I wish people would be more careful about what they say in regards to race in their casual conversations.
Not because we need to be politically correct — I think we often go overboard with all that.
But to avoid creating a subconscious perception amongst people hearing such comments that there is reason to look at one race differently than another.
by Scott Hettrick
Recently, a Caucasian woman was talking to a young Asian student and myself. She said she was awoken overnight by her noisy neighbor, which for some reason she felt compelled to note is Asian, something I find many people do without intending any slur but also without thinking. I pointed out that Caucasians can be noisy neighbors as well. She then went on to mention the Mexican family who live across the street. Again, I asked why their race — or in this case, nationality — were relevant to her story. When describing her other next-door neighbors, she didn’t mention that they were Caucasian. In fact, I think there is seldom a good reason to mention race in such stories.
On the contrary, I was pleased recently when someone described to me a man who made a comment at a breakfast. She said he was the man wearing the yellow shirt, which was a good way to identify him since he was the only man with a yellow shirt. He happened to also be the only black man in the room, but she chose to find another way to identify him, which I appreciated.
The reason I think this is important is because it helps everyone look at everyone else the same way, which can avoid creating stereotypes with a negative connotation that can lead to thinking less of a person of a different race. HBO talk show host Bill Maher makes frequent disparaging jokes about Asian drivers. Although seemingly innocuous, it can have the affect of making some people think less of Asians in general, and give others motivation to make Asians the butt of other and more mean-spirited jokes or perceptions.
At a City Council meeting this summer I heard a very disturbing comment from a Caucasian woman who was left frustrated at having lost a 3-2 decision by the Council that will allow a home builder to construct a 7,700 square-foot two-story home on San Carlos Road at Foothill Boulevard.
“If you’re Asian you can get whatever you want in Arcadia,” she said to no one in particular as she and her group left the Council Chambers.
The comment is disturbing because it indicates racism persists among Caucasians in our community that is now more than half Asian (and more than 80% Asian in our schools).
What’s more, the comment reflected the ignorance of the person who said it. The people building the new home are not even Asian – their family name is Baghdadlian. Therefore, the comment was not even accurate. The only connection to an Asian in the case is the architect involved.
Moreover, the perception that Asians get preferential treatment isn’t even accurate in my experience. And certainly most Asians feel the opposite. There is only one Asian currently on the Council; last year there were none. Two years ago all three Asian candidates for City Council lost to three Caucasians.
Shortly after the vote to allow the new home, an even more polarizing issue said to be favored by, or at least sparked by Asians, was unanimously rejected by the Council. After months of consideration, the Council opted not to allow homeowners to change their address. This was an issue raised by Caucasian Mayor Bob Harbicht last year and supported by realtors of all races to address drastic reductions in home values where the address had the number “four” in it, or worse, the consecutive numbers 44. The number sounds like the Chinese word for death.
Not only did this vote not go in favor of Asians, even Chinese-American Councilman John Wuo was opposed to it.
– By Scott Hettrick
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While I respect your opinion Scott, there are other sides to this story. Many people moved to Arcadia for the great schools, modest-nice homes and friendly neighbors. Arcadia used to be a city everyone in the neighborhood knew each other, often sharing similar goals and values, and most willing to help each other out. Growing up, I knew people of diverse nationalities who spoke perfect English and were proud to be part of the community. Race was never an issue here until the 90′s.
In South Arcadia, nearly every home that sells, many of which had remodeled kitchens, new windows, a new roof, etc, is torn down. Developers will buy up anything they can and build massive mansions in their place. All the “homes” under construction there are about 10,000 square feet, with some as large as 17,000 square feet. Speaking to a head of a development team, nearly every new home in Arcadia is tailored to the Chinese. Interestingly, most of these buyers have NEVER seen Arcadia before, and are simply told they want to be here for the schools. In addition, these mansions are commonly used to house multiple families, or even as birthing centers where women pay tens of thousands of dollars to come here illegally to have children in the US for citizenship.
