I've been writing posts that are, roughly, about family - or rather, about mine. Today, I am writing about me. And about my interactions with race
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Maybe I am missing something; certainly wouldn't be the first time. Was it the context that makes the difference?
Yes, and it’s possibly because I was not clear.
There were three people who were not white in the office. The manager was Chinese-Canadian; the two of use were Japanese-Canadian. And, in fact, one of the people about whom she complained - by name on the call - was Greek.
She used “Chinese” as a catchall word that meant “not like us” or “has an accent”. I understood that’s how she meant the phrase when she said it. And, as I said, I thought she was an idiot - she usually said something like this when she couldn’t solve the problem and one of us had to take it instead. It was her way of dismissing her own failure.
Was she being dismissive as a way of making the two Asians - the only visible minorities - uncomfortable? No. She didn’t think at all.
ETA: I answered a post that the original poster deleted; I did not delete it. I will also say, in case he’s reading, that I didn’t find the question offensive.
It wasn't exactly that I thought it was offensive; it's just the more I considered it, the more obvious it was that I was missing context. I was going to come back later and try to do better.
Anyway, it seems to me that she was using "sounds like Chinese" as her version of "it's all Greek to me" -- which takes on some amusement value given that in one case she really was talking about a Greek. Not the most sensitive approach, but not horrendous. But I wasn't there and don't have the full context.
I've read that the Greek equivalent of the English "it's Greek to me" is to compare the hard-to-understand thing to either Chinese or Arabic, according to this article which includes a node map languages and which other languages they find difficult.
Still, not meaning offense isn't an excuse for repeatedly causing offense among one's associates.
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But seriously? Awesome. To the max. And then a bit more.
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And also, don't kill your husband for being right. :)
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(The comment has been removed)
Yes, and it’s possibly because I was not clear.
There were three people who were not white in the office. The manager was Chinese-Canadian; the two of use were Japanese-Canadian. And, in fact, one of the people about whom she complained - by name on the call - was Greek.
She used “Chinese” as a catchall word that meant “not like us” or “has an accent”. I understood that’s how she meant the phrase when she said it. And, as I said, I thought she was an idiot - she usually said something like this when she couldn’t solve the problem and one of us had to take it instead. It was her way of dismissing her own failure.
Was she being dismissive as a way of making the two Asians - the only visible minorities - uncomfortable? No. She didn’t think at all.
ETA: I answered a post that the original poster deleted; I did not delete it. I will also say, in case he’s reading, that I didn’t find the question offensive.
Reply
Anyway, it seems to me that she was using "sounds like Chinese" as her version of "it's all Greek to me" -- which takes on some amusement value given that in one case she really was talking about a Greek. Not the most sensitive approach, but not horrendous. But I wasn't there and don't have the full context.
Reply
Still, not meaning offense isn't an excuse for repeatedly causing offense among one's associates.
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