If you don’t mind a response from a “white” person, here goes…
A little background on affirmative action:
Focusing in particular on education and jobs, affirmative action policies required that active measures be taken to ensure that blacks and other minorities enjoyed the same opportunities for promotions, salary increases, career advancement, school admissions, scholarships, and financial aid that had been the nearly exclusive province of whites.
As just one example, here’s what happened to UCLA admissions after affirmative action was largely abolished (back in the 80s, IIRC, affirmative action kept many Asians out of UCLA because the university was trying to maintain a more “diverse” student body — I remember it being a very big deal at the time):
In the absence of affirmative action laws, admission rates at public universities have risen for Asian-American students, while numbers for white, black and Hispanic students have declined, according to a recent study.
1. IMHO, the reason Asians aren’t treated with kid gloves is because most whites don’t see them as having any “handicaps”, especially when compared to blacks and hispanics in this country. For whatever reason, the perception among whites is that Asians can take perfectly good care of themselves and don’t need any assistance.
The very politically incorrect thing to say (and what many of us believe “affirmative action” says) is that blacks and other non-Asian minorities need extra help (if that isn’t racist, I don’t know what is).
Basically, Asians are struggling with the very same issues as whites WRT affirmative action (AA), and many whites might see them as their peers in the fight against AA.
2. As to the cashier who appeared to you to be “racist”…
It’s entirely possible you were shopping in an area where there are many Asian immigrants and tourists. These cashiers may have had many experiences where the customers didn’t understand the currency or what the cashiers were saying, so they tried to explain it more clearly.
It may have appeared “racist” to you, but the same people would probably have done the same thing if they were accustomed to Hungarian tourists/immigrants who didn’t speak English or understand the currency.
Personally, if I were living in/touring China, it would be greatly appreciated if their cashiers would take the time and trouble to help me out if I didn’t understand what they were saying, etc., especially if they were being honest (not trying to sell me a pack of gum for the equivalent of $20.00 just because I was confused about the currency/purchase).
Also, in my entire life in the U.S., I’ve probably heard a handful of “racist” remarks (very mild, at that) directed toward Asians. OTOH, I’ve heard far more racist comments (direct and much more vicious) against blacks, latinos, Jews and Middle Easterners. Probably, the greatest number and most vicious remarks were reserved for women — even if they aren’t a separate “race”.
Everyone makes his/her way through life with different histories, experiences and knowledge. We shouldn’t be so quick to ascribe malicious intent where there might not be any.
3. The “anti-immigrant” feelings WRT labor and wages…
Most Americans aren’t afraid of competition. What they resent is CHEAP foreign labor that threatens our way of life.
If Asians produced higher-quality products/services and charged the same or more, it wouldn’t be a big deal. That would give Americans incentive to work on improvements on our end.
The problem is that Americans are competing, not based ability or quality of work; but based solely on pay. Most of us think Americans produce some of the highest-quality products. When we made things here, they lasted longer, had fewer known toxins, had longer warranties and companies backed their stuff up, because the company’s name actually meant something.
Americans are NOT lazy, but they do not want to compete with countries and people who can live on a fraction of what Americans can live on (prices severely lag wages on the way down, IMO, so price deflation cannot adequately offset wage deflation). We’d rather see laborers in other countries RAISE their standard of living, rather than tear ours down.
How would the Chinese feel if they were happily going about life, making good-quality products and living a decent, middle-class life for many decades. Then, along come the white Americans, literally pouring into thier country, who are willing to work for one-tenth of their wages and who place no demands on the employers (health benefits, labor laws, etc. — protections for which the Chinese fought very hard)? The Chinese businessmen would rejoice, but how would the workers feel?
How would they feel if these foreigners came over and lived a lifestyle which the Chinese worked their way out of over many generations (lived with even more people to a house, had multiple children whom they couldn’t afford to educate, feed or provide medical care for)? How would the Chinese feel if **they** had to pay, with their diminishing wages, for these peoples’ costs?
It’s not racism, it’s self-preservation. One has to understand why the resentment exists in the first place.
