Generality:“Yellow”. 189
Ethnicity|part2.
I think that a large percentage of one's perceptionwould be the
environment you grew up in, people you grew up with,the norms in
your culture, religious norms, generational norms(like a lot of the
norms now weren't norms back then), and finally, anindividual's
internal compass. A combination of all those factors.
I think that the unique background that I have helpedme understand
different people and culture, and that each personis shaped by their
own set of experiences, culture, values, etc. But aside from that, I think
that even if someone does not have a "unique" background,it all still
boils down to being a human being that understandsthat their words
and actions could hurt someone.
Or that one thing isn't giving someone fair treatmentbecause of their
race. I feel like any decent human being would bebothered by that,
regardless of ethnicity.
Differ from Asian stereotype(s).
Well, to differ myself from the Asian stereotype,I must first determine
what the Asian stereotype is. So from what I know,the Asian stereotype
is this highly intelligent, overachieving, chinky-eyedperson. Being
partly chinese, I have, somewhat, chinky eyes, however, I am no whiz
kid. I consider myself smart, but not smart enoughto be "Asian." Also, I
am still working on the achieving part. I think thata big percentage of
the "achieving" part is tied to privilege, and beingborn in an affluent
family, or a country with great benefits, or both.I'm not saying it's
impossible to achieve things without those, but itcertainly gives
someone a head start as compared to your peers whodon't have the
same opportunities as you do. Some are busy survivingwhen others are
focused on thriving.
But yeah, my family is pretty strict, probably dueto the influence of my
chinese culture, as compared to my filipino friendswho get to go
wherever they please. Or I'm not sure, but a lot ofmy chinese friends
too aren't usually permitted to go out as often, orhave to ask in
advance before they could.
A theoretical space without racism.
I don't think I experience racism here in the philippinesas badly as my
chinese-looking friends have, because being of mixedethnicities, I look
Filipino. Although my chinese friends speak Filipinofluently, when they
are out with their family, some poeple talk aboutthem as if they don't
understand the language, and they would tell me oftheir experiences.
Another thing is, some of them don't feel welcomedjust because of
their appearance, of not looking like a Filipino.I sincerely wish that
people would stop doing that, making feel like someonedoesn't
belong. One of my friends actually, despite livinghere in the
mchaos
(mchaos)
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