It seems that there are threads here & there in audio forums these days in which I see racist or borderline racist comments bantered about lightly. I saw a thread in our Stereophile forum, forget which thread, where Michigan Frog wrote something involving phrases like Chop Socky, phrases that are really too outdated to be racist than silly, really, but the content and tone were not so light hearted that it really was offensive to an Asian person like me (thanks for pointing that out, ncdrawl, appreciate that.)
Now, I don't know Michigan Frog personally but in the contexts of this forum, we've had both disagreements and agreements, and I actually like him as a forum member, which is to say that I do like him as a person and give him the benefit of the doubt. To be clear: I'm NOT singling him out and calling him as a racist or anything like that.
But the bottom line is, comments of that type are offensive to minority members. Let's put it in another situation and apply the similar kind of jokey cliche to a different circumstance: what if someone who is too cool for political correctness and appreciative of brash humor goes to a black person in America today and says, with a guffaw, "hey, 'Coons, why don't you go eat that watermelon over there?" Yup, that's what I thought. This sounds worse and far more egregious because the ugliness of the racist history involving black people in the U.S. is closer to us and more relatable. But the same standards should apply to other races as well.
This "chop socky" kind of casual racism actually happened to me and my family recently, about 1 hr away from NYC. I went to visit the Dia museum in Beacon, NY, where it's beautiful. Went to this sushi restaurant, where I found a lot of hipsterish NYC-looking people who settled in that town, artists who were priced out of the city. I was curious about living over there, as it's way more affordable and beautiful than the city. One couple told me about various towns, but told me to avoid Cold Springs, as they found people to be very racist (the husband was Puerto Rican, the wife was white).
I don't really buy that kind of talk, so we went to Cold Springs to check out their antique shops and the view of the Hudson. As we were walking, a bunch of high school girls looked down at us and yelled out something to me in staccato English, in heavily stilted Asian accent, making Bruce Lee noises. Ordinarily, I don't lose in the sardonic insult department, but I had my two baby daughters with me. Calling attention to it seemed even worse for my daughters who are yet too innocent to know what racism is. Both my wife and I laughed emptily, and said how coincidental it was that a mere 10 minutes after that couple from the restaurant told us about the racism in this town, we experienced it. We were both heavy-hearted, because it really didn't seem like a coincidence at all.
I mean, this is not tarring and feathering. It's more stupid than hurtful, although it hurt that I had to hear that kind of crap in the presence of my daughters. A lot of thoughts passed through my head, like how hurt my daughters would be if they heard it and KNEW what that kind of "light" insult meant? Like what was the general culture of the town if supposing that kind of mentality was pervasive... when we walked into the ice cream shop, the girl manning the counter saw us and for some reason rolled her eyes and looked at another cashier girl. Don't know what was up. Adults at Cold Springs were completely genial and pleasant and nice. But a few select kids that day seemed weirdly insulated and cold. And this is what's worse: this intense HATE was brewing inside of me directed at those girls, for exposing my daughters to such shit. I imagined a lot of gruesome deaths for each of them, and I hated myself for doing so. Still, my daughters mean more to me than myself, and my love for them is irrational so at that moment, I wanted them to at least live through a life of crippling misfortunes, and die terribly alone. Or get meaninglessly electrocuted on a rainy day or get fried by a happy strike of a lightning bolt. Just being honest here. Racism cripples both the people who perpetuate it, and the ones that endure it as its object.
In a recent Audio Asylum thread, one member 'Mosin,' who's best known for designing the Saskia turntable that got a lot of attention, said the following regarding a review of a Chinese turntable:
Quote:
The author of that article writes for us to think of a crucifix when viewing the turntable. That is appropriate because the endorsement of China's entry into high-end audio may also symbolize the crucifixion of the hobby as we know it.
You can read the whole thread here:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vinyl&m=866755
but a lot of people took offense to the xenophobic rhetoric, both Asian and non-Asian. Mosin eventually backpedaled and said he just mouthed off, on the fly, and his intentions were misconstrued.
But the point is, these comments & rhetoric are pervasive, and they don't do anyone any good. People who say them, and people hear them.
