An ongoing discourse of racial politics
While I’d love to continually write about art, poetry, travel, hiking, sex (I doubt I’ll bother, what hasn’t been said about sex?) or any number of topics that fill my brain, the issue of race keeps rearing its confused, convoluted, intensely divisive head. About a week ago I read Few Things Worry China’s Elite More Than Getting Their Kids Into Harvard. This isn’t a critique of the article. I’m not that petty, childish, or arrogant. It’s a great article. The general theme is how the US is unjustly targeting immigrant populations. This is pretty familiar isn’t it? Muslims, Latin Americans at the border and of course the Chinese. The article did prompt me to have a discussion with my husband that has come up repeatedly in the last two years and incessantly in the last few months. This story is just a thoughtful counterpoint based on my own observations and experiences.
I’m a second generation immigrant who has explored just about every nuance I can think of being a woman of color living in the US. Interracial dating, stereotypes, the immigrant experience, and poverty, these are all boxes checked, processed and done with in my eyes. I choose people in my life based on kindness, integrity and human connection. I could give a rat fuck where you were born, what your bank account holds, or your politics. I’ll love you and be loyal regardless of how you voted or who you continue to support as long as you can meet the above criteria, as well as defend your logic for making what are some poor choices in my eyes. How you think is directly linked to how you engage with the world and racial politics.
Here’s a blunt completely honest examination of how I interact with people. I don’t expect anyone else to think like me or share my views but I am hoping that anyone who chooses to read this story will critically sit down and take a long hard look at how they view other human beings. Particularly with regard to race.
When I meet someone, my brain automatically categorizes several things. I see skin color, I hear accents, I examine attractiveness, I watch body language. (Feel free to make as many assumptions about me as you like.) My mind registers all of this without a thought. As a person begins to speak and I garner where they come from, my mind pulls up as many facts about history, politics, past experiences and culture as I can. Not to stereotype, but to analytically assess the person I’m speaking with. Humans categorize, it’s what we do. It’s how we learn from mistakes, experiment and develop instincts. Open engagement is important. I don't assume much until people start to speak.
As I engage, I will start to file away information that proves useful. I’m starting to have favorite writers on Medium precisely for the same reasons. Certain styles, openness, intellect and wit totally draw me in. It’s how I learn. It helps me filters stories I have no interest in. Its not personal. Your success is not at all dependent on my liking you or your writing. The reciprocal is also true. My motto in all things is trickle down excellence. If I read inspiring work, it challenges me to be a better version of myself. So my brain takes all of this information and writes up a little report or file to be used at a later date. For instance, I have a dear friend in my life who I care about deeply. These are my recollections of him when we first met.
Great smile, kind eyes, white, from a non specific state in the Southern states (friends protect friends’ privacy), positive attitude, respectful, quiet don’t fuck with me strength (don’t fuck with him), generally a man who smells so safe. (Women will get this code word, explaining this to men will require another essay entirely). As time has gone on I’ve learned so much more, but my basis is the same. The file hasn’t changed much, just grown more nuanced and our connection has grown deeper.
This is my thought process for everything, including race. I’ve had a lot of unpleasant experiences with people who would make an international smorgasbord of misogynists (women included, it’s alarming how both white women and women of color will throw you under the bus). Yet I’m still inclined to wait until you open your mouth and try to give you the benefit of the doubt. It’s how I’m hardwired. Fairness is a requirement. Our learning styles can be fairly individual but our commonality is what connects us.
Now that you know how I think, let’s get back to the article and the state of racial politics in America. My husband and I chatted about the future of our children and this country within the context of students studying here but it can be applied generally to multiculturalism. We discussed immigration, assimilation, national identities, openly as thoughtful, well traveled, socially liberal people. We would not necessarily have these discussions with new friends or colleagues which I find upsetting because now, desperately seems like the time to have them. Political correctness, microaggressions and mob mentality seem to be dominating our public discourse diminishing us all. By the end of the discussion we both hugged and laughed out loud calling each other racists because that’s what we knew society would publicly call us.
This is a rehash of our debate and my thinking: I remember the transformation after Honk Kong changed hands in my hometown and the influx of Chinese that followed. How that has forever changed the face of Vancouver internally and culturally. It’s not an indictment, just an observation. The most startling and difficult question to address is the housing bubble that is the city of Vancouver twenty years later. It’s consistently ranked one of the least affordable cities to live in globally. A lot of the inflated housing market is due to corruption. It’s a discussion the city has danced around most of my life, not using factual statistics and walking on eggshells. Immigration is what makes Vancouver vibrant. It is beautifully cosmopolitan. With that immigration comes some baggage. This level of duplicity is found in local populations as well, not just because of the Chinese influx. Race by no means implies corruption but we earnestly need a more frank exchange about the global forces shaping the world. From small towns in the States to large cities in Europe. All nations need a more engaging dialogue of how to move forward as a human collective in the age of mass human mobility. Here are just a few of the litany of articles to be found about what housing debacle in Vancouver.
