Rosie's ching-chong comments

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Oh geez... I think I'm going to start a race war on the Ledge even though it is not my intention. All I can say is that:

In this day and age, there is no such thing as racism against white people.

And this is hardly an original concept. I believe it was Spike Lee who got into some hot water by stating his opinion about this in the media many years ago... and it was largely dismissed by the (mostly white) media.

But I happen to believe it is true. And it's hard to make this point without sounding like some kind of white-hating radical activist, which I am not (hullo, music does not get any "whiter" than Fleetwood Mac ). It's just that in the western world, caucasians are in a position of dominance- culturally, economically, politically, etc. This means that they are not exactly in a position of being persecuted, marginalized, criminalized or otherwise at a disadvantage in life because of the color of their skin or the language that they speak. So yes, I do realize that there are instances in largely ethnic neighborhoods where whites are technically in the minority. And I do realize that there are white stereotypes perpetrated in the media, e.g., that straight white boys can't dance, all white girls talk like Valley Girls, etc. But this is not the same as calling black people the "n" word or calling Asians "slanty eyes" or, again doing the "ching chong" thing. Historically, those derogatory terms came from a much darker place- they were a means of putting people of color down in their place- basically to remind them that they were different and were not equal to the (superior) whites. During the last World War, the Asian stereotypes were put out in the war propaganda to fuel the American zeitgeist against the Japanese (and, of course, to the vast majority of Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. are all the same ) Conversely, there are no such derogatory terms in our language today that imply that [my race] is superior to caucasians, and caucasians are nothing but lowly _______. It's just not possible; caucasians control every aspect of western society. I'm not saying that it is right or wrong... it's just the way it is. Therefore, in my own estimation, it seems that any sort of derogatory terms about white people are either a) done in jest b) made up by one group of white people to feel superior to another group of white people, e.g., redneck, or c) crafted as an angry response to being oppressed, e.g., Jesse Jackson calling NYC "Himeytown."

Yes, it does sound like a double standard. But this is why it has been socially acceptable for black people to use the "n" word but totally forbidden for white people to use it. Accordingly, to a large degree, I have carte blanche to poke fun at Asian stereotypes, and trust me, I do (along with Margaret Cho, Amy Tan, etc.)! But for whites to do that... not such a good thing. In general, any time you are in a position of dominance, it really is your noblesse oblige to take the highroad when it comes to dealing with people who are at a disadvantage in society. That is why there is a double standard for white people- it is acceptable to knock white people down a peg or two, but it would be racial harassment if the tables were turned.

Let the flames begin!

For the most part, generally speaking, I agree with you. However, I WAS the victim of racism by a group of black girls when I was in the 7th grade. The odd thing was, eventually another black girl put a stop to it.

Also, there is such a thing as reverse discrimination--my brother experienced it when he was applying to Med school. Granted, its much less prevalent than the usual type of racism/discrimination, but it happens nonetheless. But for the record, as I said, I tend to agree with what you said.