After reading numerous comments from the Internet ignorami, I felt compelled to say something. And that is:
America, please stop trying to whitesplain away the racism.
Do you have fat friends? Do you call them Fatty McFattersons? Do you have black friends? Do you call them Jiggaboo Jeffersons?Yes, I can appreciate the humor. It IS a funny play on words. But if any of my friends came up to me and said, "Hey Ho Chi Minh, what's going on?" I'd probably be like, WTF is your problem? (And then break out some karate moves, because obviously I'm a black belt.)
Why this is not "just like Bart Simpson calling the bar to ask for Seymour Butts."
Because it serves to perpetuate the "foreignness" of Asian culture. It goes back to the those jokes about how does a Chinese person name their child? They throw a stick at a can. Haha, those Chinese people. Their language is so weird, a real American could NEVER understand it.Well those Chinese people ARE Americans, and until white America fully embraces Asian cultures as one of their own, jokes like this are pretty much not okay.
Hi Kate.
ReplyDeleteI'm conflicted on this issue. On one hand I understand when such names are made up to denigrate Asians, or specifically Chinese and Koreans, but I really in my heart don't believe this was the "intent" in this case (though of course this cannot be proven/disproven). So.. let me put it another way. I personally thought in this instance it was hilarious. Sure, it's "black humor" so a significant percentage of people will be "offended" from the get to, but I don't care about those people. I'm also coming at this from a different angle. I spent several years in Korea teaching English. I have Korean friends. Because of my time there I have a certain affection toward the people that I don't have for others. I am well familiar with and actually QUITE LIKE the double syllable Korean first names. (I think Jin Ho sounds cooler than John) However, in this instance.. made up names like Ho Lee Fuk .. I mean seriously.. that is FUNNY.. something can be funny without meaning to offend. If we could twist American names to come up with something like this we would..and quickly... which is why people claim their names are Hugh G. Anus. or Heywood Jablowme. So I simply don't find this particularly racial. The incident begs for such "black humor".
re "what about the children"? oh please. I have a foreign first name for which I was verbally tortured for during grammar school and some in high school. Tell the kid to run some dirt on it and he/she will be fine.
Hi Yegrob, thanks for your comment. Yes, I'm totally willing to forgive the original prankster if indeed they didn't realize how much of a circus this would turn into.
DeleteHowever, the way it's playing out in social media is people arguing whether it's racist or not. I appreciate that you have Asian friends & have spent time in Asia, but I don't see how you, as a (I'll assume) white person can possibly understand what it's like to be Asian if you have never been Asian?
The crux of a lot of these arguments seems to be it's funny, therefore it's not racist. When those kids were tormenting you about your name, was it funny then? What if that attitude carried on through the rest of your life and everyone who came across your name found it funny — in fact, the entire world found it ever-screaming-hilarious every time they heard it. Would that make it okay?
btw, I completely agree with you if someone came up to you and said hey Ho Chi Minh, what's going on? you'd have every right to whack that person. But this clearly is NOT such a 'casual' event. I suspect you understand the difference
ReplyDeleteHi Kate. I understand where you are coming from and why you think this was a racist joke. I don't think our society is as racist as it was some decades ago. I think we've made a lot of progress, but this is the kind of thing you could hear on a school playground. The "other" is always funny. Often we use self-deprecating humor too, though. I don't know that we will ever be colorblind because differences are always pointed out. But I think most Americans think Asians are generally wonderful people and they have a good reputation. You may have different experiences as an Asian American, but that is what I see here in the heartland of America. And I am not Asian, but have had almost exclusively good experiences with Asian people I have met.
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a great weekend and getting good feedback.
Be well,
Ron
I don't understand how this can be perceived as anything BUT racist.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Finally, a voice of reason.
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