I'm a Chinese-American man, and I find that I don't think I've ever experienced racism from other American adults. From foreigners and children, definitely, but almost never adults, whether in an academic, work, romantic or social context.
Others, whether Asian-Americans or Asians from Asia, men and women, have commented that their experience has been different. I'm curious about your experiences.
25 comments
Mostly just fellow classmates, because you know, kids are stupid. But it’s mostly stupid things like “Konnichiwa” when they see me. The majority of the time people are normal.
Basically haven’t seen any since I left middle school
My wife is east asian… the only racism she ever experiences here is unintentional ignorance.
I’m a white American. I once used the word Chinamen without knowing it was offensive. I thought it was like Irishmen, Frenchmen, Englishmen, etc.
Luckily, the teacher who heard me use it took the time to educate me on why and how it came to be used as a slur.
It was both mortified and humbled. I wonder if normal, everyday Americans who do similar things are just as ignorant as I was.
I am southeast Asian but look very East Asian. I grew up and lived in Asian dominant parts of California my entire life and also work in an Asian dominant industry, so I pretty much never experience racism. Every once in a while I’ll travel elsewhere in the US with few Asian people and might get stares or some questions about my heritage, but they seem to be more out of curiosity rather than hostility. There’s only been one instance in my entire life where I felt racially discriminated against, and that was outside of the US.
My East-Asian friends definitely experienced some scary situations during the anti-Asian Covid stuff
One of my friends was sucker punched on the subway for example for being Asian
Another was backed into a corner on the street and screamed at while walking home
Having lived in the country for over a decade, and in more than half a dozen states – I can say I’ve faced overt racism only in one place (Raleigh, North Carolina). Every other place I’ve lived in/visited – people have been friendly, and welcoming! Context – I am a brown guy from the Indian subcontinent!
I’m Korean-American, once on a trip to Manhattan a homeless guy demanded money from me and my group and then started making erratic Kung fu movements and shouted “Konnichiwa, bitch!” At my girlfriend as we were walking away.
In general I would say I do not experience racism if you exclude institutionalized policy like affirmative action or diversity hiring quotas
When I was highschool, I would often get “you’re Mexican right?” I would correct them and on occasion I was laughed at. I have had women lose interest in me after telling them I was Asian (instead of Latino). Another circumstance I encountered was when I dumped my ex, her new boyfriend called me a chink and a fish head. Aside from that, I hear jokes about Asians having small dicks or being bad at driving. They didn’t offend me when I was younger, but the jokes have gotten old. I’ve been listening to them for over 20 years. Sum Ting Wong? Ho Lee Fuk? That shit is so annoying.
I’m not Asian myself, but my brother is and he frequently had people yell at him during the height of Covid. That was the first time he had experienced anything like that and he was 30 at the time.
I’m also Chinese American. I’ve encountered racism in two different clusters of times in my life. The first was as a kid and the second was in law school in the Northeast. None during undergrad or currently.
Half-Japanese man here. It was somewhat frequent, even in professional contexts, when I was younger. Stuff you’d classify as “microaggressions” today.
Dating as an Asian man in Texas is easy-mode, though, so I wouldn’t trade it. 😀
I’m Chinese American. I don’t face racism (or at least to my knowledge) because I live in a city where Asian Americans are the majority. I’m sure there were subtle racist remarks made, which I don’t consider truly racist, but really 0/10.
So, I am in DFW, Texas, born and raised here. I am more “native” to the area than most White Americans I met here. My parents are from Korea. One form of racism I have faced multiple times is veing fetishized by both men and women. This is including from non-Korean Asians as well as non-Asians.
One other thing is that I do notice I get stares when I travel and stop in very rural areas. On one hand, I think it might be simply because I am not from the area and people don’t recognize me. On the other hand, I have a close White friend and close Hispanic friend who I would travel with, and it feels like the stares are focused more on me. But, also, I get it. It doesn’t outright feel like they are being malicious by looking at me, so I don’t mind. Heaven knows how many White and Black people visiting rural Korea have been stared at for being different or new.
Beyond that, I have not, as an adult, faced spiteful or hateful racism from other adults. I do have people in my close circle making racist jokes around me, but only because we are in private, they know I don’t mind, and I do it back. It is like banter with friends. However, I have had people make racist assumptions about me. A lot of people think I am smart or educated because I am Asian. Like, racist, but not hateful in any way. Just ignorant.
