2011-04-13

Chexicans

"Chinese people are like the Mexicans of Asia." - a friend's mother

I really appreciate this quote. If you're going to be offensive, be horribly, horribly offensive, I say. Most bigots only manage to put down one culture per sentence, but she is showing some efficient racism.

Moreover, I admire her brazenness. She presupposes that her audience already has disdain for Mexicans, which will then automatically carry over to Chinese people by way of comparison. It's like a twist on a movie advertisement: "If you liked stereotyping Mexico, then you'll love stereotyping China."

You know what's even more ignorant than this quote? Me and everyone else who has dismissed it as ignorance without bothering to hear out her explanation. Maybe she has favorable opinions of these populations and the comparison is meant to be complimentary. After all, I reached the same conclusion that Mexicans and Chinese are similar four years ago based on hard facts, including a Venn Diagram.

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