A Chinese woman looking for a house to tear down, came into my work and actually said “American houses aren’t good enough for the Chinese people. We demand bigger and better, and you watch, we will tear down every house in South Arcadia until the area is up to our level.” This statement disgusted me, and made me feel like I don’t belong in the my own hometown. There is a culture shock in Arcadia, as with the rest of the San Gabriel Valley. It’s very obvious with 90% of buyers in Arcadia being Chinese, with 90% of new businesses having Chinese writing, and most of the Realtors being Chinese, that Arcadia has become a Chinese centric.
In order for there to be harmony between racial groups, there has to be a common understanding, common language, common goals. Arcadia is shifting towards a vast majority foreign born population, that has no concept of America other than money or schools. Arcadia is losing its diversity, and rather than trying to educate newcomers, we take the money and turn our backs. San Marino on the other hand has a clear city vision, clear guidelines, and helps people assimilate. The Chinese in San Marino have great respect for their city and their country, as I’m sure many in Arcadia do too, but this city sells itself out to the highest bidder and relies on a history museum to preserve the image of the past. Harmony can exist if we stop pretending differences don’t exist.
Many in Arcadia feel our city has lost it’s quaint feel, traffic is horrendous, and diversity of businesses has tanked. Not because of the Asians, but because of a city which has failed to define itself and ensure that residents have a voice. I guess if we don’t like it, we can move to Sierra Madre, Monrovia, or Glendora.
To Longtime Arcadia Resident, while I understand your feelings about the changes in Arcadia the last 20 years, that is a different discussion than I meant to raise, which is simply to avoid pointing out a person’s ethnicity when telling a random story — be they Hispanic or Chinese or any other — and to make sure you know your facts instead of blaming “Asians” for a new mansion being built in north Arcadia by a family that is not Asian at all. I hear these kinds of stereotypes and misstatements all over the country, not just Arcadia. But I see your point that these comments can stem from growing frustration over the way things have changed. Thanks for taking the time to express those thoughts.
Perfectly said, “Long Time Arcadia Resident.”
I believe most who have been here for years feel exactly the same, but fear being called “racist” if we speak up. Admire your belief Scott, but the reality is all too apparent.
I find it interesting that this topic discusses discrimination and the mention of race in conversation, yet every example given was of a Causcasian person being the offender. We all know the reality is that EVERY race has a component (unfortunately) of discrimination towards other races and many people from all races refer to race when describing someone, without intending to be offensive. I don’t believe any particular race in this city is a victim any more than another. I do however agree with Longtime Arcadia Resident that San Marino has done a far better job of protecting the beauty and history of their city than Arcadia has done. Perhaps it’s time for all Arcadians, regardless of race, to work together as a community for the betterment of the city we love and choose to call home.
Lael, I remember well you tearing up with joy when you saw more than 80 Chinese marching in last year’s Arcadia’s Best Patriotic Festival carrying American flags and singing patriotic American songs. It was a proud moment for both of us and many others.
My comments are not about speaking up or not speaking up — I encourage speaking up. My wish is only that people in Arcadia and every other town would not mention race when discussing random subjects like noisy neighbors or any other subject that is not unique to a specific race (we had plenty of Caucasians and their dogs making noise in my neighborhoods growing up). And that people would be careful not to complain about Asians in regards to a mansion when that house is not being built by Asians.
There are plenty of times when race is an issue and worth discussing — I’m just wishing people would not introduce the topic when race is not relevant.
Well said, David. I think race is an unavoidable thing to notice in LA unless its purposely avoided. Each neighborhood has a clearly predominate culture and people observe. A legitimate question is why Arcadia needs a Chinese Association of Realtors. Buying and selling real estate by its nature should not involve race or classification. Look at the Wells Fargo billboards exclusively in Chinese with no English. There is a great deal of pandering to specific groups.
As for neighbors, I had one neighbor paint their house bright pink as an Asian cultural thing and another neighbor get a dog to protect their mansion but left it outside all night to bark non stop. They didn’t speak English and it took over a year to resolve. Stories like this are common in Arcadia and long time residents can’t say/do a thing. The city council sided with developers and refuse to enact a policy to notify neighbors of demolition/ new construction. Pretending differences don’t exist will only make things worse.
I should clarify. Having a separate association for Chinese Realtors was proposed by a group of Realtors but does not appear to have come to fruition.
