Generality:“Yellow”. 233
Anonymous | Nationality: Bhutanese | ethnicity: Drukpa
“Yellow”.
I personally don't have any negative associationswith the word yellow
but that's mainly because I grew up in a homogeneouscommunity and
was never called yellow in a derogatory way. It definitelydoes target a
certain type of Asian not limited to specific countries.Being Asian is
diverse and to call all Asians yellow would be ignorant.
“Asian”.
To me being Asian means you have some Asian bloodi.e genetics. It
doesn't matter where you live or what culture youuphold. Asians that
have similar cultures are more likely to get together.Even among the
vast number of cultures and traditions, there aresome values common
to most of us (for example respecting elders), althoughthis may not
always be the case in the West.
Ethnicity|part1.
Bhutanese, Dzongkha speaking
I still get a little confused trying to differentiatebetween race and
ethnicity.
Ethnicity|part2.
My perception of my ethnicity is such because of bothintrinsic (being
born as a Bhutanese) as well as extrinsic (being broughtup in Bhutan
and learning our native language) factors. No, I dontthink my feelings
are a response to racism.
Differ from Asian stereotype(s).
I'm not very athletic and don't know any martial artsto say the least, I
have a Bhutanese accent which is different from EastAsian ones, and I
love to create art.
I think Asian stereotypes, and all other racial stereotypes,generally
have negative consequences. Although they derive fromsome truth,
they become an exaggerated and distorted version.For some people,
these stereotypes put pressure on them to be whatothers expect (for
ex. feeling ashamed that they're not good at math).
As I grew up in a homogeneous community, I didn'tfeel the effects of
stereotypes until I went to the West. There, I feltthe need to explain
myself that although I'm good at math, I dont representall Asians.
Slowly, I also started feeling more uncomfortablewhen I realised I do
fit into many other stereotypes (good at academics,wearing glasses,
quiet). I was surprised that I wanted to try and bedifferent. Luckily
however, I'm okay with it now.
A theoretical space without racism.
I am fortunate, and privileged, to say that I don'tfeel limited by my
race for the most part. If such a world should exist,I would of course
be happy that others are free from racial discrimination(although I'm
sure people will find other reasons to hate). I'dalso feel safer while
mchaos
(mchaos)
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