⌛ Why are some people racists here?

Hi jnk 8665,

As you can see, Sirenna and Yabs are the same, and I also, personally, think you wrote an excellent post and would just like to thank you for bringing this forum up several levels. If you look throughout the forum, you'll see that yabs/Sirenna frequently espouse racist remarks, sometimes outright, and sometimes in a more subtle way, and unfortunately there are many people like him/her in the world. I think several people have attempted to have this odd ball reduce his/her racism, but to little effect. Regardless, I did enjoy reading your post and look forward to you sharing in the future also.

Sincerely,

 

I know that I get judged because I'm American and admittedly those doing the judging may have some justification. I'm very unhappy with some of my countrymen and their behavior in other countries I want to visit. Because of their actions I'm just another "ugly American" even though I have done nothing wrong.
This is exactly why we can't allow ourselves to fall into the trap of generalizations whether we may believe them justified or not.
(My poor Aussie friend was getting rather frustrated because everywhere we went it was assumed he was American just because he has white skin.)
As I've tried to point out, we need to come together as like-minded individuals not because of our nationality. Every time you make a generalization about a certain group you lessen your own ability to effect change and decrease your power. Empowerment comes when we set aside superficial differences and judge each other on character.

 

Not everything is what it appears to be

Yabs,
1) There is a fine line between generalization about a particular race and racism. If someone has decided to live in a foreign country, they should and must clearly understand this difference. It is was not ok for Imus to say “nappy headed hos” but it's apparently ok for snoop dogg to say the “N” word. Both are Americans. Do you understand the fine line here? If you are white, say all you want about the whites being this and that. It’s free. But if you say blacks are this, the Asians are that, you are being a racist. You can’t justify making racist remarks about Koreans just because you say bad things about the British. It’s just not the same from Koreans’ perspective. Whether something constitutes racism is, after all, determined by how its viewed by the people being attacked, not the attacker. I just don’t understand why this forum would continue to let people make racist remarks without intervention of some kind.
2) Scuba. I read that you are angry that the Koreans are destroying the coral reefs. Let me give you another perspective. Scuba is not popular at all in Korea. Virtually no one dives in Korea. Water is very cold, and not clear. With strong currents. Virtually no coral reef. Never was. But when Koreans come to Philippines, they want to try diving. Who can blame them? It’s so beautiful. And as I said, Koreans love beauty. So they try scuba diving. As divers know, the most difficult thing to master is buoyancy for beginner divers. So they struggle to maintain neutral buoyancy, while trying not to die. During this death struggle, they tend to get vertical, not horizontal. Because vertical is more comfortable for beginners, and during this circus, they are wildly flipping their fins. What happens is that their fins are damaging the corals. This is really bad. I agree. But do you really think the Koreans are out to destroy the lovely Philippine corals because they are jealous that they don’t have any in Korea? Or they are curious if the coral would break or not, so they would test it by snapping it? Give Koreans a break. They may be many things, but they are not malicious and crazy. It is unfortunate that many inexperienced divers damage some corals. But again, this is not intentional. On the flipside, their continued business helps places like Apo to maintain a marine sanctuary from the fees charged. What is the net result? Net benefit or net loss? I don’t know. But I do know that Koreans do not destroy corals intentionally. You say you have a Korean friend. Ask him to browse many scuba forums for Koreans (in Korean language of course). And you will find in there that Koreans are very concerned about preserving Philippine coral reefs. They are in fact THE MOST ACTIVE members cleaning up underwater trash in Boracay. Please don’t say they do this because it is the Koreans who are throwing trash in the water!
3) Rowdy Koreans. Koreans. Loud and obnoxious? Perhaps, sometimes. But again, you are only thinking from your personal perspective. For you, you traveled halfway around the world to find your peaceful tropical paradise. What do you find? Loud, partying Koreans. Well, that’s too bad, because Koreans come to Philippines in just 4 hours to have a great time partying for a few days under the tropical sun. They are not traveling halfway around the world like you. Their PURPOSE is different. In America, when people generally travel to mexico or caribbean, like for springbreak, they, too, have a purpose. It’s to PARTY! Why not? Its just nearby. But if Americans travel halfway around the world for a special purpose, like a peaceful tropical eden, they want the tranquility. So I understand your frustration. Similarly, when Koreans travel halfway around the world, they too have a different purpose. For example, when they visit Paris, or Rome, their purpose is to admire the cultural legacy. Not party. You will not find loud party crowds there. Along the same line, if you go to Seychelles, or even Maldives, Koreans go there to find peace and tranquility. Again, no loud Koreans. So you see, what you are complaining about lies in different needs and wants of different people in different locations. It is NOT about Koreans. By the way, I don’t think Koreans smoke pot and have drunken orgies on the Philippine beaches, unlike the party scene in some Mexican and Caribbean beaches. And as a footnote, people always sound louder and more obnoxious to you if you don’t understand their language. So if Koreans and a group of Americans are talking and partying at same decibels, you will find Koreans much louder and obnoxious because you don’t know what they are saying, and it irritates your ears. That’s a scientific fact.