I think the biggest problem is when a person makes or insinuates a negative or value judgment with the mention of the race or nationality of another person. I hope we can be fair enough and mature enough to be able to separate value judgments from mentions of race, unless they are positive and complimentary. Every race has its good characteristics, and every race has its bad players.
When we are describing another person, we tend to refer to a distinguishing feature about them. Sometimes its a skill, “the violinist.” Sometimes its race. Sometimes it is nationality… “that lady from England.” Sometimes its another feature. It’s OK to do it for convenience when no ill will is meant or implied.
My daughter has red hair. Since she was often the only redhead wherever she went, it was easy to refer to her as “the red-haired girl.” It was just a convenient way to describe her without offering an opinion of her value as a human being.
Since I am taller than most people, I don’t mind being referred to as the “tall guy.” I’m also fatter than most people. I prefer not being referred to as “the fat guy” because that has a negative connotation.
When I was in college, I played basketball in an all-black basketball league on the south side of Chicago. Sometimes I was referred to as “the white guy.” I couldn’t refer to another player as “the black guy,” because they were all black, so it wasn’t a distinguishing factor in that league.
Today I am the only Caucasian member in a Chinese church in Arcadia, so again, I am “the white guy.”
The ideal would be for us to be able to appreciate the differences, and to not be offensive or offended in talking about other races.
I’m glad God made us all different. It would be a boring world if we weren’t.
You got it exactly right Bob, thanks for stating my point more clearly. I’m not suggesting we ignore differences in cultures and races; on the contrary, I think we should celebrate those distinctions, but in a positive way. Pointing out that a noisy neighbor or someone who drives slowly or was rude to you is of any race other than yours is seldom constructive or relevant.
As for change in our community, that’s not the topic of my blog post, but since others brought it up, it’s interesting that these people want Arcadia back the way it was when they grew up. And they blame Asians for this change. But what about previous generations who want it back the way it was when they grew up in the early 1900s before the Santa Anita Race Track, housing subdivisions, and trains and automobiles? Were those changes the result of a different race? If Arcadia didn’t add the track and subdivisions, it would not have been the Arcadia that some are complaining doesn’t exist anymore. People don’t like change and will complain about it whether it comes at the hands of their own race or another.
Should ancestors of Spanish and Mexican settlers still complain about Caucasian Europeans and eventually Lucky Baldwin changing this area from the land they knew and enjoyed with their missions before pushing them out altogether and taking over what was once called Mexico? How about the original Native Americans/Indians before the Spanish missionaries arrived?
You’re right Bob – we should appreciate and embrace our differences.
In response to the commentary here regarding Arcadia and San Marino… I remember the first wave of Chinese coming into San Marino back in the 80′s. And what I am seeing posted here is exactly what our friends were saying (since we didn’t have internet back then) 30 years ago.
San Marino, back then, didn’t have an integration plan. The Chinese coming in wanted nothing to do with the Caucasian residents. There were huge culture clashes (anyone remember the Chinese who would come to the front door with suitcases full of cash saying they wanted to buy the house then get offended when they were told no?). And the recent arrivals even went so far as to form Chinese versions of almost all of the clubs and institutions already in place (Rotary, Men’s Club, etc). This lead to an amazing amount of polarization, anger, and even outright hatred on both sides.
Finally someone(s) got smart in the Chinese community and realized that they not the local residents were the root cause of the problem and began an organized outreach program. I can remember the first time a Chinese man spoke at a Rotary meeting. His opening remark was to apologize for his poor spoken English and offered to repeat anything he said in Chinese because it would be more clear! That generated a great laugh and really served to break the ice and start building bridges.
The problems San Marino faced 30 years ago are now happening in Arcadia. Except now there is less incentive for the recent immigrant to integrate because there is so much of “back home” here now. The solution is for both sides to realize that there are cultural and societal differences between us, to accept that, and to work together to bridge those differences in a positive way.
In short relations between the overseas Chinese and long term Arcadia residents should be treated like a successful marriage. By following the three C’s: Communicate, Compromise, and Celebrate the diversity.
The more we talk about our differences and respect how each feels the better . How about we hate flies not each other