Heightened racial tension during this time

[suhhh]

Hi y'all, just wanted to see some of your thoughts with the times we are in right now. I'm thankful to be doing alright during COVID but my mental health has been taking some hits with the heightened racial tensions happening right now, more so specifically between minority groups.

I myself am Korean-American, born and raised here and my dad is also americanized since he came to this country as a kid, and both of us have been feeling a lot of heightened anxiety over the past few months with so many attacks being carried out on Asians as a whole... Here in the city I've seen videos and photos of 10+ attacks carried on asians without any motive whatsoever in the past 2 weeks alone, people being slashed, elderly people being beaten up, friends houses being robbed (attackers had a machete) and cut up her brother leaving blood trailing all over the house. During the time of COVID starting I've had a few situations where I felt threatened and had some things said to me but it never really bothered me that much until seeing the widespread attacks going on right near me.

It really saddens me to see different minority groups turning on each other and attacking for no reason and to see racial tensions so high.. I read the comments section of asian hate crime posts and I see people commenting saying their specific ethnic group experienced more trouble/racism in the past years so that nobody should feel bad for asians etc.

Not discrediting that statement, every ethnic group in the states has experienced racism in some form or another and my heart goes out to everyone, some have experienced worse than others yes, but it's painful to see everyone so divided in a country that prides itself in our different cultures.

I've never looked at someone differently for their race, religion, economic status, I grew up with a large majority of hispanic and black friends and we all got along great and still do to this day. Things are so much different now than when I was a kid. Just wanted to kind of vent this out maybe see your perspectives on the times we are in, taking a little break from social media to kind of give myself some peace about it.

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[WhiskeyTango]

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences.

I am particularly not a fan of the region of America that you live, mainly because of the people, but that's neither here nor there.

It seems cliche but all you can really do is keep your head up. All things pass with time, and Covid will be no exception. I wish I had better advice.

 

[gtman]

 

[Mcclaughry95]

My personal opinion is people just watch the news too much. Heck the last year watching the news made me hate certain groups of people so I got off social media and the news stations. Back to normal feelings but I'd really appreciate if the local Japanese restaurant would open for dine in finally.

 

[akahenry]

i've never understood racism, period. i wasn't even really taught of racism when i was little; i was taught that everyone is human, and this is the end of it. seems that the stupid outweigh those with common sense these days (although maybe it has always been this way).

 

[Hasdrubal]

My dad's family came from China in the 1920s, my mom's family came from Japan right after the war. By tradition I think I'm supposed to hate myself, but I grew up thoroughly American by culture and I haven't had any personal experience with real, actual racism. And by that I mean people who are actually hateful because of my background and treat me badly because of it- I don't count drunk idiots calling me names as anything significant.

Actually, I've had more people call me black racial slurs than asian racial slurs, but that kind of nonsense seems to be from people who use the words more as punctuation than to convey real meaning. Don't think that counts either.

Of course, I live on the west coast. I see all kinds of ridiculous behavior in the news where you live, OP. Maybe its time to move? I would say "or get a gun," but in NJ I don't think that's really an option.

And I'm not saying to ignore your heritage, by saying I grew up American. I spent two hours in a batto-jutsu class tonight, I'm not ignoring mine either.

 

[disgraced.fk8]

I think there is heightened tension all around that is causing these types of incidents to be more common. I am not sure that the events of the past year have changed the mindset of the general public enough to be direct cause of the increase, in my opinion everyone is already on the tipping point now and is easier to set off. So when set off, the easiest thing to do is to cast out those who are unlike you - skin color, ethnicity, "class" (as much as I hate to say that) etc. Anything that makes someone different from you.

I've noticed it easier to get angry at other drivers for example... Although I do truly feel like people have stepped up their unsafe driving habits in the past 6 months or so. Riding literally feet from other cars on the highway, weaving through traffic, etc. So you take this angst on the road, and then combine it with the above, and I think you have people using the slurs as a way to get that anger out. I mean it feels good to let the F bombs fly when you're pissed off right? For some, the jump to a slur is likely not much further than the F bomb so I think it goes hand in hand.

And also, some people are just downright crazy. You can't reason with crazy. The best thing to do is recognize early on in an encounter with a stranger that they are truly insane and will not see anyone else's view but their own, and then just diffuse the situation and let them on with their day. I mean, people fire shots into a McDonald's now because the extra ketchup packet wasn't in the bag. And these are unfortunately the type of people who are far from afraid to insult anyone they meet.

 

[Doc_Mello]

Your feelings are totally valid, @suhhh! I study related behavior for a living, and it never gets any less astonishing.

If there is any kind of positive side to consider, it’s that the ubiquity of cameras everywhere is helping these criminals be caught and prosecuted. Plus, if history is any precedence, such attacks will subside in prevalence, and we can help prevent them by teaching our children how not to hate.

 

[S2kx8]

"Racism is taught, it is fomented and fostered by a ruling class in all forms of so called education and media. It is the easiest way to manipulate, identify and assign discourse amongst "the common folk" solely for control over them. It is a blunt ignorant tool, the most powerful weapon wielded by an elitist ruling class who ultimately fears losing control over humankind who from birth instinctively does not hate, see or even care about a persons skin color, the shape of their eyes or ethnic heritage.

