Okay.. this is going to be a bit long and drawn out.
Portrayal of racism in media:
Racism isn't only the thing that is glorified in the media (e.g. what Cock Throppled gave examples for) although yes, that is on a rise. Its fine to question whether or not the headlines are being sensationalized, and IMO they are being sensationalized a bit, but that shouldn't take away from the fact that it ACTUALLY IS on the rise. Call it a small problem, first-world problem, or what have you, but to dismiss it as a non-issue reeks of ignorance and willfully blind to the world around them. Who it is that is committing these acts of racism doesn't change the fact that racism is still happening. Pointing a finger is just redirection.
YOUR experience with racism:
I see people here commenting "just grow thick skin"... sorry friend, you don't get to define what racism is and isn't, nor do I, and rarely is it black or white. Your supervisor calls you a chink and you dish it right back, all in good fun right? What about when you're passed for a promotion that is instead given to a non-Asian that's less qualified? Are you still that same chink? How do you draw the line? Is ignorance just bliss? We need to get out of the mindset where racism is only racism when someone is severely offended, because if you take into account the consequences the unseen/unheard accounts of racism, that can be just as damaging if not more than the blatant racism.
If you grew up in the Western society, you've likely assimilated to these racial biases whether you like it or not. Why is it that a CBC female is less likely to be attracted to an Asian male than another Asian female with less exposure to Western culture? I have had Asian female friends describe this to me, and I believe it is representative of the population: She only dates Caucasians because she doesn't find Asians attractive, and that was just what society had portrayed to her everywhere (TV, movies, representation in ads, company/community leaders, government, etc.). She knows she has these biases, but attraction isn't a light switch that can be flipped. If society works harder at removing these norms, EVERYONE would be better for it, if anything just to remove inefficiencies caused.
I see some White folks here hesitant to speak about what they know (may ironically? would be a big whooooosh on me). Sure, feel free to discuss your experience, but dismissing it because you don't see it - then you're just narrowing your world review to specifically that of your eyes.
Racism not being discussed:
I'm greatly disappointed that we choose to tackle the obvious parts of racism that are generally on the downward trend (physical and verbal attacks). The racism that no one talks about is dismissed by the media because it's difficult to sensationalize and trigger emotions in the public. You want to talk about racism against Asians? How about the hypersexualization of Asian females that was created by Western culture? And the same culture that desexualizes Asian men, depicting them meek and pushovers?
If you don't know Jeremy Lin's story, it screams racism - the exact type of racism that needs to be exposed in the world, the subconscious yet excused racism, excused in the form of ignorance. Skipping over his college recruitment, NBA draft (undrafted), free agent offers (yay! selling jerseys), right to Linsanity... initally during that run he was lauded for his high IQ, his 'scrappy' play, and playmaking. LOL! Those comparisons were made by people with subconscious biases of what Asians were - smart, gritty, never-say-die attitude - not to say Lin weren't any of these things, but that description did not match the reality of his play. In reality, he was EXTREMELY athletic, but very turnover prone and and had so-so vision for a point guard. He was just as fast (or faster depending on the metric) as the number 1 overall pick of his draft class, John Wall... but sure, let's forget his athleticism. It came to nobody's surprise that his career was never the same after his injuries, as he relied heavily on his athleticism (very quick first step) and wasn't able to transition to more niche roles like a spot up shooter. I picked this example because he was well-known, but it happened despite HUNDREDS of people that are paid hundreds of thousands, if not millions to assess and select basketball players. Then Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey, who's a big supporter and user of basketball analytics, admitted that Jeremy Lin was ranked 15th for his draft year in his model (which surprise! doesn't factor race), but Lin was not terribly athletic when he and his scouts watched him play. They later began additional data gathering and found out he was fast as fuck, and couldn't think of a reason why they thought he was unathletic beyond the fact that he's Asian.
Now translate this to your world, what decisions are being made at your cost, without you or even the decision maker knowing? Does it make it okay if they're ignorant? What outdated biases need to be challenged?
I'm only discussing examples that pertain to Asians because that's the subject of the thread, but these biases exist to varying degrees for other races too for different subjects (yes! including you fine white folks).
