I get pretty tired of people's snap assumptions when I mention something as basic as hailing from Florida. Jokes about bath salts or alligators as pets (or worse, homophobia) get super old super fast. But home state stereotypes are nothing compared the potential to offend when it comes to making snap judgments based on ethnicity and race. In a recent video, Asian Americans respond to racist comments, and it's simultaneously heartbreaking and empowering.
It blows my mind that a lot of the comments explored in the video stem from childhood experiences. That means little kids are perpetuating this blind hatred and ignorance, which also probably means the young children pick up this bigotry from their parents. Although it's true—racism exists and it's ignorant to pretend otherwise—that doesn't make the continuing endurance of these completely false stereotypes OK. The pigment of a person's skin, for example, could hardly be to blame or thank for a lack or prowess of math skills. That's like saying people with freckles are naturally great at stand-up or pie-baking or tree-climbing or something else that doesn't have anything to do with anything. But what kind of negative impact can repeat exposure to these myths do to young children at the butt end of the allegations? I'm sure it could certainly be psychologically damaging. Asian Americans in this video hit on a variety of comments in the video, including:
Asians unable to work in entertainment
Clearly this is untrue. What about Sandra Oh? Chow Yun-Fat? Or Margaret Cho? All crazy-talented people with fulfilling careers, and just a few among many, many Asian-American actors who slay on the reg.
Eating with hands instead of Western utensils
Wow. What kind of ignorance are people passing along to their kids? Also, as the woman in the video points out, eating with hands can be fun. Think about the phrase "finger foods," guys.
The whole "small penis" thing
Riiight. Welcome to America, where people make snap penis judgments. We all know the only REAL way to tell how big someone's penis is is by their shoe size. Duh, guys. That's science.
See the whole response in full below:
Images: YouTube (4)
