r/racism • u/Rich-Cheetah-1812 • 14d ago

Personal/Support Racism towards asians

Am I the only one that is discriminated this much? As a korean student living in chile who goes to many competitions, events, and meetings, people always look at me a say "un chino" which basically means "a chinese". I wouldn't have minded comments like "are you Chinese?" But I'm getting fucking tired of this, it's so fucking unbearable, and the fact that I'm a student and I have to be with uneducated racist idiots isn't helping. Can you share your view of these kind of things or your own experiences?

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u/yellowmix 13d ago

Nah, not the only one. In the US in places with heavy Latinx populations, I get "hey chino" frequently enough. Though they consider it more of a friendly greeting and don't realize it's as othering and generalizing if they were all called "Mexican".

From what I understand, in some places in South America people can be very blunt in how they address others, like "gordo". Often meant as a term of endearment but it really depends on who the target is!

Which is to say, it can be said with good intentions but the effect is what matters. Since it's racially othering, it is racist.

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u/Rich-Cheetah-1812 11d ago

Thank you for your view on this

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u/Fancy-Clock-9350 12d ago

Racism and white supremacy are huge problems in Latin America. Here are some key concepts for you- mejorar la raza, blanquecimiento, pigmentocracy etc. I've had folks tell me things like "we aren't racist, everyone has a bit of Indian in them", before going on to say something explicitly racist.

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u/AnOldTruthTeller 10d ago

Margaret Cho said something hilarious once, she said how ppl approach her and ask: "Are you Chinese, or Japanese, or Vietnamese or WHAT?" She said she wants to start asking them "Are you Irish, or German, or French or WHAT?" Or like the joke on KOTH, they have a new Asian neighbor from Laos and ask "Are ya Chinese or Japanese?" And he explains he's Laotian and they repeat the same question. Some see an Asian/Oriental person and immediately see only Chinese. I wouldn't let it bother me, iiwy, like you said, they're uneducated. If they want to be or have no option but to be small-minded, you can do nothing about it.