Racism is alive and well in New Zealand.

[randomness]

Just before midnight, Saturday night, lots of kids cruising in their rice burners. I looked at a cheesy-looking white Honda a little too long, I suppose, and one of the white guys inside shouted, "This isn't your country, what are you doing here?"

One never gets the quick response out in time. In this case, I should have shouted, "Visiting!" in a clear, loud, American accent.

Unfortunately, it took me too long to figure out whether I should be offended. I mean, he was right. This isn't my country. On behalf of Chinese-New Zealanders I flipped the guy the bird.

Comments

[antoniusrex.livejournal.com]

But yeah, I try not to talk about it, because who wants to hear me whine?

I do! I do!

I'll take a Leon Whine over someone else's happy dance any day. Mainly because your whines are well thought out, honest, and, dare I say it, entertaining.

That being said, I feel ya. It's one of them there things that often goes unspoken, but is there.

And, yeah, there are a lotta Asians out here in California. Which is why we, in the black community say you're like white people. ;-) Really, the new black people in the US are San Salvadorians, the new Jews are the Native Americans, and the new Asians are the Mexicans. Wait, is that right? I think. This state is screwed up.

How do they feel about us darkin' folks in New Zeland, by the way? I wanna travel soon.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'll take a Leon Whine over someone else's happy dance any day. Mainly because your whines are well thought out, honest, and, dare I say it, entertaining.

Thanks! I'll still try to keep it to a minimum, though. :)

How do they feel about us darkin' folks in New Zeland, by the way? I wanna travel soon.

Well, from what I can tell, you'd be the only black person in town. So you'd be treated as an exotic, clearly a tourist. And New Zealanders, by and large, are very polite and nice people.

One of the reasons I think Asians are getting crap in NZ is because there have been a lot of immigrants lately, so Asians are no longer exotic. They're being percieved as a threat by the folks who feel threatened by newcomers.