I first read the term on Dyske (I mentioned him in an earlier post of mine), and this is a reply-of-sorts to Tou’s post on the ladyslug. Coming from a country where racism is in its tenets of the law (yea, try extremely racist economics), I don’t notice such things. In fact, I’m oblivious to such things happening around me, so reading Tou’s blog was a most interesting revelation on his observation skills.
But coming to think about it, I do notice (well, at least, subconsciously), that some asians do have some form of reverse racism. They revere the caucasoids. But this hasn’t always been the case. Way back in the Ming dynasty, the whites were kicked out of China. The ideal then was that the Chinese were the most technologically superior race (technically true too), hence they don’t need foreigners to meddle with their affairs.
Similarly this happened in Japan. Until today, the Japanese have one general term to call non-Japanese: gaijin (lit. outside people, alien). It is usually used degradatorily in Japan (like drunken gaijin or rowdy gaijin). During the Tokugawa shogunate period, there was a lockdown of sorts in Japan - the sakoku (lit. locked country). The idea was to prevent missionaries (really irritating buggers trying to spread Christianity) from ‘polluting’ Japan (arguably, I’d say it was a good idea… the spanish and portuguese missionaries earn no respect from me, only disdain). But the point is that the whole ‘gaijin’ thing started then. Of course, after the Meiji era, things started to change.
European countries were then waaaay superior in technology, while asian countries lagged behind. The tables turned, and Emperor Meiji opened up Japan to the Americans (well, he was forced, but at least Tom Cruise did try to help preserve the samurai culture). The Qing Dynasty then, didn’t have the foresight to open up to modernization (thanks to a certain corrupt Empress Dowager), and hence lagged behind big time.
In a way, the Meiji Era and the end of the Qing Dynasty was a precursor to asian “reverse racism” towards the whites (damn, I hate using politically incorrect terms). Traditionally (tradition being the past 100 years or so), asians kowtow to the caucasians because of technological advantages over them. This has been brought on from generation to generation.. ultimately, the asians revere the whites in a form of reverse racism.
And, you’ve got the famous No Dogs and Chinese Allowed sign (which is a fake, btw. There were no historical records of such signs. But there are historical records of lists of people not allowed in a certain place, like a club in Shanghai, which includes, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. And dogs). This picture was from a Bruce Lee movie.
While this is they typical degradatory racism, I hightlight this as a point. Because recently something similar happened in Shanghai, albeit in a more politically correct manner. You can read it at the Shanghaiist.
Point in saying all this is to point out how silly the human race have been. We could have been learning from one another, but in the end, we shut ourselves away. And when we’re forced to open up, we end up revering those with the significant technological advantage. Add time factor to it, and we have our reverse racism we see today.
Idiots.
Now.. go watch a hare hare yukai dance by a british (i.e. caucasian) girl. Brilliant. Reverse Racism Much?
Cool?
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please do note: I wrote this when I’m bored. And when I was talking to a friend on bayesian stuff, and another friend on genetic algorithm. So… ho hum.
- Gaikokujin = correct term for foreigners (or literal translation = aliens).
- Gaijin = derogatory term; also, shortened version to = slang (commonly used by foreigners themselves, I should mention).
- Bakamono = stupid things.
- Baka = idiot/stupid/fool.
Terms you use often:
- Asians
- Whites
Terms you don’t use often:
- Gooks
- Caucasians
Interesting…
Btw, I have no idea on non-PC terms for Asians… that was first thing that came to mind after remembering (trying to remember) racist comments.
On 3rd thought, perhaps using the term ‘yellow’ would’ve demonstrated my point better.
It’s hard to be racist… =/
OOh. Thanks for the info, melissa.
. Gaigoku means foreign, jin means people, so not so much of an “alien” effect as gaijin.
Dunno about non-PC terms. But usually, I’d go Mongoloid (aka Chinese Japanese Korean), Dravidian (southern indians), Aryan (indo-iranians)… and the like. But I clump them together
Hahahaa… you’re more asian in habits than I am anyways (and I’m bloody asian!)
Yah, but you behave like an alien regardless of which race or country.
Because I’ve got a bloody headcrab stuck on me? (LOL, I’d like to see someone with a headcrab stuck on them)
http://www.wonderlandblog.com/photos/uncategorized/headcrabhat.jpg
Close enough?
[…] ChewXY: Reverse Racism […]
[…] This post is dedicated to my fun-loving housemates. I don’t regret choosing this place to stay, lol. In Reverse Racism, I posted in the comments that I was a headcrab zombie. Lissk then posted a link to Valve’s Headcrab hat (which was unfortunately sold out). […]
Thanks for visiting my blog.
I still think that everyone can learn from every other people irregardless of their skin color(s) - well, we know of some ppl who are dark-skinned trying to become white-skinned.
Even if our nation is 1000 years more advanced than country B….there are still things we can learn from them.
Not sure if u’ve noticed….smart people are not racists (at least if they are…they dont show it!). the top people in developed countries, they actually encourage foreigners or expats to come to their country n work….the import of the so-called k-workers.
do u think that w/o people from Asia….countries A n B can be so successful now? and w/o people from Indonesia working on things a Malaysian doesn’t want to do…do u think we still have Petronas Twin Towers?
So much for racism….racists hate people with different colors……but they still need these people’s help. How irony
Precisely. If you read the last few sentences in my article, I said that humanity was acting stupid by being racist.
But reverse racism is the opposite of degradatory racism. Asians look down on asians because there isn’t anything special to asians. Asians have: black hair, chinky eyes, thick eyebrows (wow, I fit the bill!)
But the only reason why asians look up to whites is due to the technological superiority in the past.