We are all born free of racism for there is only one race - "The Human Race" and only two kinds of people, decent and indecent. The wealthy elitists fear a united populace for it disrupts their vision and desire for control over every aspect of another persons life from cradle to grave, what you can learn, what you are allowed to say, what you may own, where you can live etc.

The roots of racism are founded deep in censorship by those of wealth and power. Greed is the sole motivation of racism, it always inevitably leads to conflict and violence which leads to more control."

Dr. Werner E. Betz ... August 1, 1922

It seems to me very little has changed....

 

[arpypat]

"Racism is taught, it is fomented and fostered by a ruling class in all forms of so called education and media. It is the easiest way to manipulate, identify and assign discourse amongst "the common folk" solely for control over them. It is a blunt ignorant tool, the most powerful weapon wielded by an elitist ruling class who ultimately fears losing control over humankind who from birth instinctively does not hate, see or even care about a persons skin color, the shape of their eyes or ethnic heritage.

We are all born free of racism for there is only one race - "The Human Race" and only two kinds of people, decent and indecent. The wealthy elitists fear a united populace for it disrupts their vision and desire for control over every aspect of another persons life from cradle to grave, what you can learn, what you are allowed to say, what you may own, where you can live etc.

The roots of racism are founded deep in censorship by those of wealth and power. Greed is the soul motivation of racism, it always inevitably leads to conflict and violence which leads to more control."

Dr. Werner E. Betz ... August 1, 1922

It seems to me very little has changed....

Sad, but true... This was powerful and sums it up so well.

 

[Byron Sexton]

I got some advice for you stay off of social media. Pay attention to the money trails, there is only 1 color that matters in the united states and that is Green. Black, White, Yellow, Brown all these don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

There is a Ruling Class that is always going to create a Narrative me vs you, you vs me....Those whom are aimed at having their population decrease want to hold onto the Supremacy that they always had. Racism is deep rooted in Economics and power more so than I hate you for the color of your skin, More so I hate you because you are my direct Competition for resources.

The Way YOU can improve this is if you know a Fellow good business Black owned, Hispanic owned etc Help out..do some business there. Unite your resources with ours improve minority relations.....
Lets start loving each other more often than we do. Lets get a beer together...We all have similar hobbies that we like Including Honda's. Lets start there.....

Don't take this the wrong way to all the white/European/Anglo people on this forum you are the face of America you dominate in Business and Wealth...Tune your mind to see what real racism looks like. Look at the Past of America history. I mean that's all I can really say on Racial tension...

 

[saz468]

I got some advice for you stay off of social media. Pay attention to the money trails, there is only 1 color that matters in the united states and that is Green. Black, White, Yellow, Brown all these don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

This is true

 

[joe3456789]

i wasn't even really taught of racism when i was little.

So were you taught racism or no, you said "not really taught"? Kind of contradicting lol.

 

[naldy]

Sorry to hear about your experience OP, and hope you and your family are staying safe out there. Racism sexism and homophobia in this day and age are simply unacceptable. But it's a tough problem to address when you have so many forces working against you.

Me personally, I was born in India to muslim parents and moved to the states 21 years ago when I was 6yo. 9/11 happened soon after and then it was constant jokes and offensive shit said to me about my family or religion for well over a decade after that.

I'm from the midwest where things are generally pretty calm, but racism creeps up in weird ways. I grew up mostly around suburban white kids so n-words and f-words were kind of forged into the general vocabulary at school, mind you I grew up in a fairly affluent suburb. Growing up I kind of just learned to laugh at that stuff like everyone else. It wasn't until I met my girlfriend later on in life when she kind of woke me up to how fucked everything around me really was.

I guess what I'm getting at is that racism is so deeply instilled in people's nature here in the States that most people aren't even aware of it. It's a genuine problem that's always simmering right under the surface of mainstream society, and given even the smallest opening, be it COVID or 9/11, it easily boils over into something real ugly.

All in all, if you're reading this and you are indeed racist, sexist or homophobic kindly go fuck yourself

 

[pcsavvy]

I was taught to live by the Golden Rule to treat others as you would have others treat you. I was taught to treat people with respect and an open mind. I am a military brat and vet so my "American Experience" is very different from a lot of other folks.
I joined the Air Force and I learned a lot while in. One thing I learned was not everyone treats others with respect.
Unfortunately, A-Holes don't give a crap about treating others with respect and I doubt they can change. Sad.
I try to figure out the context of situations, I ask myself is this person ignorant or stupid or racist or being sarcastic or a jerk or an A-Hole. The reason for this is I was stationed in Korea for a year and I went there with a whole lot of preconceived ideas about "Asian culture" based on watching tv shows and movies of the 60-70's. I had no experience at all with "Asian" kids while in school or any of the neighborhoods I lived in. So when I went to Korea, my mind was blown and I quickly realized there is no such thing as "Asian culture", only Korean culture or Japanese culture or Chinese culture, every culture is different and just like America there are even differences in culture based on what geographic/demographic area you are in.
I mean isn't it well past time to stop treating people based on skin color or ethnicity or whatever and treat people for the individual they are. If they are a A-Hole give them the minimum respect as a fellow human being but no more.
Unfortunately, A-Holes will be A-Holes on social media not much you can do to stop them from being A-Holes.

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