I grew up in small-town Michigan. Gladwin is 99% white. Growing up in a mostly homogenous environment I was a bit isolated to the issues of race and discrimination. There were some in my family that made racially insensitive jokes and were admittedly a bit prejudiced. I always kind of dismissed their comments and somehow instinctively knew their ideas weren't quite right. Believe it or not I was 15 when I actually met an African American; a cabin mate at a summer camp I attended. In college, my eyes were opened even more; I heard stories from friends of discrimination and prejudice that in mind hadn't existed since the 1960's and happened mostly in places like Mississippi and Georgia. Looking back, how thankful I am to have had patient friends graciously share their own experiences and helped give at least a bit more realistic view of race relations in the US.
Moving here, I find again myself in a multi-cultural environment. Walking around you can find pictures everywhere declaring 'Ethnic Unity" with pictures of people of numerous ethnic groups standing on mountain sides smiling and laughing. Going about daily life, you could almost believe that those pictures expressed the true situation here. People go to work and class, buy vegetables, go to parties, and take evening strolls. Then, as your language abilities increase, you start hearing the undercurrent of tensions bubbling all around. Sitting in taxis, drivers spew their dislike of THIS ethnic group or THAT ethnic group. Then you chat with a shop keeper and they inform you how terrible THAT ethnic group is. It seems everyone here dislikes someone else for some reason or another. This tension often seems hidden under a thin veneer of daily life but occassionally it comes seeping out and can be witnessed firsthand.
Needing to run some errands, I walked into a small shop. Inside were the sales lady and an old man. In order to give a clear picture, lets leave the actual ethnicities out of this. We'll say the lady was an 'Oompa Loompa' and the old man was a 'Smurf'. Just as I walked in, the old man was paying. "That'll be 51 kuai", said the lady. The man handed her a 100 note. As is common here, the lady asked if the old man had 1 kuai. "No, I don't", came the reply. Having just taken cash out of my pocket, I noticed a 1 kuai note. Not even thinking, I threw it down and said, "Here you go." I realized immediately my gesture of goodwill was not well received. The man, as expected, thanked me but refused. It's expected here that gestures like this will be refused on the first and even second offering. Normally I would have insisted, but the woman coldly informed me that there was no need for that. Handing the change to the old man, the woman asked me from where I came. No sooner had I told her my origins did she launch into a rant. "Hmmpf. You're that nice to give a stranger a kuai. If you're that nice, why does your country go around bullying everyone?" she vomited out. On and on she went about this and that, Obama this and that. Having been here two years, I just sort of block this stuff out. I had heard it all before. Hoping to move on from this awkward situation, I told the woman what I needed.
Suddenly, the old Smurf man next to me pipped up. "America is a great country." and proceeded to inform the woman why she was wrong. "You don't know anything. You're just an old retired man, what do you know?!" "I know, I watch the news every night!", said the old man as he shuffled out of the shop. Not wanting to get into the finer points of the topic, I pushed my money toward the lady and asked again for what I needed. The lady, however, was not finished. "Those Smurfs. What do they know! He's old and retired, he doesn't know anything. You're very kind and all, but you SHOULD NOT help THOSE Smurfs. I do not like those SMURFS." There was a strong emphasis dripping with disdain as she said 'Smurf'. "We Oompa Loompas. We are the world's kindest people. We are hospitable and so welcoming. But I hate those people. Don't help THEM."
By this time, several other customers, both Smurf and Oompa Loompa, had come into the closet-sized shop. Grabbing my change I made my exit as quickly as possible. Continuing on my errands, my own anger boiled up at the idiocy of that woman. How could she say her people were the world's kindest people in one breath and spew hate for another ethnicity in the next? I even considered circling back around to give that lady a piece of my mind. She needed to understand that my gesture of goodwill was not made on the basis of race; I am confident I would have handed the kuai to anyone that had been sitting in that same stool. This of course, wasn't the answer. These interactions are common, though still a bit of a jolt to the system. One friend recently told me of an interaction he had with a woman of another ethnicity. "If I had another chance, I'd go back and slap that Oompa Loompa bitch!"
How does one respond to this? These are extremely awkward situations and responding takes a certain sense of tact and eloquence. I have both Oompa Loompa and Smurf friends, as well as other ethnicities, that I love and admire greatly. At the same time, I've been cheated by people of all these ethnicities as well. In two years, I've tried various responses to these overtures of prejudice and hate. Depending on who I've been spending more time with I can tend to start mentally leaning one way or another. "Yeah! Those Smurfs always do THIS" or "Those Oompa Loompas are so THAT" I find myself thinking. The question I want to ask myself continually is this: If I leave here 1, 2, or 5 years from now, will people say Jesse didn't like _______________ ethnic group? Are my words and actions portraying value for people as people, regardless of race? In a place where racial tensions simmer under the surface, this is not a question that should be taken lightly.
