A scenario simulation to foster empathy among the ethnic majority
8 Responses | Leave a Comment »
I read the lastest exchange on the CU thread,
Here’s an attempt at piece response to refer to everytime this exact issue comes up which is about once a week:
Imagine you walked into a major computing firm’s headquarters and asked to be hired. They say, “Sure, we are an equal opportunity hiring firm. May I see your resume?” You do so. They say, “This isn’t a resume, this is just a list of some computer programmers you are married to, some computer programmer friends and one time that a computer program locked her keys in her car and you helped her get them out. That’s not actually any expertise or experience on the subject.”
You say, “Yes, but I believe that all people should have and use computers. Last week I was at a meeting and there was someone talking about computers and I totally got it! I know there are a lot of people like me who don’t get computers, but I ‘get’ computers!”
They are a little skeptical, but call on some of their deep patience and say, “Well, tell us some about your understanding of computers!”
You say, “Well, computers are like calculators, only BETTER! They can do all manners of things! Some of my best friends use computers! I might even allow my kids to use computers! I even heard of this program called ‘Microsoft Word’–it lets you type stuff without even having a typewriter!”
They are pretty frustrated at this point, “I’m sorry, we are happy for your enthusiasm, but there’s a little more that we need for you to be at all helpful around here!”
You respond angrily, “I’m here for YOU! I have this unquenchable desire to join the computing world and help YOU learn from ME and you are not allowing me to. You must be some of those ZEALOUS hateful computer users that make people hate computers. Why are you driving me away from computers?”
They respond, “Sir, I have no idea what you are talking about. We are a computer firm that deals with computers everday. We are happy for you to use computers and learn more about computers. We would even be happy to hire you once you have a better understanding of computers. Surely you can understand this?”
You scream in their faces, “You just hate me because I have been fortunate enough to have someone else to type on computers for me in the past, don’t you!? You are discriminating against me as a former non-computer user. This is why non-computer users don’t want to use computers and hate you! What if I formed a business that simply joined people together to lynch and kill computer users? How would you like that? That would be the same thing as a your business which is a pro-computer group.”
They call security. But they are foolish. You own security and everything else in the society. Thank God. Otherwise crazy people like them would be running things, and not sane FAIR people like you… You waltz along your day as the authorities shut down their business, or maybe next time you will merely go to your press and call them out as evil bigots or some other fitting punishment. They are probably hurt; maybe a little confused; or jaded from this experience, but what do you care, you are a golden child and your powerful forefather and mothers think you are SPECIAL!
Leave a Comment »
Share
Entries (RSS)
valleydude
1:35 pm | Feb 25, 2008Hi — the infamous valleydude here. I’m going to break my promise to jaehwan and post one last time, as a more courteous and less emotion-injected farewell to the forum. When I am done, I will leave (per my promise to jaehwan), not angrily, but out of a sense that this forum is better off without my clumsy interjections, and the knowledge that at least debate on the position is alive (judging by some of the reactions to what happened in the thread). I also leave knowing that this is not the place for me, and that my presence here causes more harm than good. I surely don’t want to spoil the one sanctuary some angry folks have here for their opinions.
I look back now at my posts and am extremely embarrassed, as I let others bait me into a position I had not originally intended to support, which was the article I posted. I had gently suggested after a few other posts that maybe the individuals (not all Asians) this particular white guy ran into were shy, and that maybe he was the one misunderstanding what was going on. I soon got baited into an argument about white privilege, something I neither intended not disbelieve, only that white privilege doesn’t help all of us all of the time, and that even whites can lose out in white privilege. I did not mean to undercut or demean anyone’s argument or experiences, which is (judging by the supporting posts to jaehwan’s and maogirl’s) how I came off. For this, I apologize.
The biggest shock of the whole exchange wasn’t the viewpoints I ran into (I know what forum this is), but rather that two very intelligent individuals whose well-worded posts I had read in recent months lurking attacked me not using logic or well-thought out arguments, but rather “WTFFUYTFUYTGETOUTGETOUTGETOUT!” When you run into something like that, you can either conclude A) These two people are morons (not true, obviously, from their other great posts in other places) or B) I’m way out of place with my opinions in this forum, and already making a terrible impression. I think B is the most likely answer.
The other great irony is that we essentially acted out the scenario mentioned in the editorial piece and the subsequent news article. I did come away from the experience believing the author a bit more, as what I ran into wasn’t just opposition to my ideas or presentation style, but really just outright racial hate without foundation, the same kind I’ve run into my whole life from all colors. Some individuals just want to hate, and will rationalize the world to fit that perverted world view.
