im korean and i really dont like it when non asian people generally think that asians are all chinese or japanese??
do they think that asia is one country and one nationality??
can anyone explain this?
2006-12-27 07:36:33 · 16 answers · asked by Jinnie 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
a lot of you are saying 'well why do people just say im white when im all of these european nationalities'...well that is cuz you are....but im korean and people say im chinese, thats not true, but you are white or black or whatever you are...now if you are italian, and someone sed you were french, then thats different...
lumping cultures together is much more different than assuming people are something they are not
2006-12-27 07:55:30 · update #1
Yeah - well I'm caucasian, and I'd bet that most asians looking at me wouldn't have a clue what my actual background was.. (Irish, Italian, etc). I'm just 'white'.
The difference is... I don't make a big deal of it. I know they're not being 'racist' or 'discriminatory'. They simply haven't had the experiences necessary to tell one similiar race from another at first glance.
2006-12-27 07:47:20 · answer #1 · answered by Just Some Guy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I prefer to just be generally right and call anyone that looks Asian... well, Asian.
The reason that we generally assume that anyone with yellowish skin and almond-shaped eyes is Chinese or Japanese is because we are not well acquainted with Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Vietnam, or any of the east Asian countries. Americans know that manga comes from Japan and about 90% of our stuff is manufactured in China.
We know that Asia is made of several countries, all of which are unique in their own ways. We just think of only a few things when we are put on the spot.
2006-12-28 03:29:18 · answer #2 · answered by Leafy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think they mean to be hurtful to you but as the previous answer stated most of those the oriental people that they see day to day are chinese or Japanese so they think of those nationalities first before others. Take pride in who you are and you may find that once they find that you are Korean they are even more interested in you and your country.
2006-12-27 15:44:03 · answer #3 · answered by Al B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's probably more of an identification of race than of nationality. If you saw someone who was brown and looked Mexican you'd probably assume they were mexican, when they could be Cherokee or some other Native American. Think of how surprised you are when in america you see a black person speaking with a brittish accent, you just assumed they were American when in fact they are from Ethiopia. The point is we all do it so don't take it personally.
2006-12-27 15:44:56 · answer #4 · answered by ajax138 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you just encounter many ignorant people. I'm black and I know there are many more countries in the continent of Asia than just Chinese and Japanese. I usually ask first. I don't assume anything.
2006-12-27 15:39:00 · answer #5 · answered by *karasi* 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
when people make the associations of japanese/chinese to people with an oriental appearance over and over again, the brain makes a *physical* attachment in the memory. Thus, the automatic reaction in people is to think that the person is of whichever origin they first associated with the appearance. This is true for all aspects of recognition.
2006-12-27 16:31:35 · answer #6 · answered by Tara M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For the same reason you just lumped everyone together under one category. You assume all non asians do this which is just as bad if not worse then someone getting your nationality incorrect. If you are so concerned about it, where a name tag that says I am Korean.
2006-12-27 15:40:35 · answer #7 · answered by RayCATNG 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just because Chinese or Japanese are predominant in the areas in which most of us live. I don't have a lot of Koreans or vietnamese by me, but I have a lot of Chinese friends.
2006-12-27 15:42:07 · answer #8 · answered by Kiss My Shaz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, we do not have the knowledge about the cultures to differentiate. It is ignorance on our part but we cannot tell the difference. I apologize for myself, but it might be helpful if you would tell us an obvious difference. You teach us and then we can teach others and hopefully education will prevent it from happening again.
2006-12-27 15:43:55 · answer #9 · answered by To live is to learn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, for the same reason we categorize french and english and polish as europeans. We are all guilty of pseudospeciation-basically means that we think we are different from one another.
2006-12-27 15:44:35 · answer #10 · answered by Isuck,Usuck,Weallsuck 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