The next time the Source asks people on the street about racism, you might want to ask one or two members of a racial minority who might have experienced racism and pure hatred first-hand. You might get some more informed opinions.
I am an Asian-American. For those new to the lingo, that means I was born in the US and my parents are from China. I have experienced racial prejudice and racism as long as I can remember.
On Saturday, March 29, I was exiting my vehicle on Bend’s oh-so-trendy and affluent Westside. A man I have never seen before in my life, who was stopped at a gas station, said something about shooting “commies,” pointed at me with an imaginary rifle and pretended to shoot me. I almost called the police. He was dead serious. THAT is what racism is.
If anyone thinks that race is not an issue in America, or that it doesn’t matter, or the issue is totally overblown, they’ve never been on the receiving end of racism. I’ll be the first one
to admit that I am not free of prejudice. Nobody can claim that. We all have stereotypes in our minds to some extent. But I’ve never wanted anyone dead or assigned blame for America’s myriad problems based on race.
If the Source really wanted to know if racism might still be a problem in America, you might have tried asking anyone in Central Oregon with skin of a different color. Believe it or not, there’s more than a few of us around these days, and we might have an opinion or two on the subject. Yes, it’s a real problem. And we put up with it our entire lives.
Eric C., Bend
Editor’s Note: People interviewed for our “Cold Call” feature are chosen at random on the street. However, most of the people we interviewed, regardless of skin color, agreed that racism remains a problem in the U.S.
This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2008.
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Finally, someone in this town has realized that racism is a problem. I have been subjected to this behavior since moving here, My wife and I get the stare and snarls. She was recently verbally abused at the westside 7eleven, and was told to stay with her kind. My eleven year old son is called the “n- word” by kids, while walking home from school. How do a father explain why this happens, and I myself has been racially abused at my employment. So, yes I totally agree with Mr. Chu that racism is a real problem, and its alive and well right here in our own community.
T. W. Bend
E- What you experienced might not have been blatant racism. Your overly sensitive attitude should not undercut the reality of the situation. Perhaps you should consider that the individual could be have a mental illness. Possibly post traumatic stress from recently returning from Afganistan or Iraq. Maybe he was was just stupidly inebriated or under the influence of a mind altering drug. Addiction is also recognized as an illness. To jump to the immediate conclusion that he is a racist is premature. I, as a minority, have endured many situations that never really rise to the level of pure racism, but fall in the category of ignorant, stupid behaviour. Peace
Racism is very real however over the years i have seen
it as a two-way street.I have run into many “blacks”that will get in your face about the coming of the so called”revaloution” as they put it.in
words they use”you crackers will get you comings” I have
seen people of other color become racist against there
on color if they marry out of the “color” so it not just white vs blacks it,s all of us!..whats the answer
hell I don,t know..maybe just all get along,but that will not work in all cases some whites see blacks getting thier job as affirmitive action moved the white out,and it happens in our higher level of education areas. Koren,s for the most part hate blacks
look what blacks did during the LA riots to the hard working Koreans…So my ASain friend sorry that happened to you ,had I been there I would have put a stop to it…
Thanks for setting me straight, Chuggy. I guess after almost 40 years of being on this planet and being called a chink or gook and being spoken to in Charlie Chan-english, I have no idea what racism is. So race based hatred is okay if you’re drunk? The guy was well past the age where he would have served in Iraq, not that it matters. The guy did not ask me if I knew of a good Chinese restaurant in town, thereby sending me into a rage. The guy looked straight at me and wanted to kill me because of the color of my skin, not because we had a deep discussion and slight disagreement about politics. Unless you know something I don’t know, I don’t think you were there. At what point does harassment need to reach before objecting to it is not “overly sensitive”? Do I have to wait until the guy actually takes a shot at me before I say, hmmm…I think this guy doesn’t like me. News flash: ignorant, stupid behavior directed at those of a different race IS racism. The only thing worse than racism are those that tolerate it or make excuses for it.
Hello…? Any person has the expectation and right to conduct their daily business and enjoy life without fear of harassment or threat of violence. Period.
So, if the question were regarding disabled access around town, would The Source have failed to talk to any disabled people? But I guess if they solicited some sympathetic comments at “random” from able-bodied individuals, that makes it okay to ignore a population and treat them like their invisible. A big thumbs down for The Source for trying to defend their lack of consideration. A newspaper should challenge our attitudes, not perpetuate them.
E.Chu , Time for you to seek help for your long simmering anger issues and feeling “victimized”. Grow a set and shake off shit like you have/will be exposed to. You will never have the ability to control other peoples behaviour. Why didnt you throw down and stomp the crap out of this idiot and teach him a lesson if it was so aggregious? Maybe, if you you stand up and fight it will assuage your anger….or better yet you should have at least called the police. To take zero action and whine about it after the fact is weak. No?
E.Chu….it also sounds like you have some unresolved issues with the ” oh so trendy and affluent Westside”….your assailant make a crass, generalization about a whole group of people…..guess what ?? You did too!! Busted dude.
