Thread: Am I racist for saying...

Just to mix the pot...

I see everyone is assuming they are 'fresh off the boat" when in fact Shazza and Dazza WONG and their kids Johnny and Cheryl are actually Australian born and 70 year old grandad has been here since just after the Vietnam war because he fought alongside us.....and is known as Bert locally...

just a thought

Originally Posted by digger

Just to mix the pot...

I see everyone is assuming they are 'fresh off the boat" when in fact Shazza and Dazza WONG and their kids Johnny and Cheryl are actually Australian born and 70 year old grandad has been here since just after the Vietnam war because he fought alongside us.....and is known as Bert locally...

just a thought

That's just wrong...it's Shazza and Dazza Nguyen not Wong.

if I had been in your shoes their ears would still be burning

Not sure how successful you would have been lighting a fire at a swimming pool

its easy to deal with such situations with a simple "I don't appreciate you touching my stuff. Would you be happy if I touched yours? If anything is missing I'll call the police". You make your point, the recipient knows what they did is wrong and they are less likely to simply think YOU are the one with the issue.

I live in Asia and have done so for 17 years now and as a minority wherever I go, there are always cultural variances some for better, some for worse - but I've never seen anyone touch another's property when its left somewhere - in fact its an oft used solution to reserving a table or bench in hawker centres. A pack of tissues or an umbrella left lying in the table mean someone has reserved it - a bit rude perhaps, but common practice.

IMHO...

if you pick on someone because of something they do that anyone could do then you're racist.

if you have a go at someone for doing something that is endemic ONLY to their particular genome thats OK. I think of it as being similar to calling a red head bluey. The problem becomes identifying somthing that fits a specific racial behavior.

Hi

IMO you are a racist if you believe people of other races are inherently inferior, not because they have a different religion, cultural mores or customs.

So I would say you are not racist just ****ed of by rudeness !

Check the Germans and the Brits over who gets to reserve the sun beds

Steve

Originally Posted by DT-P38

Thanks for the comments and thoughts.

I am seriously wondering if I am racist for saying to someone "In this country...blah, blah, blah..."?

Dave, none of us are perfect and don't let political correctness ruin your day.
In you query, if you take out emotions, heat of the day, stress and pressure to find the last spot, and whole heap of other factors than some purist would say yes perhaps you are racist.
If you find some Anglo Saxon bogan leaving a coke can on the bus stop seat, and chucking cigarette buts all around the place; you don't approach them and say "In this country .......".
Anglo Saxon Australians tend to think they are the supremo race no matter how long a non anglo saxon immigrant has lived here. If they don't look english than it's easy to pigeon hole them.
So I would say your are not racist, just unleashed a frustration you have from general observations from the actions common to another race. Asians are not good at social courtesy generally in european eyes. If you go to an Asian market, you will most likely get some pretty blunt behaviour towards you if you see it as a "personal thing", otherwise it's just behaviour common to a race bustling for own space and dealings. Innate and learned behaviour are very hard to stop or re adjust, and takes time regardless. But immigrating to new country only takes months if not weeks.
Look at us white Australians, 226 years down the road and we still learning.