Moving here, I find again myself in a multi-cultural environment. Walking around you can find pictures everywhere declaring 'Ethnic Unity" with pictures of people of numerous ethnic groups standing on mountain sides smiling and laughing. Going about daily life, you could almost believe that those pictures expressed the true situation here. People go to work and class, buy vegetables, go to parties, and take evening strolls. Then, as your language abilities increase, you start hearing the undercurrent of tensions bubbling all around. Sitting in taxis, drivers spew their dislike of THIS ethnic group or THAT ethnic group. Then you chat with a shop keeper and they inform you how terrible THAT ethnic group is. It seems everyone here dislikes someone else for some reason or another. This tension often seems hidden under a thin veneer of daily life but occassionally it comes seeping out and can be witnessed firsthand.
Needing to run some errands, I walked into a small shop. Inside were the sales lady and an old man. In order to give a clear picture, lets leave the actual ethnicities out of this. We'll say the lady was an 'Oompa Loompa' and the old man was a 'Smurf'. Just as I walked in, the old man was paying. "That'll be 51 kuai", said the lady. The man handed her a 100 note. As is common here, the lady asked if the old man had 1 kuai. "No, I don't", came the reply. Having just taken cash out of my pocket, I noticed a 1 kuai note. Not even thinking, I threw it down and said, "Here you go." I realized immediately my gesture of goodwill was not well received. The man, as expected, thanked me but refused. It's expected here that gestures like this will be refused on the first and even second offering. Normally I would have insisted, but the woman coldly informed me that there was no need for that. Handing the change to the old man, the woman asked me from where I came. No sooner had I told her my origins did she launch into a rant. "Hmmpf. You're that nice to give a stranger a kuai. If you're that nice, why does your country go around bullying everyone?" she vomited out. On and on she went about this and that, Obama this and that. Having been here two years, I just sort of block this stuff out. I had heard it all before. Hoping to move on from this awkward situation, I told the woman what I needed.
Suddenly, the old Smurf man next to me pipped up. "America is a great country." and proceeded to inform the woman why she was wrong. "You don't know anything. You're just an old retired man, what do you know?!" "I know, I watch the news every night!", said the old man as he shuffled out of the shop. Not wanting to get into the finer points of the topic, I pushed my money toward the lady and asked again for what I needed. The lady, however, was not finished. "Those Smurfs. What do they know! He's old and retired, he doesn't know anything. You're very kind and all, but you SHOULD NOT help THOSE Smurfs. I do not like those SMURFS." There was a strong emphasis dripping with disdain as she said 'Smurf'. "We Oompa Loompas. We are the world's kindest people. We are hospitable and so welcoming. But I hate those people. Don't help THEM."
By this time, several other customers, both Smurf and Oompa Loompa, had come into the closet-sized shop. Grabbing my change I made my exit as quickly as possible. Continuing on my errands, my own anger boiled up at the idiocy of that woman. How could she say her people were the world's kindest people in one breath and spew hate for another ethnicity in the next? I even considered circling back around to give that lady a piece of my mind. She needed to understand that my gesture of goodwill was not made on the basis of race; I am confident I would have handed the kuai to anyone that had been sitting in that same stool. This of course, wasn't the answer. These interactions are common, though still a bit of a jolt to the system. One friend recently told me of an interaction he had with a woman of another ethnicity. "If I had another chance, I'd go back and slap that Oompa Loompa bitch!"
How does one respond to this? These are extremely awkward situations and responding takes a certain sense of tact and eloquence. I have both Oompa Loompa and Smurf friends, as well as other ethnicities, that I love and admire greatly. At the same time, I've been cheated by people of all these ethnicities as well. In two years, I've tried various responses to these overtures of prejudice and hate. Depending on who I've been spending more time with I can tend to start mentally leaning one way or another. "Yeah! Those Smurfs always do THIS" or "Those Oompa Loompas are so THAT" I find myself thinking. The question I want to ask myself continually is this: If I leave here 1, 2, or 5 years from now, will people say Jesse didn't like _______________ ethnic group? Are my words and actions portraying value for people as people, regardless of race? In a place where racial tensions simmer under the surface, this is not a question that should be taken lightly.