Is this racism?

Where I work there are several hundred employees in the building. I’ve noticed that the Asians all stick together, eat nothing but Asian food, eat together, etc. The folks from India do the same. All of them are US citizens or here on work visas, etc. To me there’s something racist about this but I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe I’m just comparing to myself. If I were to move to a foreign country I would do my best to assimilate to my new home country. I wouldn’t constantly eat hot dogs and McD’s and so on. And I’d want to become a part of the local culture, not surround myself with a “little America”. Thoughts?

I view racism as being, in large part, a product of naturally evolved tendencies. Also, I view it as existing in each of us along a spectrum. We all have at least a little bit. But I think that, definitely, putting one’s self in a position to interact with, and experience what persons of other races experience, can help one to be on the lower end of the spectrum.

It can be considered racist from a certain angle, like anything can. It’s probably not worth getting too concerned over it, unless it interferes with workplace “harmony”.
Whether we like or not, people will gravitate towards their own.
In modern America, they are mostly free to be themselves without harm. If you lived in any of their countries of origin, in would not be that way!

You might as well accuse all of us here of being sexists since we are all men–except for Lois who I think might be a woman.

Where I work there are several hundred employees in the building. I’ve noticed that the Asians all stick together, eat nothing but Asian food, eat together, etc. The folks from India do the same. All of them are US citizens or here on work visas, etc. To me there’s something racist about this but I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe I’m just comparing to myself. If I were to move to a foreign country I would do my best to assimilate to my new home country. I wouldn’t constantly eat hot dogs and McD’s and so on. And I’d want to become a part of the local culture, not surround myself with a “little America". Thoughts?
Have you ever seen American tourists in a foreign country Cuth? The first thing they look for IS a McDonalds, that and a church. Try this with your Asian colleagues, walk over, introduce yourself and ask them where they got their Asian food. There are many reasons why they, hell, all of us pretty much stick together at first, eg. The ghettoes of NY, then after two generations assimilation begins and pretty soon only the surname is left. of course there are cultural and genetic reasons too. Cap't Jack

Hey Cuthbert,
No, it’s not racism. It’s being human. Cap’t Jack said it well.
I work with a guy from Vietnam who’s been in this country since he was in High School. He’s still not comfy with hanging out to BBQ or stuff like that. Some people, maybe ethnic groups, they simply are like that. Doesn’t mean anything “racist", it’s just a certain comfort zone. There are certain views expressed and jokes made in our culture that are not understood by others, hence making them feel uncomfy. – I take South Korea or Japan as an example. I’ve never been to either place, would like to visit them both, but assimilate to their cultures I don’t think I could. They are so far off my chart, at least from what I know, no way!
I still like Catp’t Jack’s ghetto analogy. Same thing. It takes time. No racism.
And George… don’t call me a guy… I’m a little sweetheart :slight_smile:

I would not call such behavior racist. I would call that “communal” preference.
IMO racism has to do with not respecting someone’s humanity and the same inherent rights as your rights because of a perceived superiority.

Yeah, George. I was going to include Michelle, but she beat me to it. and I’ve met both Asanta and Lois and can assure you they are both very bright, enjoyable women. :slight_smile:
However, I do agree with your argument.
Occam

Yeah, George. I was going to include Michelle, but she beat me to it. and I've met both Asanta and Lois and can assure you they are both very bright, enjoyable women. :) However, I do agree with your argument. Occam
I don't. It is my experience that wherever women congregate, men are sure to join the group (or at least try to). No prejudices there.

