[John K.]

To Rhiannon: I agree with you quite a bit in terms of racism against Latinos. In many places throughout the country, they are discriminated against. However, I disagree with your assertion that there is a difference between the Taco Bell chihuahua and the Irish or Italian stereotypical characters. They all assume the same thing. The only difference is that you have bought into the idea that it is all right to stereotype Irish and Italian people.

You see, the Irish and Italians fall under the category of “white.” As a general rule, non-whites see whites as a large, homogenous group. Little things like ethnic background are often ignored. Well, it doesn’t work that way. Most non-Irish still believe that all Irish are drunks, and most non-Italians still believe that all Italians are involved in organized crime. But that’s all right, you see … because they’re “white.” Just like Polish people are white, so it’s all right to stereotype them as immensely stupid. Well, no, it’s not all right. It’s just accepted.

One other thing: Some racist whites discriminate against Italians because they have darker skin color and therefore have “black blood,” so there’s another angle. Also, your statements about discrimination against the Irish, specifically, have only applied in this country for the last few decades, and do not apply at all in other parts of the world. Take a trip to Northern Ireland sometime; you’ll see what I mean. The Irish there had their own civil rights movement during the same time that the United States had ours – only theirs was much more bloody.

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[Beth]

I don’t know the relevance of tripe or beef tongue to Hispanic people. Is it some kind of term of insult, or is it a speciality dish that is traditional in Hispanic culture? Whichever it is, I think it probably depends on how the comment was said. If you were upset by it, then it was probably not said in an honestly inquiring manner.

I think I may be guilty of asking similar questions (though in an honest way). I love food and am always looking for new foods to try, and I’m interested in how people eat. I would quite openly ask a French person if they liked to drink hot or cold chocolate drinks for breakfast, and I might ask a Scotish person if they liked porridge. I have also asked an Indian friend if they ate curry for breakfast – because when on holiday in India that is what people did. These are stereotypes, but I don’t really expect people to always eat their national dishes. For my part, these questions are really about enjoying people’s differences, not criticizing them.

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[Stacey]

I can understand why you were upset. I remember when Tiger Woods won the Masters in ’97 and another golfer said he hoped Tiger wouldn’t have them serve fried chicken and greens at the honors dinner. A lot of people didn’t understand why that was offensive. It was offensive because it stereotyped black people. It sounds to me they’ve done the same to you.

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Name : Stacey, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Methodist, Age : 27, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Floyd L.]

The question to Rita seems to be in the same vein and of the same intent as the “collard greens and fried chicken” comments regarding Tiger Woods. They reflect nothing about curiosity or interest in one’s culture. They say “you may be here but you are still not one of us” (who are above tripe, tongue, collard greens and fried chicken). Rita’s response probably helped the person think more about the potential consequences of words or actions before speaking or acting. This has got to be a good thing and is necessary if one ever expects to relate to anyone other than a cultural clone.

Societies where people are not at each other’s throats are largely so because individuals begin in childhood to learn through instruction and healthy socialization that feelings can be hurt intentionally or through marauding insensitive behavior, and that it is far more civil and less painful to moderate the behavior than to require those who suffer the brunt of such behavior to be “less sensitive” to it. To say “I did not intend to insult” does not change the sting of it, and it is the sting that can drive otherwise well-tempered people to ill-tempered actions far more consequential than anything Rita may have done.

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Name : Floyd L., Gender : M, Age : 59, City : Memphis, State : TN, Country : United States, 

[ED]

Yes, the person was trying to demean you. If he or she had not been, the question would simply have been “What are you bringing to the company breakfast?” This falls into the same category as the ignorant comments made by Fuzzy Zoeller about what food Tiger Woods would be bringing to that golf dinner.

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[Jacqueline-C20994]

Kai, your experiences seem to be very strange to me. You say that you experienced descrimination almost every day of your life for 20 years for being German. It makes me wonder where in the US that you lived and what part your family had in Nazi Germany. I am also of German desent and know many other people from Germany or of German desent. I have never heard of any discrimination against anyone I know for being German.

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[Pete S.]

Interesting point, Kai, one which I experienced when my family returned to the U.S. of A. after 2.5 years in Germany in the early 60’s. Funny thing, though, was the Germans didn’t open their arms to us and accept us as equals, even though we lived on the German economy in a small town outside of Frankfurt. As an American, I learned to rise above the ignorance and the stereotypes of the day and found a few German kids to play soccer with from time-to-time. I hadn’t thought about any of this until I saw your note in this forum. I didn’t think of it as racism, I figured the Germans didn’t like us because we were Americans and they weren’t too fond of what we did to them and their country during the war. It’s a shame that so many years afterward (I assume), you encountered the same stupidity and stereotyping that I did. The only difference is that we did it at different times and in each other’s countries. I guess ignorance knows neither boundaries, borders, or time. Too bad. In spite of all that we share in common as human beings on this earth, all we can see of one another are the small, meaningless things that make us different. It makes me sad for the human . . . . race.

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