Suddenly I was some huge racist who a lot of you speculated endlessly around despite my disclaimers. Even the disclaimers were attacked — “How dare he say he knows something about us?” I literally had friends from birth of all Asian ethnicities, Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Taiwanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, sleeping over at their houses, learning Korean phrases in Tae Kwon Do (he wanted me to take over the studio after him), having the whole list of AF GFs that I spared you because I knew what ire it would build and what stereotype it would reinforce (YT stealing the AFs) — yet somehow I knew “nothing” about Asians, though the above mix is very likely more than a lot of you personally experienced in your friend mix. You won’t admit it here, but you as a group are a lot more likely to discriminate against the “unpopular” Asian groups like Filipinos and Vietnamese — coming from a White family, this baggage did not exist other than the “they’re not White and we don’t care” upbringing that exists in very liberal white families (which since I don’t know about your culture, you shouldn’t claim to know about mine or what goes on there).
Basically, it’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t here. If I came in without the disclaimers, I’d be written off as yet another YT cruising in the WRONG PLACE (duh) for AF tail, ignorant of your culture and movement. With the disclaimers, I’m actually worse, an oppressor-culture poseur here to rape your board with my ideas and propaganda. Personally, I just saw it as me refusing to be the YT punching bag for the angrier people here, who are very, very angry, like skinhead angry. No logic in the face of the thing they hate, just emotion. If I can’t mildly object (reread my posts, see if I got extreme in any way), than really this isn’t a forum for me or my race.
I see now this is really probably a forum best limited to Asians, especially angry or isolationist ones. It’s the Asian Stormfront, a sanctuary for your views, and I was an interloper. I do humbly apologize at this point to everyone, and I am happy that my brief presence did at least touch off a debate about who should be included with what ideas, and that there was some mild support from a few and stronger particapatory support from another — however, the lion’s share of views was that I was out of place and out of line, and I think the respectful thing for me to do is to stay away. Maogirl and others made the good point that CSU and orgs like that are sanctuaries away from White culture — this is that same concept here, and I realized me coming in and conversing was as bad as the tagalong YT trying to join CSU, and just as pathetic.
Jaehwan, my apologies for breaking the promise, I will refrain from posting here forward (unless you for some reason think I should still participate, and say so publicly). I will lurk as I did before, but will not post again or respond to attacks, unless Private Messaged.
nightshade
9:56 pm | Feb 25, 2008The posters on this forum who don’t harbour racist beliefs don’t feel the need to post disclaimers with their statements.
evil_FUX
3:24 am | Feb 26, 2008I find it funnier on how xian’s post and valleydude’s last comment relate to each other because it reminds me of these situations I find where I’ll meet some guy who’s pretty knowledgeable about the Internet or computers in general and they’ll think they’re the shit or something when really if you put them next to an IT dude of 30 years or a CS major that guy would totally just not say anything since what could he say to show he knows more than the IT guy or the CS major.
JadeDragon
9:52 am | Feb 26, 2008Why is it that some white posters want to be oh-so-special? valleydude didn’t touch off any new debate (as we’ve been through similar issues with previous members), and he’s not the first white poster to have jumped in and accused the 44s of being the Asian Stormfront (see Televangelist).
And as for discriminating against “unpopular” Asian groups, hello, I’m Bruneian. Let’s see if you can find that on a map without resorting to Wikipedia.
jaehwan
1:38 pm | Feb 27, 2008“Jaehwan, my apologies for breaking the promise, I will refrain from posting here forward (unless you for some reason think I should still participate, and say so publicly). ”
Apology not accepted. A promise is a promise, and you reneged on yours.
Xian,
I like the analogy, but I think there is one crucial difference. Ancestors of on-computer users have never subjugated ancestors of computer users through military force, have never forcibly rewritten their laws, have never tried to inflict racial biases through financial control of education, and have never colonized the home countries of computer users. Computer users, for the most part, have always been in control of computer culture.
Xian
8:05 pm | Feb 27, 2008Agreed, but I figured ridicule was a better approach than shame.
Dialectic
2:23 am | Feb 29, 2008Great post, Xian! Yes, I think this would make a terrific “standard answer.” We need as many of these as Features as there are stupid debates! (I’ve designated this a “Feature” btw.)
Senkeh
7:11 pm | Mar 09, 2008Beautiful post, Xian. You have a wonderful mind and a brilliant sense of humor.