White Skin Privilege

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by madmax
There are three guys on an airplane. A black, a white, and an Asian. The plane is going to crash but there only 2 parachutes. Who should get the parachutes?

Naturally the black and the Aisan because white men can't jump.

[aurora_borealis]

Originally posted by Taualumna
The bulk of Asian immigrants haven't been around for 100+ years. Most came after WWII or later, when immigrant laws were a little more relaxed.

That depends on where one lives. You live in Canada, further east. I grew up in San Francisco. We had Chinese workers coming with the Gold Rush in 1848 and shortly after to build the railroads. The large West Coast (and I mean on the water with shipping ports) cities have a very rich tradition with older families from Asia. It was a matter of geography, most of the ships stopped at Angel Island for immigration purposes. We have Chinatwon, Japantown, Little Manila, and so on with historical landmarked buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake.

It all varies with a frame of reference.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by aurora_borealis
That depends on where one lives. You live in Canada, further east. I grew up in San Francisco. We had Chinese workers coming with the Gold Rush in 1848 and shortly after to build the railroads. The large West Coast (and I mean on the water with shipping ports) cities have a very rich tradition with older families from Asia. It was a matter of geography, most of the ships stopped at Angel Island for immigration purposes. We have Chinatwon, Japantown, Little Manila, and so on with historical landmarked buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake.

It all varies with a frame of reference.

You can say the same about Vancouver, BC and probably Calgary, AB as well. However, many Asians in Vancouver are also recent immigrants. Those with the $$$$$ are almost always from Hong Kong, immigrants who came during the wave in the 1980s. The Greater Toronto Area has a population of 3 or so million, and about 300,000 (I think...it's in the hundred thousands) are Chinese. We have 5 Chinatowns.

[Rudey]

60.6% of all Asians in the US are immigrants (Census 2000).

34.4% (6,674,086) of all Immigrants to the US between 1971-1998 were Asian.

Most Asian are immigrants from recent times.

Now as for their socioeconomic characteristics:

Selected Socioeconomic Characteristics of Immigrant Groups by Home Country Area

*Not Proficient in English*
All U.S.-Born 0.6
All Immigrants 30.5
Asia & Pacific Islands 23.4
Africa 7.6
Europe, Russia & Canada 11.5
Latin & South America & Caribbean 44.0

Less than High School
All U.S.-Born 17.5
All Immigrants 39.1
Asia & Pacific Islands 21.2
Africa 12.1
Europe, Russia & Canada 23.2
Latin & South America & Caribbean 57.4

College Degree
All U.S.-Born 23.1
All Immigrants 23.3
Asia & Pacific Islands 42.5
Africa 43.8
Europe, Russia & Canada 28.9
Latin & South America & Caribbean 9.1

Advanced Degree
All U.S.-Born 2.6
All Immigrants 4.2
Asia & Pacific Islands 6.8
Africa 8.2
Europe, Russia & Canada 5.8
Latin & South America & Caribbean 1.9

-Rudey
--Facts not personal stories.

[starang21]

Originally posted by Taualumna
But you can say that it is because of the following:

1) Lack of language skills

2) Lack of "connections" because they're immigrants. Whites have been in the country longer and have had the $$$$$$ longer, and therefore have CONNECTIONS one way or another. Connections makes things easier.

no, not always. sometimes, that really doesn't have anything to do with it. there are times when it's just because it's blatant racism. that doesn't have anythign to do with a language barrier or a newness to the area.

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by starang21
no, not always. sometimes, that really doesn't have anything to do with it. there are times when it's just because it's blatant racism. that doesn't have anythign to do with a language barrier or a newness to the area.

I'll have to agree with this. I hardly ever see outright racism towards blacks (where I live - I know this isn't true in the States!!) but I see very open racism towards Asians ALL THE TIME in Waterloo.

[starang21]

Originally posted by kappaloo
I'll have to agree with this. I hardly ever see outright racism towards blacks (where I live - I know this isn't true in the States!!) but I see very open racism towards Asians ALL THE TIME in Waterloo.

i've seen it as well, but i have seen blatant and outright torwards black folks. i've seen it more than a few times.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by kappaloo
I'll have to agree with this. I hardly ever see outright racism towards blacks (where I live - I know this isn't true in the States!!) but I see very open racism towards Asians ALL THE TIME in Waterloo.

Isn't that what happens when a school has a large any minority population? Especially when certain groups tend to "stick with their 'own kind'" (I know I sound a little racist like this, but it's true.....)

[RACooper]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Isn't that what happens when a school has a large any minority population? Especially when certain groups tend to "stick with their 'own kind'" (I know I sound a little racist like this, but it's true.....)

Too true.... there was a backlash against the proliferation of "Asian" clubs at UofT in the early 90's, and more than a few racist jokes made the rounds of the school papers. I'd like to think it has died down, but I can still see it every now and then.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by RACooper
Too true.... there was a backlash against the proliferation of "Asian" clubs at UofT in the early 90's, and more than a few racist jokes made the rounds of the school papers. I'd like to think it has died down, but I can still see it every now and then.

At Queen's, where I did my undergrad, there was a Chinese (not Asian, but Chinese) club for almost every major "mainstream" organization....a Chinese Catholic Students' Club, a Chinese Christian Club, Cantonese Debating Club, etc.....there was also separation (for the most part) between Mandarin speakers and Cantonese speakers. It was freaky....I wasn't involved with any of them.....they seemed to exclude people who didn't read and/or write Chinese.

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by starang21
i've seen it as well, but i have seen blatant and outright torwards black folks. i've seen it more than a few times.

Sorry - I should have been more clear - it's a population thing - there just isn't a large black population here. I'm sure I would see blatant racism towards black folks here if the population was larger. I'm not saying it's not happening - it's just hard to see when the population is small.

[i]Originally posted by TauAlumna[i]
Isn't that what happens when a school has a large any minority population? Especially when certain groups tend to "stick with their 'own kind'" (I know I sound a little racist like this, but it's true.....)

To some extent yes - but it still gets annoying and is very wrong. Especially when its in a work setting. I've overheard people say outright that they won't hire "them" - which is absolutely ridicoulous!!!

Unfortunately - it is true that a large portion of the Chinese community likes to stick together (this is natural - if we were to meet Canadians overseas we'll stick together with them). I think sometimes it allows people to isolate them unneccessarly because "they don't want to be around people like me".

During our school elections last year one of the candidates want to start breaking down these barriers (Waterloo is horrible for cultural cliques). Some of this ideas were very interesting, but he didn't win.

ETA: Sorry, I'll stop hijacking this thread now