wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] superf88 January 17, 2008 - 10:35AM

  Given that many Chinese Americans emigrated from a Communist country where voting is "different," is there a particular reverence -- or cynicism -- by Chinese Americans toward the American voting process? If so can you give an example?

  
  
• [2] hjs from 11211 January 17, 2008 - 10:39AM

  why does chinatown keep shelly silver in power??

  
  
• [3] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey January 17, 2008 - 10:48AM

  I'm inclined to believe that given Asians' notorious hostilities to Africans, they're siding with Hillary for more than just familiarity. I mean, the Tiananmen Square incident was started partly because of race riots against African students.

  
  
• [4] megan from Park Slope January 17, 2008 - 11:34AM

  Paulo - you seem to do a lot of race-baiting on this website...

  Is it really helpful to make crass inaccurate generalizations that smear an entire ethnicity like:

  "Asians' notorious hostilities to Africans" ??

  Perhaps you take pleasure in incitement, but I don't think it's right.

  
  
• [5] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey January 17, 2008 - 11:47AM

  I would hardly say that I do a lot of race-baiting. There's been a number of times when I've said people were screaming race when that wasn't the issue at all.

  But in this particular case, I know for a fact there there is a long standing history of racism between Asians and Africans... Why do you think Korean stores became immediate targets in riots in African-American neighborhoods? Why do the Japanese still produce offensive caricatures of Africans in their cartoons, product logos, etc. And I've already pointed to the case in China... similarly, Asians have been persecuted under African dictatorships, expelled based solely on their race.

  I don't think it's absurd to suggest that this prejudice might make them biased against Obama in the same way that we should consider why the Jewish community would not support an Arab politician or vise versa. Does it mean every Asian is prejudice against blacks? No. But we're talking about social trends here.

  I am opposed to racism as a concept regardless of who does it. People are quick to condemn white racism against minorities, but those same people are often more reluctant to criticize other nationalities for their prejudices. It's time for everyone to own up and admit it, and then maybe (just maybe) we can all start to get over it.