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Originally Posted by HurtCow  I'm sure I'm one of the 'offensive posters' in the astronaut thread. I think of it this way:
People imitate/make fun of the speech of, for example, French, Southerners, Germans, Mexicans, etc and it's a non-issue. It's not thought of being 'hateful' or 'racist'. People do it in moves and on tv. It's all in good fun. Shawn 'spawnsharks' can do a spot-on Austrian accent and it's hilarious. But is it different for Asians?
The Sac Pump Day regulars include a group of Korean guys. They make jokes like 'Pete better hide his dogs when we get here'. They think it's funny to act 'stereotypical asian'.
People imitate me all the time. I don't care, in fact I'm rather amused.
Why choose to waste energy getting offended by something an anonymous person says on an internet forum? It's not going to affect your personal life or anything that happens to you. Maybe I'm thick-skinned or ignorant but I just don't get it.
I'm sure this'll get me thrown under the bus but that's ok. I'm just expressing my opinion. |
Allow me to throw you under the bus. You're being ignorant.
Sociolinguistics is the key here. Accented or especially dialectic English spoken by various caucasian groups is NOT the same thing as accented English spoken by various minority groups, in this case Asian groups, whose accents are sourced from their native languages, which are tied strongly to their ethnic groups. Ethno-linguistic homogeneity makes a difference in these cases and renders the various caucasian examples less offensive, whether it seems fair or not.
As for your stereotyping reference above, it's the same situation as people of other races calling other members of the same race by racial epithets, as a form of empowerment -- and it's not okay for you to use the same epithet when talking to them if you are not part of the same ethnic group. You know what I am talking about, or you should, if you want to intelligently discuss sociolinguistics (gunangel touched on it above).
But on a more practical level, there are critical social considerations when determining just how much racial mockery or humor is tolerable in any given situation. In plain terms, you don't mock a race when members of that race are around. It's just not a polite thing to do and is liable to cause trouble.
What your personal beliefs are and the fact that you are entitled to them has no bearing on whether expressing them is wise. The KKK member in south central is entitled to his opinions as well, but the wise move is not to express them just then and there.
Assume that forums are read by people of all ethnicities (which is almost assuredly the case) and act accordingly.