And for some people who have been exposed to forms of that kind of rhetoric and talk, it is indeed offensive and at times hurtful. That's all.
It seems that there are threads here & there in audio forums these days in which I see racist or borderline racist comments bantered about lightly. I saw a thread in our Stereophile forum, forget which thread, where Michigan Frog wrote something involving phrases like Chop Socky, phrases that are really too outdated to be racist than silly, really, but the content and tone were not so light hearted that it really was offensive to an Asian person like me (thanks for pointing that out, ncdrawl, appreciate that.)
Now, I don't know Michigan Frog personally but in the contexts of this forum, we've had both disagreements and agreements, and I actually like him as a forum member, which is to say that I do like him as a person and give him the benefit of the doubt. To be clear: I'm NOT singling him out and calling him as a racist or anything like that.
But the bottom line is, comments of that type are offensive to minority members. Let's put it in another situation and apply the similar kind of jokey cliche to a different circumstance: what if someone who is too cool for political correctness and appreciative of brash humor goes to a black person in America today and says, with a guffaw, "hey, 'Coons, why don't you go eat that watermelon over there?" Yup, that's what I thought. This sounds worse and far more egregious because the ugliness of the racist history involving black people in the U.S. is closer to us and more relatable. But the same standards should apply to other races as well.
This "chop socky" kind of casual racism actually happened to me and my family recently, about 1 hr away from NYC. I went to visit the Dia museum in Beacon, NY, where it's beautiful. Went to this sushi restaurant, where I found a lot of hipsterish NYC-looking people who settled in that town, artists who were priced out of the city. I was curious about living over there, as it's way more affordable and beautiful than the city. One couple told me about various towns, but told me to avoid Cold Springs, as they found people to be very racist (the husband was Puerto Rican, the wife was white).
I don't really buy that kind of talk, so we went to Cold Springs to check out their antique shops and the view of the Hudson. As we were walking, a bunch of high school girls looked down at us and yelled out something to me in staccato English, in heavily stilted Asian accent, making Bruce Lee noises. Ordinarily, I don't lose in the sardonic insult department, but I had my two baby daughters with me. Calling attention to it seemed even worse for my daughters who are yet too innocent to know what racism is. Both my wife and I laughed emptily, and said how coincidental it was that a mere 10 minutes after that couple from the restaurant told us about the racism in this town, we experienced it. We were both heavy-hearted, because it really didn't seem like a coincidence at all.
I mean, this is not tarring and feathering. It's more stupid than hurtful, although it hurt that I had to hear that kind of crap in the presence of my daughters. A lot of thoughts passed through my head, like how hurt my daughters would be if they heard it and KNEW what that kind of "light" insult meant? Like what was the general culture of the town if supposing that kind of mentality was pervasive... when we walked into the ice cream shop, the girl manning the counter saw us and for some reason rolled her eyes and looked at another cashier girl. Don't know what was up. Adults at Cold Springs were completely genial and pleasant and nice. But a few select kids that day seemed weirdly insulated and cold. And this is what's worse: this intense HATE was brewing inside of me directed at those girls, for exposing my daughters to such shit. I imagined a lot of gruesome deaths for each of them, and I hated myself for doing so. Still, my daughters mean more to me than myself, and my love for them is irrational so at that moment, I wanted them to at least live through a life of crippling misfortunes, and die terribly alone. Or get meaninglessly electrocuted on a rainy day or get fried by a happy strike of a lightning bolt. Just being honest here. Racism cripples both the people who perpetuate it, and the ones that endure it as its object.
In a recent Audio Asylum thread, one member 'Mosin,' who's best known for designing the Saskia turntable that got a lot of attention, said the following regarding a review of a Chinese turntable:
You can read the whole thread here:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=vinyl&m=866755
but a lot of people took offense to the xenophobic rhetoric, both Asian and non-Asian. Mosin eventually backpedaled and said he just mouthed off, on the fly, and his intentions were misconstrued.
But the point is, these comments & rhetoric are pervasive, and they don't do anyone any good. People who say them, and people hear them.
And for some people who have been exposed to forms of that kind of rhetoric and talk, it is indeed offensive and at times hurtful. That's all.