Hello all, I am a Korean-American who was born and raised in the states. Fire escape has hit on a few topics that many people overlook and many actually have no idea that kinda thing could be happening. People who have never been a minority growing up could never understand. And when i try to explain it to them, they brush it off as if i'm overracting. Im sure to most people it seems minor and insignificant (esp since racism is so underlying these days and rarely put out in the open, which is a misconnception for many who think it just doesn't exist anymore), but you really get a sense of what the majority of the community thinks of you as a stereotype and it brainwashes you in a way, esp. when such comments are constantly made.
I've been victim to most kinds of racism(from getting the nightstick from the cops, to a simple derrogatory label) and it has helped me to learn a lot and grow from it. As a kid (I am 25 now) i went to a private school in santa monica, california, which was predominately caucausian (Me and another girl were the only asian kids in our grade, a very small school which i could only stomach for 2 years). I will not go into the abuse we recieved daily at this school (physical, which will always heal, and verbal, which could have effected the way i am now or not, who knows), but the emotions i experienced and the results of it till this day. Do not take any of my testimonial as a testament for asian's views on racism or anything like that, im just giving a personal testimonial based off my thoughts and experience. I understand kids can be cruel and we were all young, but the mind is molded at a young age. Any type of constant negative criticism, will have an adverse effect on any young individual inmo. I guess the point im trying to make is that a lot of the reasons the immigrating asian population behave the way they do as a minority culture has a lot to do with how the majority treats them, and has a lot to do with the "submissive" factor. I'm not saying all, but some. Of course different people react differently, this would probably be especially true for people who have only lived in the states a short time. Again, these are my opinions only.
Stereotypes will always exist in this world. Truthfully id like to say i dont adhere to them, but i know thats bs, everyone does to a certain extent. Its just kinda sad how everything has to be labeled still, especially people. I believe Gemslave put it well for the states as well when saying(although i don't think it is nearly at that extreme anymore) "i live in australia and there is a bit of racism against asians, its hidden though. the two cultures co-exist but hardly ever merge, which is a pity." I believe i'm very different from a stereotypical asian, but im also the same in many ways (some stereotypes i guess are more harmful then others). Yes I have dark hair and dark eyes, but I am 5'11. Yes im good at math, i wear glasses, and I know martial arts (have been taking it since i was a child but also played high school and college basketball and football), but no I do not smoke ciggarettes, but do smoke some pot, am not in a gang, don't hang out with just asians and i do not even own a camera. As for the penis size thing(this must be the most overused "fear-fueled" stereotype I've ever heard), ill just restate that I am not a stereotypical asian ( can't really say about other asians because i don't go looking around like some people, ahem, lol). Retouching on the submissive factor, yes i do i believe that asians in general are more submissive and quieter than others (yes i know this is a stereotype, but seems to be more relevant than others, and has a relevant point, at least in my eyes). But not all are quiet, in actuality Koreans are a loud and boisterous race (another stereotype i know, but this is a steretype more amongst the asians). Of course they wouldn't seem so to the majority, because of communication barriers or other factors. But i guarantee if you walk into a korean rest, it will be one of the loudest you've ever experienced. Anyways i brought this up again because it just shows how stupid steretypes can be, there are all types of asian people as any other peoples; loud, quiet, smart, dumb, big, small, some just immigrated, others who have lived here for a long time, some that fit into the stereotypes and some that don't.
I do not want to say that some caucausian women don't seem to want to give asian the time of day, but in my experience it does feel like that is the case (I know that thats a bit stereotypical too and im sorry). Im not an ugly man (at least i think, lol, you can send me an email and ill reply with my pic if u like and u can tell me how ugly i really am, lol) but i have had a harder time getting a date with caucausian women more than any other race (afterwards is usually fine, but it's often times hard to approach, afraid of another "you're cute for an asian, but no" answer). Anyways Im brand new to this forum but its sad to me this is not the first and most likely won't be the last i've run into this conversation in a public forum. I'm glad to see most people here are open-minded to it though. I'm sorry this got a bit off topic, just felt like injecting my 2 cents. Feel free to leave your opinions and flame me if you like, or even erase my post. thanks, and happy holidays all...