Parallelism

Fromvariousculturestodifferentbackgrounds,oursocietycontainsamixed
meltingpotofethnicity.Thisisfascinatingasitbringstogetheralldifferentspectrumsof
cultureanddiversitytooursocietyhelpingusdefinewhoweareandwherewebelong.
However,evenwithallofthebenefitsthatcomefromthismeltingpot,itisbecoming
increasinglyprevalentthatsomeculturesstandoutandothersarenotrecognized.
Manydifferentgroupseitherfeel"privileged"ornonprivilegedwhenitcomestohow
theyliveandhowothersperceivethem.Thereasonforthisisbecauseweare
accustomedtoanormandanythingoutsideofthatnormisconsidereddifferent.
Ethnocentrismservesasanexampleofprivilegesbasedonculturaldifferences.Certain
groupstendtotreatothergroupsdifferentlybecausetheybelievetheirgroupisbetterit
isauniversalhumancondition.WithinEurocentricsocieties,suchastheUnitedStates,
itiseasytoseethatwhiteheterosexualmalesarethedominantandmostprivileged
groupofthecountry.Thismakesitdifficultforpeopleofdifferentethnicbackgrounds,
suchasAlexanderNhan,anAsianAmericanstudentatSaltLakeCommunityCollege,
tofeelasenseofbelongingortoarticulatetheirvoices.ThereasonIchoseAlex,was
becausehegrewupinanAsianandBuddhistfamily,whichisextremelydifferentthan
growingupasaCatholiclatina.Bothourculturesareclearlydistinguished,howeverwe
havemanysimilaritiesinwhichwehaveexperiencedstereotypesandhaveeasilybeen
categorizedincertaingroupsaccordingtoourphysicalattributes.

InordertodwelldeeperintotheracialdifferencesthatplagueoursocietyIasked
Alexafewquestionsaboutwhohewas,andhowhefeltlikehefitwithinourEurocentric
community.ThefirstquestionIaskedwasforhimtoexplainhiscultureandany
religionsorvaluesthataccommodatedthose.Hefirststartedoffbysayingthathis
familyraisedhimBuddhist,however,hetitleshimselfasmoreofanAgnostic.Hesaid
thathefoundhisreligiontobeaneffectofculturalimperialismandhow,sincehewas
raisedwhite,hisgrowthaffectedhisreligiousbackground.Asidefromhisreligion,he
saysthatmostofhisvaluesreflectthoseofhisBuddhistfamily,suchasdoinggoodand
lovingfamilyaboveallelse.Ifounditinterestingthathenotedwhyhewasthecertain
religionhewasasmostpeopleareblindtotheeffectsofculturalimperialismespecially
doneonthemselves.Ontheotherhand,IgrewupinaCatholicschoolinwhichIve
neverputmyselftoquestionmyreligion.Myreligionisamajorpartofmycultureand
learningitinschoolhelpedreinforcemyfaith.
ThenextquestionIaskedwaswhetherornothehasexperiencedracismorany
stereotypesgrowingupasanAsianAmerican.Hefirstnoddedvigorouslyandfollowed
bysaying,
AsapersonwhowasraisedwhiteIwasalwayscategorizedwithotherAsianpeople
eventhoughIneverreallyenjoyedtheirlifestyles.IwasalwaysaskedifIwatched
AnimeorotherAsianswouldcomeuptomeandspeaktheirlanguage,andifyoudont
know,ChinesepeoplewereveryrarewhenIwasgrowingup.SoVietnameseand

LaotianswouldcomeuptomeandspeaktheirlanguageandIwouldjustlookatthem
withaterrifiedlook.
HealsobroughtuphowmostofhisfriendswereeverythingbutAsian,statingthistobe
anotherbyproductofhiswhitewashedlifestyle.Thiscapitalizedevenfurtherhow
mucheurocentrismhasaffectedhislifestyle.Thisquestioncameupwithafollowup
question,WhatdoportrayalsofAsiansinthemediameantoyou?Summarizingwhat
hesaid,hefeltasifAsianswerentreallyportrayedinthemediabuthedoesnotseeit
asmuchofaproblemasbeingfamousorgettingattentionisnotreallypartoftheAsian
cultureorwhotheyare.
IntheculturethatIwasraisedwith,fameandpopularitywasneverpartoftheplan.It
wasmoretowardsstayingwiththefamilyandworkingtomakemoneyforthefamilyin
ordertobesuccessful.
ThefinalquestionIaskedslowlystartedbreakingboundarieswithinthe
conversation,
Haveyouseenraceproblemsorconcernsatschool?Doyouthink
teachersaresensitivetoraceissues?Hefirststartedansweringthisbysayingthathe
doesagreethattherearestillraceissueswithinoursocietyandthathehas
experiencedsome,mostlyjuststereotypesthathestatedalready.Hethenstarted
answeringthesecondpartofthequestion,
Ifeelasifteachersarebecomingincreasinglymoresensitiveaboutracewheninfact
theissueisevolvingrapidly.Alotofstudentsthesedaysaremoreraciallyaccepting

andwhenteachersfocusontheseissues,IfeelasifwearegoingbackintimeandI
havemetmanystudentswhofeelthesame.NowImnotsayingthatracismhasbeen
completelysolved,becausethatisfarfrombeingtrue,butrathermaybeinsteadof
relyingonoldmethodsatconfrontingthesesystemicissuesweshouldstartlookingat
moredeeperandmoreacceptingsolvencies.
Startingtodelvedeeperintothesubject,hestartedaddressinghowracismshouldbe
solveddifferentlythanhowthestatusquoframesit.
Ifeelasifoursocietyismoreframedaroundtryingtosolveracismbyviewingother
peopleofdifferentracesasjustpeopleandtonotrecognizetheirracialbackgroundto
essentiallybecolorblind.Ifeelasifthisiscounterintuitiveofthesolvencymechanism.
Atthepointwheretheimpactsofracismarefocusedaroundoppressingotherraces
andharmingthem,simplyjustignoringthesituationandtheplightsthattheyhavegone
throughnotonlyjusteludetheproblem,butrathercontinuetooppresstheirrace.
Althoughwearenotphysicallyharmingthem,weareessentiallyoppressingtheir
identity,theirbackground,and,intheend,whotheyare.
Hewentonbysayingthatinsteadofviewingpeopleasjustpeople,weshouldlearnto
appreciatetheirbackgrounds,whichencompassestheirreligion,ethnicity,sexual
identity,andlifestyles.Oncewebreakdownthesebarriers,wearenowallowedto
empathizeandtonotonlylearnabouttheotherperson,buttoappreciatewhotheyare.

Peopleareawareofculturaldifferences.Still,todayyoucanseestudentsform
theirowngroupsinclass,forexample.Comingfrombothnonprivilegedgroups,Ihave
learnedabouttheculturaldifferencesdistinguishedbetweenAlexandI.However,Ialso
learnedthattherearemorelikesthandislikesregardingraceandculture.Icouldhave
interviewedanyoneelsefromadifferentcountrywhosefirstlanguageisntenglish,but
thenagainIwouldstillpointoutdifferencesbetweenlanguageandskincolor.My
intentionsoftheinterview,ontheotherhand,wastoseeanysimilaritiesdespite
physicalattributesandfaithdifferencesaswellastheintervieweesviewonraceissues
andstereotypes.Beingthefirstgenerationinthecountry,peopleexperiencetwo
distinctculturesandmayspeakmorethanonelanguage.However,itsurprisesme
peoplearealwayscategorizedintoasinglegroup,whetherwewanttoornot.