More uninformed ignorance, which I can tolerate. Many people are still learning about new cultures, after all. Haven’t dealt with racism here in the US…Europe is more of a different story.
I’m mixed (Half Korean, Half-White) so I have been spared a lot of it, though I’ve definitely encountered it, but generally in my case it tends to be targeted towards being wasian, mixed, etc. and not specifically for Korean.
My mom got it a lot more growing up, but not as badly. She grew up in an area with a large Korean diaspora, so she actually got a lot more “you’re not Korean enough” comments from other Koreans for not speaking Korean than she got racism from non-East Asians.
My grandparents though, they went through it. My grandfather joined the US military, and so my grandma was alone a lot after they both moved to the United States. For a very long time she was the only Korean in the entire town, and there was only one other East-Asian person who was Japanese. When the military told her something she misunderstood as my grandfather was killed, she had a breakdown and rather than trying to explain it to her or find a Korean-translator they institutionalized her.
I’m Japanese-American and my partner is Chinese-American.
We agree we’ve been mostly sheltered from racism because we both come from well off families and classism is more of a divide than racism at that point.
Growing up in Missouri in the 90s, I mostly experienced ignorant comments and “light” racism. Lots of making fun of my name, making fun of my “gross raw fish” food (sushi), even if it wasn’t raw. A lot of assuming I’m Chinese.
When people would imitate my grandma they would give her a thick Asian accent, but like…my grandma was born and raised in Washington. She never had an accent lol.
I only had one hostile racist experience that I can remember. Predictably, it was in St. Charles, which I avoid to this day.
Here in California it’s mostly a non-issue since we’re so common, but we all knew that the inflammatory COVID rhetoric would lead to anti-Asian attacks. I told my parents not to visit me at the height of it all because I was genuinely concerned for their safety.
Thankfully, it seems to have calmed down, but who knows.
Second / Third generation Asian-American (dad came to the US as a small child). Straight up racism pretty much never.
One interesting thing I’ve noticed moving to the west coast is that there seems to be unspoken assumptions about what I should be like, both from more recent Asian arrivals and from white people. Growing up in the Midwest with minimal other Asian Americans around me I don’t really fit people’s preconceptions.
I’m a Korean American woman. I’ve mainly dealt with micro aggressions & ignorance. I think people usually have what *they* think are good intentions. I’ve also experienced being fetishized, which is really gross and dehumanizing.
in service jobs I keep getting asked where I’m REALLY from. here you jackass! I’m from right here!
I’m from Southern California, so being in the cultural bubble it’s unheard of. Most don’t even interact much with non-Asians. However during the pandemic when things seemed to have hit a boiling point I’ve heard of incidents of window-breaking or brick-throwing directed towards Asian establishments where it’s still a non-Asian majority in the town
I’m half Asian half white but appear Asian. I have never experienced any racism I can recall. Perhaps something was said with the intent to be racist and I didn’t pick up on it, but I can’t recall an instance of it. I do live in a very diverse place tho.
I have experienced ignorance more than actually hostile racism. In school, I sometimes got comments such as “konnichiwa” or “ni hao”, or being talked to with terribly attempted Asian accents. Since then, I have rarely experienced much from Americans, but do occasionally get, “Where are you REALLY from?” or “Wow, your English is so good” (which I find to be more annoying, especially as English is my first language). Occasionally also been on the receiving end of fetishization, which was annoying too.
That being said, during the pandemic, I did get occasionally hostile looks, but thankfully nothing worse (unlike what some other Asians experienced, sadly). However, one of the most racist and disheartening incidents happened when a guy I knew from school told me, during the height of the pandemic, “No offense PacSan300, but I hate Chinese people now. We are all suffering because of them.”
Also, it must be said, I have had more negative experiences with this outside of the US than in the US.
Direct and obvious racism, about once every other year.
Microagressions: super constantly.
Not often, but it does happen. I have to field the occasional “Hey, do you eat dogs?” question, and I’ve ran into a couple of people since moving to Wyoming, who had interesting opinions about how easy “the Japs” had it at the local internment camp–but those are the exceptions.
I’ve never gotten any questions about dick sizes, but I own a couple pairs of tearaway pants, just in case 😛