You’re right W4U, but the guys who do are usually the unaware jerks :lol: , and the women do everything they can to avoid integrating them into the group.
Occam

Women need time on their own, without men, to establish the hierarchy of their physical attractiveness so that when men do join them the whole thing becomes a smoother process. (Men do the same thing when they go out and spend most of the time testing their social status by trying to sound funny, rich, smart, etc.) I once witnessed a bridal shower as the only man present (as a “photographer”) and the whole thing was simply unbelievable. I should write a short story about it one day. :slight_smile:

I actually thought I was much smarter before joining this forum. :slight_smile:

I think that’s the case with many of us here, George. This forum seems to attract and keep people who think and write well so when we’re among people who are significantly above average in those skills, we don’t see the differences we do when we are in the general population. However, that’s not always the case. There seem to be some here who knew they were extremely superior before and see no difference in their “ranking” now. :lol:
Occam

Yep. :cheese:

Yeah, George. I was going to include Michelle, but she beat me to it. and I've met both Asanta and Lois and can assure you they are both very bright, enjoyable women. :) However, I do agree with your argument. Occam
And I hope Beth will stick around also. She is an intelligent person and once she gets her bearings, I am confident she can contribute in a significant way.

I wonder why there are not more women on the forum. Surely there are as many women who think and write well. Maybe it’s the confrontational orientation, that ususally pervades the discussions, that keeps them away. Or maybe they have better things to do.

Where I work there are several hundred employees in the building. I've noticed that the Asians all stick together, eat nothing but Asian food, eat together, etc. The folks from India do the same. All of them are US citizens or here on work visas, etc. To me there's something racist about this but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I'm just comparing to myself. If I were to move to a foreign country I would do my best to assimilate to my new home country. I wouldn't constantly eat hot dogs and McD's and so on. And I'd want to become a part of the local culture, not surround myself with a "little America". Thoughts?
You can't possibly know what you would do if you moved to another country. People stick together, eat the same foods, speak their original language for many reasons. Sometimes it's simply a matter of trusting your own people and finding comfort in familiar things, especially if you find yourself surrounded by people who might do you harm and people who seem too different and hostile. This habit usually dissapates in succeeding generations. It has been the case for nearly all immigrants to any country. You ask if it's racism. Who are you supposing the racists are--the immigrants or the people who have lived here for generations? I don't blame immigrants for sticking to people they feel they can trust and avoiding the ones they feel uncomfortable with. It is a very difficult thing to assimilate from one culture to another and it's doubly hard if the culture you are assimilating into appears hostile, untrustworthy and dangerous--and there are always some people who exhibit those characteristics toward any group. Sometimes it's a result of being called racist. When you can't trust people you find safety where you can. Why not try to understand your coworkers and put yourself in their place instead of judging them. I doubt you have a clue as to what it's like being in a strange land with different customs, surrounded by hostile people, and often having a hard time just surviving. You have no idea whther you would find it easy to assimilate into another culture. It takes a lot more than eating the local food. It's completely different from visiting another country as a tourist. Don't judge unless you have actually tried to assimilate into another culture and tried to make a living among hostile people who might do you and your family harm. Lois
I wonder why there are not more women on the forum. Surely there are as many women who think and write well. Maybe it's the confrontational orientation, that ususally pervades the discussions, that keeps them away. Or maybe they have better things to do.
It's not just this forum. Are you more likely to discuss topics on science and skepticism in your everyday life with men or women? Women simply don't care for this kind of stuff as much as men do. Why is that? Well, evolution (i.e., biology), of course. What else would it be? I don't think women are less rational than men, but they certainly are more emotional (again, for evolutionary reasons) and their way of figuring things out simply functions on a different level from ours.

I’ve always gotten the impression that the women in the groups smile indulgently and wait for the men to get past all the drivel they are spouting. :slight_smile:
A different case was my wife. She had an excellent sense of humor and intellectual insights, however, she was quiet and would whisper them to me. I tried to get her to speak up, but she wouldn’t so I’d make the statement, thus getting an undeserved reputation for wit and intelligence. :lol:
Occam

Sure, once you get a woman going she usually makes more sense than a man. But you first need to feed her the necessary information, since women simply don’t care enough to read about that stuff. Men are often more bias about these things because they have already had a chance to form their opinion.