4) Mingling. You say Koreans tend to stay within their community and not mingle with the locals, as if this is a racial defect or something. Again, you speak without understanding the real underworkings. There is a key fundamental difference between the Koreans and Westerners living in Philippines. Koreans don’t generally marry Filipinos. They already have their Korean spouses, and in most cases, they bring their children with them. As they are busy with the school, job/business/etc., they don’t really have time to mingle. Compare this with a typical Westerner. They tend to marry a filipina. This is really one of the most important reasons why Westerners choose to live in Philippines. By default, the westerner is immediately plugged into the Philippine local scene, because the filipina wife and her extended family is a small town by itself. You are almost forced to mingle with the locals. Language is another. Most westerners choose Philippines because the locals speak English. Most Koreans are not good at English, so it’s difficult for them to communicate. Thus contributing to less mingling. If you look at these two reasons, can you really say that Koreans don’t like to mingle because they have a superiority complex or some other bad reasons? I think not. If you are going to live in Africa where the locals don’t speak English, and you don’t understand their language, who are you going to mingle with? Yes, the expat community who can speak English. Does this make you a bad or defective person? I think not.
5) Filipinos hating Koreans. Actually, to certain degree, this is true. Even Koreans are talking among themselves about this particular issue. Koreans say that they are spending the most amount of money among all tourists, and yet they get the worst treatment by both the Philippine government and the locals. They ask themselves, why? No, it’s not because they treat their employees badly. If fact, they really go out of their way to make the employees feel like part of the family. This is a deeprooted Korean tradition. One possibility that Koreans think is the cause is that Filipinos are jealous. I don’t know if jealous is a correct word to use, but for the lack of better word, jealous. During Korean War, Korea was nothing, and Philippine was the richest nation in Asia, far richer than Korea. Philippines even sent troops to Korea to fight the communists alongside America and South Korean Army. Then, in a span of few decades, Korea has become 13th largest global economy, while Philippines is swimming near the bottom. Now the Koreans come to Philippines with their money, and employing Filipinos as maids. Why don’t Filipinos have the similar attitude against the Westerners and Japanese? Koreans think that that’s perhaps because “Westerners” and Japanese have been the occupiers in the past, and that Filipinos accepted that fact. The Koreans behaving badly in the news? Well, there are 600,000 Koreans in Philippines at any given moment. That means there are effectively 600,000 Koreans living in Philippines. This is different from the number of visitors from a particular country per year. If you were to calculate the number of Americans living in Philippines using this calculation, it would be far, far less than the 600,000. Perhaps not even 1/20th. I don’t know of any other nationalities that comes even close. Thus, it makes sense to see more Koreans in the news. And anytime a foreigner is involved, it makes news because its newsworthy. And it just reinforces the view that Koreans have something to do with it. Like where there is smoke, there is fire. But Filipinos are also crazy about Korean novellas on TV. The most popular TV dramas on prime time are all Korean novellas. If you don’t like Korean culture or people, you can’t possibly like Korean novellas, because it is ALL about its culture and people… So, I am not sure why there seems to be this animosity towards Koreans. I don’t know why. It really doesn’t make sense. But to say that because Filipinos don’t like Koreans, so therefore Koreans must be bad is just not logical. You would get that logic question wrong on your IQ test.
6) I can’t believe I am spending so much time justifying Koreans. But your racist voice is so loud, that I feel compelled to stop it.

 

It's not that your ugly buildings, they look good, I have seen worse in the U.K,
It's Korean cars, they are soooo ugly.

 

Hah!
The Korean cars here in the States are beautiful. We get all the nice looking KIA models. Do you know why? It's because we have nice roads. Why should the Koreans send their beautiful cars to the UK so they can be driven on those crummy Brit roads? Come on, lay down some asphalt!
Look at the state with the most pavement, California. See, they have all the most beautiful cars, and people too. I'm tellin' ya, it's all about the pavement baby.

 

Why do you drive on the pavement? Have you seen England lately! yer need a boat, not a car

 

oh and the most gays in califonia

 

Exactly! And everyone knows they have the best taste, especially in decor and fashion.

 

whats that to do with assfelt

 

LOL! :D :D :D That's your best, Jim ( and youve had some good ones)