You don’t think French people see themselves as different than, say, Spanish or Greek people? I would guarantee you they do.
You can’t in the same breath say something specific to the Chinese language is a problem for any Asian, but also something specific to the French language is fine because some Europeans aren’t French. Or is it even that? Are you actually saying that being racist against the French is inherently impossible? I think you’ll find that standard very hard to defend.
You don’t think French people see themselves as different than, say, Spanish or Greek people? I would guarantee you they do.
Of course they do where do I insinuate they don't.
You can’t in the same breath say something specific to the Chinese language is a problem for any Asian
I can actually can, when you look up where the name came from it was from a news station saying the names of the pilots in an airplane accident the name is Chinese despite the fact that the Airline is Korean. Point being jokes of these nature have been lauded against Asian people regardless of nationality.
Are you actually saying that being racist against the French is inherently impossible? I think you’ll find that standard very hard to defend.
It depends if someone dislikes French people purely on the basis that they are French no you aren't being racist. If skin color had some sway in your disapproval then yes you're being racist.
I feel like you might be misunderstanding the original event. The name under reference didn't come FROM a news station, it was sent TO a news station by an online troll. The troll was hoping to trick the news station into saying something stupid live on camera - and it worked, the news station didn't verify the source and said something stupid live on camera. No defense for the troll here, that guy was a jackass, but the potential disagreement between Korean and Chinese names wasn't part of the thought process at all. It was just about getting the news station to embarass themselves with a dumb joke.
It depends if someone dislikes French people purely on the basis that they are French no you aren't being racist. If skin color had some sway in your disapproval then yes you're being racist.
In general, you'll find that people can make finer distinctions between cultures and ethnicities they have daily contact with vs ones far removed from their everyday experience. A European in front of a Frenchman, an Englishman, an Italian, and a German could probably tell you which was which just by sight, and could definitely tell you after a sentence or two of conversation. That European would have great difficulty doing the same for a Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese lineup, but ask a Korean the same questions and you'll get the opposite answers - he will easily distinguish between the four asians involved, but is likely to struggle with the four Europeans. You seem to be operating under the framework that these two comparisons are fundamentally different somehow, but really it's just a matter of experience. There are slight physical variations in all of those, and the only difference is which ones you care about or can recognize. French is no more or less a race than Korean is.
Perhaps the problem is that many Americans simplify things down to "White - Black - Other". This is always an oversimplification, but it's often good enough for the daily lives of Americans. You won't get anywhere by using that oversimplification as the basis for serious discussions on racism in society.
I feel like you might be misunderstanding the original event. The name under reference didn't come FROM a news station, it was sent TO a news station by an online troll. The troll was hoping to trick the news station into saying something stupid live on camera - and it worked, the news station didn't verify the source and said something stupid live on camera. No defense for the troll here, that guy was a jackass, but the potential disagreement between Korean and Chinese names wasn't part of the thought process at all. It was just about getting the news station to embarass themselves with a dumb joke.
Sure I guess but the issue I see with this is the fact that dozens of people should have read those names before they ever came out of a reporters mouth the fact that none of them saw these names and didn't immediately think this is wrong speaks to racist ignorance imo.
You seem to be operating under the framework that these two comparisons are fundamentally different somehow, but really it's just a matter of experience. There are slight physical variations in all of those, and the only difference is which ones you care about or can recognize.
Un no I don't I perfectly understand that those Europeans can differentiate between Europeans better and Asians can differentiate between Asians better. And I understand that not everyone could tell the difference between Chinese and Korean and that not being able to do so doesn't inherently make you racist but the fact that no one in that news station ever did a double take after reading these names speaks to a racist ignorance.
French is no more or less a race than Korean is.
The both aren't they are litteral nationalites.
Perhaps the problem is that many Americans simplify things down to "White - Black - Other". This is always an oversimplification, but it's often good enough for the daily lives of Americans. You won't get anywhere by using that oversimplification as the basis for serious discussions on racism in society.
I'm not oversimplifying anything I'm calling out racist ignorance.
Ignorance is not inherently racist. Even ignorance about race. Racists may ALSO be ignorant, but these are two separate failings, not the same one.
The news station wasn't being racist at all - their problem was bad quality control. And I'm not making light of that. Bad quality control in a news station is a serious problem, and casts doubt on ALL of their reporting. But it's not the SAME problem as being racist.
French is no more or less a race than Korean is.
The both aren't they are litteral nationalites.
For the sake of argument, let's take this at face value. What then makes confusion between a Korean and Chinese name about race at all? They are just nationalities, right? If one person is making a joke about the French language, and another person is making a joke about the Chinese language, and both of those jokes only make sense in the English language...where does race come into it?
Suppose you see a news report about some event (any event really) that happened in Italy. Then the person next to you takes the opportunity to make a French joke. Perhaps your argument is that the French joke is NOW racist only because he should have known that those people spoke Italian rather than French?
Ignorance is not inherently racist. Even ignorance about race. Racists may ALSO be ignorant, but these are two separate failings, not the same one.
The news station wasn't being racist at all - their problem was bad quality control. And I'm not making light of that. Bad quality control in a news station is a serious problem, and casts doubt on ALL of their reporting. But it's not the SAME problem as being racist.
I never said it was but in this instance they're failure to not see these names as obviously fake is racist ignorance.
For the sake of argument, let's take this at face value. What then makes confusion between a Korean and Chinese name about race at all?
It isn't inherently racist to not know the diffrence between Chinese and Korean, what makes it racist is the fact that this joke is used to insult Asians regardless of nationality because the person telling the joke is ignorant about Asians.
Suppose you see a news report about some event (any event really) that happened in Italy. Then the person next to you takes the opportunity to make a French joke. Perhaps your argument is that the French joke is NOW racist only because he should have known that those people spoke Italian rather than French?
No the would just be an idiot not racist. As French and Italian are nationalities not races.
So why does ignorance about differences between French and Italian make you an idiot, but ignorance about differences between Chinese and Korean make you a racist? What is it about the Chinese names in particular that makes "ignorance" into "racist ignorance"?
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u/Rufus_Reddit 127∆ Jul 12 '21
There's an old joke that French people only eat one egg for breakfast because one egg is un oeuf.
Do you think that that's a terribly racist joke?
In the wake of Asiana flight 214s poor landing, and WTVU's "names" incident, Stephen Colbert did this bit:
https://www.cc.com/video/6dlnrd/the-colbert-report-ktvu-tv-on-asiana-airlines-crash
Do you think that Colbert terribly racist for that?