"Insider" racist jokes.

[BeTheReds]

Over the weekend I went out to Karaoke with a group of friends. Among the group were a Japanese American guy and an Singaporean-Chinese Australian (exhale) girl. The girl started singing something in Chinese, and the Japanese American guy started making "ding dong ching chong rinky dinky dong dong" sounds. I knew he was just teasing her of course, and he didn't really mean any hate or superiority by it at all, and she didn't seem to mind, but I was very alarmed by that. A white girl in the group got mad at him for saying that despite the fact that the person he was making fun of didn't seem to mind.

I kept thinking that if a white person or a black person had acted like that, no one in the group would have stood for it, regardless of what his intent was.

Do any of you think I was right for feeling bothered and alarmed by the situation or is it okay for one Asian to playfully make fun of his different-ethnicity-Asian friend's culture and language?

And if it is okay, why isn't it okay for Black or White people to do the same with their Asian friends? Or is it?

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by BeTheReds

Over the weekend I went out to Karaoke with a group of friends. Among the group were a Japanese American guy and an Singaporean-Chinese Australian (exhale) girl. The girl started singing something in Chinese, and the Japanese American guy started making "ding dong ching chong rinky dinky dong dong" sounds. I knew he was just teasing her of course, and he didn't really mean any hate or superiority by it at all, and she didn't seem to mind, but I was very alarmed by that. A white girl in the group got mad at him for saying that despite the fact that the person he was making fun of didn't seem to mind.

I kept thinking that if a white person or a black person had acted like that, no one in the group would have stood for it, regardless of what his intent was.

Do any of you think I was right for feeling bothered and alarmed by the situation or is it okay for one Asian to playfully make fun of his different-ethnicity-Asian friend's culture and language?

And if it is okay, why isn't it okay for Black or White people to do the same with their Asian friends? Or is it?

actually i probably wouldn't have appreciated a Japanese person doing it, but it can also depend on how close of friends i am to the person and whether he's making fun of me for something that i take seriously. like if i was reading the birthday card that my grandparents sent to me, i probably wouldn't appreciate anybody doing that. with that being said, however, my close Chinese friends and i have made fun of Chinese accents ourselves, and most of my Chinese friends are 1.5 genners. at the same time, we've made fun of each other's Chinese if we've pronounced something wrong or said something incorrectly.

however, i have a couple of Chinese friends who make fun of the Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian accents - when there are no people of such ethnicities around. i really don't like that and i've told them so. what's more is that they have Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian friends. it's really kind of fucked up in my opinion.

[deez nuts]

generally in these situations between close friends, it's between the two people involved.

but, i would've taken a pot shot at him for being japanese just to see what his reaction would be.

[Banana]

For the same reason why blacks are the only ones that can use the word "n*gga" as a term for endearment. The reason why others can't use the same exact "insult" or "expression" is because we don't use it with a history of oppression.

When whites do it, it is to demean or mock Asian people. When we do it to each other, it's usually just to tease each other. Like I said to some other white guy that brought it up. The world isn't fair and that's the rule. Get over it. Not everything in this world is logical or can be solved primarily by logic.

However, there are other times when specific Asian groups mock and make fun of other Asians. This can be classified as "other" being racist towards that particular demographic in question and should be an outrage as well (IE: Chinese making fun of Koreans, etc).

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by BeTheReds

Over the weekend I went out to Karaoke with a group of friends. Among the group were a Japanese American guy and an Singaporean-Chinese Australian (exhale) girl. The girl started singing something in Chinese, and the Japanese American guy started making "ding dong ching chong rinky dinky dong dong" sounds. I knew he was just teasing her of course, and he didn't really mean any hate or superiority by it at all, and she didn't seem to mind, but I was very alarmed by that. A white girl in the group got mad at him for saying that despite the fact that the person he was making fun of didn't seem to mind.

I kept thinking that if a white person or a black person had acted like that, no one in the group would have stood for it, regardless of what his intent was.

Do any of you think I was right for feeling bothered and alarmed by the situation or is it okay for one Asian to playfully make fun of his different-ethnicity-Asian friend's culture and language?

And if it is okay, why isn't it okay for Black or White people to do the same with their Asian friends? Or is it?

I was watching Eat Drink Man, Woman with my lady one day and she did the same thing. Mocking the characters on screen whenever they started talking.

[Banana]

Is your lady Asian or black?

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by Banana

Is your lady Asian or black?

She's Japanese. I don't think she ment anything mean by it like, but maybe she did.

[Banana]

Maybe you should ask her.

I've also discovered that the more these Asian Americans use these types of ways to "tease" each other, the less they have experiences with real racism. It could be that she has something against Chinese people and was actually mocking them. See my above example of inter-Asian racism.

Personally, I don't see ANY reason to use "ching chong" even as an Asian American. If one needs to resort to racial comedy like that, chances are, they're not funny.

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by Banana

Maybe you should ask her.

I've also discovered that the more these Asian Americans use these types of ways to "tease" each other, the less they have experiences with real racism. It could be that she has something against Chinese people and was actually mocking them. See my above example of inter-Asian racism.

Personally, I don't see ANY reason to use "ching chong" even as an Asian American. If one needs to resort to racial comedy like that, chances are, they're not funny.

She's not AA. I think alot of people don't tend to think that racial jokes or words umongst one's own kind can be offensive. Like your example with blacks using the "N" word.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by younggiftedandblack

She's not AA. I think alot of people don't tend to think that racial jokes or words umongst one's own kind can be offensive. Like your example with blacks using the "N" word.

she's also not Chinese.

[younggiftedandblack]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

she's also not Chinese.

True I think she does have a superiority (sp?) complex over other non-Japanese Asians.

ETA: I have to apologize to BTR for taking his thread off track

[Banana]

True I think she does have a superiority (sp?) complex over other non-Japanese Asians.

If she thinks that Japanese people are somehow superior to other Asians, doesn't that make her a racist? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Yea, I apologize to BTR too. :(

[John0101]

some of my non-asians make racist asian jokes also. I let them because they're also minorities (black or jewish).

[Hiroshi2]

I think every race does this, although a Chinese person and a Japanese person aren't really the same ethncity, still.................................i know black people do this. not with the 'n' word (when black people use it, it's usually not an insult) but just in general. Like if you watch a black comedian, for joke cracking on white people, there's like 3 getting on black people. So yeah, I don't really see the problem.................

[TB4000]

It's all about free reign...most people don't even have a desire to make racist jokes towards others of a different race, they just think it's all about the principle. "I just want the right to do it, I don't actually want to, though." Just petty arguments, basically.