The headlines are fairly self explanatory. The cost of living in Vancouver was part of the reason we left the city. A lot of young people trying to make ends meet did the same. To this day I cannot wrap my head around how families are able to save for heir childrens’ educations, vacations or retirement. Homes purchased by foreigners for investment purposes that remained empty were a common theme. We’re talking about the most expensive neighborhoods in the city. For the housing bubble to have grown this large, several people would have had to turn a blind eye. Local authorities must have assisted in fueling this madness. The province of British Columbia has radically changed it’s mortgage laws as a result of this cluster fuck. Watching the bubble unfold has been a train wreck.
So here it is. My obvious racist rant akin to the POTUS calling China a shithole country (insert sarcasm because I know with certainty that’s how someone will manipulate my opinion). When you come from a nation of human rights violations, genocide, misogyny, extensive corruption, censorship and with a lengthy history of industrial espionage perhaps that may affect your outlook on life and your political ideologies? I think that seems like a safe assumption. I have experienced it in my own family. That’s true of any place. India, China, Mexico, Guatemala and so on. This isn’t an anti immigration rant. We need immigration to maintain our population and diversity. It truly is what strengthens us. But thoughtful integration of newcomers without overwhelming local populations is also important. There’s a tightrope to be walked to keep the scales in balance.
The argument I find disturbing is that western industrialized nations must hold themselves to higher standards of accountability. Not to be a child but quid pro quo. The world should also follow suit. Each country is in its own stage of evolution and for me personally it’s extremely difficult to be idle, while watching human suffering without internalizing it in some way. What are we without our values? I also recognize that as our global collective future becomes more intertwined, proper allocation of resources, transparency and active engaged participation are paramount. Western industrialized nations seem to have a collective guilt that is used against them to force an agenda in the public eye. That we should feel guilty for being a ‘Have’. There is a slippery slope for unintended consequences.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
This is clearly a truth that needs to be addressed today as climate and political refugees abound. Not out of guilt, but a desire to build unilaterally on a foundation that is solid. Westerners have a tendency to either aggrandize people’s struggles momentarily but not recognize their humanity. I’ve often been caught in the middle of western guilt and what seems to be horse blinders in countries that have a complete disregard for human life. It’s not as simplistic as pro or anti immigration. Many nations are facing issues regarding successfully integrating refugees that we haven’t encountered historically.
A caveat to this, if my white husband had written this he’d be skewered. I find that really frustrating. While he’s admittedly benefited from white privilege, I’d like him to have a seat at the table because of his mind, experience and humanity. He’s a wicked problem solver. The odd thing is that just as with my dear friend mentioned above, people warm to him all over the world, wherever we go. I raise this point because as white men openly attack women of color in positions of power you are hindering a dialogue that is necessary. Complicit is not a position that can be tolerated. I’ve met ignorant people who might rub you the wrong way initially if you take what’s on the surface, but underneath is a genuine curiosity and desire to learn and change. Fear stops them. Let’s have that conversation.
We need everyone’s voice without shouting over each other. My god we need the truth to solve the problems facing everyone. An engaging dialogue, a reconciliation and open discourse without hostility. Vulnerability, heck yes! Hurt, shared trauma, disappointment and very difficult compromises where everyone will provide concessions and put something in the pot.
I’m fully aware that I am a product of liberal immigration policies. Had my father not decided to come to Canada in search of a better life I loathe to consider where I might be and the choices I might be facing. First and second generation, Chinese feel the same. The experience of my family in Canada is similar to Iranians, Chinese, Punjabis, Filipinos or any other set of immigrants. While we have slightly different ideologies and histories, our stories have a familiar feel to them. Our desire to keep building a world our children would be proud of is the same. As Americans and as people across the globe we really have an opportunity here. From mass migration in Europe and integration of refugees all over the world, to Black lives matter, this moment in history is pivotal. Our collective action or inaction will forge a path for future generations. Let’s get as much constructive input as possible and look at all the things that have worked around the globe and throughout history rather than reinvent the wheel.
Go forth, enjoy the sun, break bread. Homemade peanut sauce is the best.
I like Udon noodles and don’t use any oil in my peanut sauce, just water. Add red pepper flakes or sriracha sauce.