Chuggy, my mention of the affluent and trendy westside was meant to highlight that fact that racism can be found anywhere, even where you might assume people are educated and affluent. Okay, yeah the trendy part was a bit of a dig, and it slipped out. Like I said, nobody is free of prejudice or stereotypes. You tell me to shake it off or stomp the guy. Which is it? If you didn’t get the memo, confrontation and escalation usually isn’t the best way to go from a judge or jury’s perspective.especially if the guy does have a rifle within reach. lastly, why didn’t I call the police? Who knows? like a lot of people who are victimized by harassment or by massive violence…my first reaction was pure disbelief and shock (seeing as how I’m “overly sensitive” and all) I then tried to go about my business and not give the guy the satisfaction of a confrontation. And if you choose to characterize speaking out against racism and publicizing my personal experience in this town as “zero action” and whining, that’s a real shame. Seems like you’re more intent on attacking me personally than discussing a real issue. I’ve never expected to control other people’s behavior, but I’ll speak out against it. Thanks to all who have voiced their support personally to me or here on this website. Chuggy-good luck to you and if you’re ever the target of prejudice or hatred, I won’t presume to tell you how you should feel and react to the situation. I forgot, all the drug-addicted, drunk, PTSD-suffering racists are just misunderstood people that are kidding around, and it’s just their way of asking you out for a beer. Peace.
E- I think that Chuggy is just trying to get a rise out of you so don’t fall for it. Ooops…too late. You fell for it. No doubt, Chuggy has reached a state of Siddartha-like enlightenment and forgiveness that we can’t fathom and would likely suggest to women who endure groping, sexual harassment and discrimination to just “grin and bear it” or “get some stones” as he put it.
I think we’ve missed the larger point which is we’d hear a lot more stories from T.W. and other members of the community if The Source had treated the topic more seriously. I guess this is at least the start of what Obama suggested as a national discussion on race. The worst we can do is pretend it doesn’t exist or blame the victims and call the problem oversensitivity. It’s sad that someone who claims to be a member of a racial minority, cannot distinguish between crass generalizations and racist comments, harassments or threats. And the idea that somehow the targets of racism or prejudice have to get some “stones” and resort to combat to have any credibility is just a symptom of how wide the problem is and always will be. Some people just don’t get it and never will.
The Source chose people at random. Since this town is 99.9% white, the odds were going to be that the people questioned were white. It’s not rocket science.
psychologically speaking, sarcasm is a outgrowth of repressed anger….E.Chu, I hope you find peace. Out
white town–it’s also not rocket science to walk a few blocks from the Source and talk to any number of people of different ethnic backgrounds that own businesses or work downtown. You’d have to live in a hole in the ground to not find anyone in this town of a different color. People are invisible only if you choose not to see them. “Random” isn’t as random as you think, it’s just another excuse for bad journalism. If the issue were something more mundane like the leash law for pets, if they failed to talk to any pet owners “at random” you better believe there’d be a bigger uproar than this. People with stories like those of T.W. cannot be dismissed. and yes, Chuggy, people who experience hate and prejudice do get a little cranky. save the pop psychology or do we need to get into your need to speak for the persecuted white male? or your self-hatred for your minority status that you claim?
Hannah get off your high horse. The name of the column is “Cold Call” If you can’t guess, that means people are selected at random on the street. These columns are a fixture of daily and weekly newspapers across the country. And the one common denominator is that you don’t go out and target who you will talk to. That’s the difference between it and the rest of the paper. And your leash law analogy is laughable. You want to compare racism and hate crimes to dog leashes? Now that’s insensitive.
on saturday i watched as four kids at the mt. bachelor park n ride lot gawked at, taunted and heckled an african-american employee as he got off the employee bus. ‘oh, their just kids’ you might say. they don’t know any better right? why don’t they know any better? racist, or at best indifferent parents raise racist kids. who grow up to be racist adults. welcome to bend.
You bet. I got out of the Service in 1975. I was a telephone lineman for the Air Force. Upon applying with Bell Tel in Portland I was told I was the wrong persusion.All future outside plant positions would only be filled with minorty apps until further notice. So, I applied with Southern Pacific RR for a signalman position. I was hired and fired on the same day. Word came up from their SF office that I would have to be let go as the position was intended for a minority hire.
Even to this day, racisim is real in the Federal sector. Promotions? Forget it less your are female or minority.
Reverse discrimination isn’t exactly the same as racism. Minority preferences was an experiment that failed and caused as much harm as it did good. Those that tried to implement minority quotas or preferences were fulfilling an institutional mandate to try and right past wrongs and improve “diversity”, a term which has now fallen out of favor. Those individuals were not discriminating on the basis of a personal agenda, they just had screwed up intentions and directives. Universities and government institutions can no longer use race or gender as a preference for hiring as a matter of law. But, the question remains…job discrimination and wage discrimination is very real for minorities and women. Women still get paid less than men in many industries while doing the same work. And let’s face it, there are still people who don’t get hired because they’re not white. We know now that trying to give preferences to women and minorities is not the answer…but where are the answers? definitely no quick fix. Hopefully, people will be hired and paid on their ability and qualifications regardless if their white, yellow, brown, young, old, gay, straight, male or female.
just a reminder–it wasn’t that long ago that a hate group met regularly in Drake Park. Bend hasn’t progressed too far since then. As a community we should be ashamed of the racism that still exists here and stop making excuses.