en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/762161 Comments by valeung920 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64259552 I might just have a problem of over-simplifying things, but I think for the most part, "Asian-Asians" and "Asian-Americans" share a similar experience with that of "Africans" and "African-Americans," as well as any other "immigrant vs naturalized" group for that matter. In general, any person that one can not identify with is seen as an "other" and therefore grouped together with other people within a particular category regardless of her background. It is when people take the time to get to know each other that people truly become individuals. I think there is no single answer to the question of whether or not people can tell different "types" of Asians apart. It is like how Sam talked about people in that Eastern European country way back in the semester: the more exposed you are to a person or a people, the more you pick up on the minute differences. If someone saw many different Asian people frequently for a period of their life, of course they would be able to distinguish certain things that someone who has met and Asian person for the first time would be able to. I think it IS hard for someone who's grown up in the US all of her life to go through experiences like having someone ask is she understands English because she carries Asian features. It is unfortunate because I don't think I have ever been expected to speak any other language other than the national language when I have visited foreign countries even if I am not "colored" the same as the nation. People like to associate visually similar things with each other, but people are heavily affected by things that are exclusive of their physical features. If people could wrap their head around that and actually start seeing each other as an individual person rather than a representative of some grand entity of people, they will find more common ground than they ever would have thought possible. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:29:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64259552 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-l__trashed/#IDComment54120305 follow me Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:31:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-l__trashed/#IDComment54120305 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53499331 My family was never what people would call religious, so anything that I know about religion, in general and Christianity specifically, came mostly from fellowship groups and peers and, though I've tried --hard-- to do so, there is certainly no way I can believe that "'Jesus died for me,'" as you so eloquently put it. What I can agree with are your statements concerning understanding, or at least the attempt to comprehend, the magnitude and depth of the suffering of others and how this may just be the shortest (for it certainly is not the best) route to bringing oneself closer to... I guess I'm not entirely sure what it brings one closer to. Is it humanity? God, whatever that's supposed to be? Or is it something more like what you mentioned: this practically enlightening recognition of one's complete helplessness to do more when such a vast number of resources are immediately and constantly available to us. It is this moment that awakens our conscience and allows us to loosen, if not altogether let go of, our hold on the petty and material. I guess that's why I became so incredibly annoyed when I sat down to lunch a few days ago and discovered a spat of university administrators criticizing what some people are doing to help the relief efforts. Things like the transportation costs more than the donation items themselves and why would someone send sweaters or high heeled shoes to Haiti were mentioned, while others recounted how most of the clothes donated during the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina disaster were dumped rather than given to victims because they were not useful. The worst probably came when a late member of their lunch party sat down and conversation swiftly and deftly moved onto the rather pressing matter of the extraordinary length of the lunch lines. I can understand the logical reasoning behind their assertions: it probably does cost a lot of money, as well as time, to get shipping crates full of unsorted goods across thousands of nautical miles to a small, destitute nation, the hot and humid equatorial climate does not seem to call for thick clothing, and in all likelihood, at the moment, the amount of time it takes to pick up a salad was probably a greater source of distress than the agony of Haiti's people. So I get it. I truly can appreciate the ideas these people were putting forth that much of the relief efforts are far from efficient. But it was no less aggravating to listen to their demeaning words, especially when these people are representatives of an institute for higher learning. In some way, I think I feel worse for the people who have this kind of response to disaster than the victims themselves. Although the victims must endure physical suffering and have lost much, it is these people who fail to see the big picture that I feel sorry for. Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:37:38 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53499331