves in high school. There will be plenty of time for that when they end up in prison. This might sound strange…even down right INSANE but just ignore the race factor and try to be friends with everyone. Everyone that is welcome to diversity anyway. THe more friends you make with other people,the more hateful ones will look stupid and ignorant.
[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Can you believe I even faced it in the workplace too? Nothing vile, just an off hand comment on customs, traditions etc. The only mechanism I’ve used to counter it is to laugh it off and make aspects of my background funny. I don’t think it’s the best way to deal with it, but humour does disarm people pretty quickly. I’m very happy with the work of Sanjeev Bhaskar and co and Russell Peters for making this all so funny.
I’ve worked with colleagues of my race before, very traditional, can’t stand their beliefs and customs ridiculed but in the same breath can feel justified in vindicating and being condescending on other countries within the same sub-continent. I was a head hunter for a considerable period of time and have had my colleague tell me she wouldn’t shake the hand of a candidate because he was of that race. I was pissed at that comment. How the fuck do you expect others to treat you with respect when you equally look down on other races?
[/quote]
No,I can believe it. I work with alot of Hispanic and black people and im one of few Asian people at work. The guys I work with,the forklift drivers,they almost never make any racist comments but I have a real problem with the upper management,especially my supervisor,who take it too far. I can tell this guy has a real big anger problem and is a huge bigot with the way he talks to people so im thinking about reporting him when im close to leaving my job this winter.
[quote]DJHT wrote:
Hell Greg thought I was a 40 year old black man till I changed my Avi.
Always amazing how on a forum like this when you cant “pre-judge” people because you cant see them and how you interact with them. :)[/quote]
I thought you were black too because you were a Cowboys fan,lol.