Racism and Politics

Dear Mach,

Was Senator Harry Reid being racist when he said that the US would be “ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama – a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.’”?

Concerned about Controversy

Dear Concerned,

What the hell?! I write a blog about iPhone apps. Why would you possibly want to ask me about something like that?! Well, since you asked…. First off, no one person can speak on everyone’s behalf, even if they are a member of an ethnic minority. But no, I don’t think the comments were racist.

There’s a tendency in America to shy away from any discussion of race but apart from Reid’s choice of words of “Negro dialect”, he’s just saying what a lot of minorities already know and live with. Being Asian, a lot of people make certain stereotypical assumptions about me: that I’m good at math, know martial arts, and am a fantastic lover. Well, okay, yes, I just so happen to fit all those stereotypes but that’s not the point. The point is that it is a fact of life that mainstream America will not accept you if you are too far outside what is considered the norm. That’s an unfortunate and sometimes uncomfortable fact, but that doesn’t make commenting about it racist.

3 Responses to “Racism and Politics”

  1. Deluxe Says:

    “a fantastic lover”
    Isn’t that a French/Italian thing? =P

    You must have confound with the “eat with chopsticks” stereotype (it’s okay since those sentences are not easily recognizable from each other, ahem 😉

  2. Mach Says:

    What, you hadn’t heard of the “Asians are fantastic lovers” stereotype? Oh yeah, that’s definitely a thing. I mean, it’s not like I’d just make it up… You should tell all your friends.

  3. MSG Says:

    Yeah, seriously, I’ve never heard of this stereotype about us before. I have heard that our love tool isn’t so fantastic in size. That’s a true stereotype about us Asians.